Virginia Samford Theatre

The Virginia Samford Theatre is a neighborhood theater located at 1116 26th Street South at Caldwell Park in the Highland Park neighborhood of Birmingham.

History

The Birmingham Little Theater troupe began performing under the direction of Bernhard Szold in 1923 at the Margaret Allen School on Highland Avenue. Within a few years it was successful enough to construct its own dedicated playhouse.

The building was constructed in 1927 as the Little Theatre and by 1940 was recognized as "one of the ten leading Little Theatres in the nation" by the New York Times. Shortly thereafter the pressures of World War II forced the theater to close.

In 1955 the C. Powell Noland family purchased the theater building and donated it to UAB for their fledgling Town & Gown Theatre company. Mrs. Noland was the daughter of Louis V. Clark, one of the founders of the theater in 1927. It was re-named the Clark Memorial Theatre in his memory.

UAB announced plans to sell the theater in 1999. It was purchased by the Metropolitan Arts Council and dubbed the Metropolitan Arts Center to reflect its use as the council's offices, which they share with smaller arts groups as an "arts incubator". A large portion of the funding that enabled the purchase was provided by Virginia Samford Donovan and the theater auditorium was again renamed in her honor. A campaign to raise $3 million for renovations and an operations endowment was launched in 2003.

Included in the renovations is rehearsal space, an area for receptions, and a "black box" theater room, dubbed the Martha Moore Sykes Studio, which opened in August 2006 with a cabaret performance by Four for Time.

Offerings

The Samford Theatre hosts several production series including those of Red Mountain Theatre Company, CenterStage Productions, and the STARS series, an educational program for outstanding drama students. The Samford Theatre also hosts the annual BRAVO! Arts Festival with indoor and outdoor performances.

The theater also hosts special performances and offers regular acting classes. The MAC offers its board room for catered dinners prior to selected shows.

2006 season

• January 12-15, 19-22: "South Pacific"
• January 27-29: Southern Danceworks
• February 2-5: "Long Day's Journey into Night"
• February 4: Alabama OperaWorks Regional auditions for the Metropolitan Opera
• February 11-12: Summerfest Performing Ensembles
• February 17: Bellydance Superstars
• March 3-5, 9-12: "The King and I" (CenterStage)
• March 30-April 2, 6-8: "Sand Mountain Saturday Nite"
• April 28-30: "Trial by Jury"
• May 5, 7 "Seussical the Musical" (STARS series)
• May 2, 3, 8-10, June 4, 11: "Kiss Me Kate" (CenterStage)
• May 17-20, 25-27: "Judge Roy Moore is Coming to Dinner"
• June 20-25, 27-30, July 2, 4-9: "Once on this Island" (Summerfest)
• July 18-23, 25-30, August 1-6: "Oliver!" (Summerfest)
• Sepetmber 9: BRAVO! Arts Festival

External links

• Virginia Samford Theatre website