A dream come true: Red Mountain Theatre opens arts campus in Parkside

Red Mountain Theatre — founded by local drama icon James Hatcher as Summerfest Musical Theatre in 1979 — has made a major impact on the Birmingham arts scene.

Thousands of kids from a variety of backgrounds have taken advantage of the extensive theater classes at RMT.

Many graduates of those classes have achieved success in show business, including TV star Jordan Fisher of Trussville.

The organization — it became Red Mountain Theatre Company in 2007 — even won a Tony Award in 2018 for producing a Broadway show.

However, the full impact of the RMT on Birmingham is perhaps only beginning.

In May, the company is having a soft open for its new $25 million, 60,000-square-foot arts campus in a renovated warehouse at 1600 Third Ave. S. in Parkside. The facility took many years of planning, said Keith Cromwell, RMT executive director.

“It’s been a dream for us to consolidate our programming in order to better serve our community,” he said.

The new campus will be “a game changer for Birmingham,” said Jennifer Jaquess, RMT managing director.

“A building like this one with leading-edge theatrical facilities along with extensive education spaces is unique,” Jaquess said.

“RMT has served the community for 41 years, and in our recent history, we’ve been doing it in 12 to 15 disparate locations, and finally our community and our constituents can come to one place where everything is under one roof,” Cromwell said.

Not only will the new facility be a big boost for RMT, it will also be another boost for Parkside, according to some local developers, economic development experts and business owners. It adds a powerful educational and cultural engine to the existing menu of sports facilities, eateries and apartments in the already bustling district.

Perhaps the most important contribution that the company makes — even more than high-quality stage shows — is theatre education, Cromwell said.

“My driving force has always been the education of young people,” he said.

Through the years, the company has hosted thousands of kids from many backgrounds in its classes, camps and the audition-only Conservatory. The new facility will help that effort.

“We’ll be able to deliver our Broadway-caliber productions while also developing the next generation of artists and community leaders in a place with greater visibility,” Jaquess said.

It is gratifying for the company to finally have its campus, especially since the search for the right spot took about 16 years and 19 possible venues, Cromwell said.

The building had to be adaptable, he said, with room to build a large open theater as well as classrooms and offices.

The Parkside building, more than 100 years old, once housed the Wittichen Supply Company.

The campus includes administrative and shop offices, rehearsal and classroom spaces, the 120-seat Discovery Theatre and a main stage that can hold as many as 450 attendees.

“I call the whole project a God kiss, because we didn’t take down a single exterior wall,” Cromwell said. “It’s an amazing nod to our industrial heritage while having this really cool feel and vibe about it.”

The builders were able to take advantage of existing features, such as the wooden ceilings, iron trusses and huge fire doors. They were also able to use artifacts like railroad tracks and cypress beams.

The new campus, Cromwell said, “just opens up our potential.”

For example, the company can now run shows longer whenever they want and experiment with programming at different times of the day, he said.

The facility is also versatile. The main stage can be put into nine different configurations, including an intimate cabaret environment, Cromwell said.

The grand lobby includes a bar and donor lounge that can convert into a small piano bar.

Cromwell said the entry can also be used for events, such as weddings and fundraisers.

Craig Krawczyk of the LIVE Design Group served as the architect, Brasfield & Gorrie was the general contractor, and Harbert Realty Services managed the project.

Once construction was finished, the final design of the theatre was to be completed by consulting firm TheatreDNA.

The firm employs a trained acoustician whose job was to make sure that the performance venues in the new facility are fully soundproof.

“Sound is the one thing that can make or break any live performance,” Cromwell said.

Economic impact

The new arts campus adds to the diversity of offerings in Parkside, according to local development professionals.

“RMT brings an anchor arts institution to Parkside to compliment the residential, sports and recreational uses,” said David Fleming, president and CEO of REV Birmingham. “This location is a perfect home for the theater to bring its vibrant and inclusive arts programming and give our city a venue the likes of which we have never seen.”

J. John Oros Jr., president and CEO of the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, said, “A theater entertainment option is an excellent addition” to Parkside.

“RMT brings live theater to a district that enjoys high traffic with people going to breweries and restaurants and, of course, to Regions Field for ball games,” he said.

Wil Drake, founder, chef and partner of Hero Doughnuts and Buns at 1701 First Ave. S., also said he is pleased about the way RMT diversifies Parkside’s amenities.

With Regions Field and Railroad Park, “it feels like the area is very geared toward fitness and outdoor activities,” Drake said. “It will be fantastic to have the additional arts and theater elements.”

“Where the theater is going used to feel kind of like a no-man’s land, and any cultural growth is always a good thing,” he said.

Mike McElwain, owner of The Red Cat Coffeehouse adjacent to Railroad Park, said he and his staff are “excited” to see the facility open in Parkside.

“We have no doubt that they will be a good neighbor and draw more potential guests to the area,” McElwain said.

“With Parkside well on its way to becoming a 24-hour, live-work-play destination, entertainment concepts such as Red Mountain Theatre will make great neighbors to our current developments anchoring the east and west end of Parkside, Urban Supply and Powell Steam Plant,” said Phil Amthor, senior development associate at Orchestra Partners. “At Orchestra, we’re thrilled to see continued momentum in Parkside by welcoming a beloved institution in the Birmingham arts community to this vibrant, growing neighborhood.”

Expanding education

In addition to making it easy to produce shows, the new campus expands the company’s educational opportunities “both in front of and behind the curtain,” Cromwell said.

“Our production shops, our costume and design facilities and our recording studio will offer an incredible new opportunity for young and old to learn the craft of theatre,” he said.

Cromwell said that he has worked hard to increase the cultural diversity of the education program.

The program has served 17,000 kids in the metropolitan area in 72 unique ZIP codes.

“Nothing makes me happier than that [statistic],” Cromwell said.

The professional theatre at RMT “provides an aspirational marker for our kids to look up at something and think, ‘I want to do that,’ and they see our alumni going off to great successes and then they really believe in themselves,” he said.

One of those alumni is actress Morgan Smith, who lives in Los Angeles and has been a fixture on national TV for several years, including a recurring role in the HBO comedy “Veep.” She became involved with the RMT in middle school, eventually becoming part of the Performing Ensemble — now known as the Conservatory.

“Not only was I learning and growing as a young artist but I developed a community that has maintained well into my adulthood,” Smith said.

‘We are a family’

Aurkheem Jolley — a 10th grader at Shades Valley High School — is a student at the Conservatory and has benefited from the company’s commitment to diversity.

He lives in Midfield with his mother, Terri Locklyn, who said that program has broadened Jolley’s horizons.

“My son has had the opportunity to be exposed to a world that I had never conceived or thought about introducing him to,” Locklyn said.

In addition to allowing her son to develop his acting and singing talents, RMT has helped Jolley be more comfortable that “he, a young Black man, has been blessed with an opportunity to be a part of a world that mostly has been — and in many cases still is — separated by the ‘Mountains.’”

While learning “performing and life skills,” Jolley said he has also been able “to build relationships with people that I probably would not have ever met if it were not for RMT.”

Mika Marriot, a ninth grader from Homewood, has studied musical theatre at the Conservatory for four years and also celebrates the way program brings young people together.

“We are a family,” Marriott said. “It’s amazing to see kids from multiple backgrounds come together to make music.”

Not just about theater

In addition to theater training, kids also learn life lessons while at the theater, Cromwell said.

He said that “parents from all walks of life” tell him that at RMT their kids “are taken out of their bubble ... and are put into a place where they can experience a really diverse ecosystem.”

“Where is there a more beautiful place to incubate young human beings who learn to communicate, get along, accept each other, manage through crisis and overcome obstacles than the theatre?” Cromwell said.

“I learned the fundamentals and practice of theater, but with that comes lessons in discipline, focus and self-expression,” Smith said. “Those are incredibly valuable and universal life skills, no matter what career the child ultimately pursues.”

Brooke Harwell Becker graduated from the Conservatory in 2012 after four years of study. She has not done any professional theatre and is currently a medical doctor doing her residency. However, her training was still valuable.

“The group taught me how to set goals and work hard to achieve them,” she said. “It instilled in me a desire for excellence, a lasting confidence and the love of teamwork.

“I am learning many ways to develop the required skills for a career in theater but I am also learning about important characteristics to have in life,” Marriot said. “For example, I have developed a good work ethic.”

Students arriving for classes at the Second Avenue South entrance will use the James Hatcher Alumni Walk.

“What’s the phrase? We stand on the shoulders of those that came before us,” Cromwell said. “James Hatcher was an icon, and if he had not started this amazing organization, I would not have found my place to plant myself and grow.”

The final ‘goal post’

RMT has raised about $23 million of the facility’s cost, but that they “still have a ways to go to our $25 million goal post,” Cromwell said.

The theater is still asking for donations to help reach that goal.

“Anyone who wants to join us, we look forward to sharing this with everybody, Cromwell said.

He also offered thanks to long-time theater supporters Raymond and Kathryn Harbert. Kathryn Harbert is capital campaign chair and former board chair.

In the meantime, the long-awaited facility is finally coming online.

“Our plan is to have limited capacity education classes in May along with some socially distanced concert programming in our two theatrical spaces,” Jaquess said.

RMT plans to have a ribbon cutting and grand opening in June.

For more information, go to redmountaintheatre.org.