“Old
Birmingham - The Alabama
Theatre” by Paul McGehee. Situated in the north central region of
Alabama, Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, the state's most
populated county. Here we see the southern metropolis as it appeared in
early 1947, with the daily streetcar and automobile traffic at the busy
intersection of Third Avenue North looking east from 18th Street. One
can see the Lyric Theatre to the left, built in 1914 as part of the B.
F. Keith's vaudeville circuit, where acts such as the Marx Brothers,
Will Rogers, Mae West, Milton Berle and Sophie Tucker once packed the
house. The Goldstein Building (now known as the Hill Event Center)
appears in the center, once a two-building complex but altered and
rebuilt as it appears here with the construction of the huge Alabama
Theatre, wrapping around it, in 1927. The Alabama Theatre was built by
Paramount Motion Picture Studios as a 2,500 seat movie palace with
ornate decorations and a large four manual, one-of-a-kind Wurlitzer
Theatre Organ which Paramount commissioned specifically for their new
theatre. The organ is now affectionately nicknamed "Big Bertha". The
Theatre opened to the general public on December 26, 1927 with the film
"The Spotlight" starring Esther Rawlson and Neil Hamilton (then a
silent-film leading man, he later went on to play Commissioner Gordon
on the "Batman" TV show in the 1960s). Some of the finest films of the
late-silent and early-talkie era played at the Alabama. From the early
1930's into the 1940's the local chapter of the Mickey Mouse Club held
their meetings there, a weekly party for the Mickey Mouse mask-wearing
kiddies accompanied with cartoons and music from the Mighty Wurlitzer.
The theatre was once the scene of the annual Miss Alabama beauty
pageants starting in 1935, the last being in 1966. As years went by the
Alabama Theatre went into decline and by the end of 1981 they showed
their final first-run feature film, "Sharky's Machine" starring Burt
Reynolds. The theatre changed hands a few times during the 1980's and
was in danger of being torn down when a miracle, of sorts, happened.
The Alabama Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS) made
contact with the current owners to remove the old 1927 Wurlitzer
Theatre Organ in an effort to save it, but the bankruptcy attorney
refused their offer and countered by telling them that the ony way they
could save the organ was for them to buy the building. So, ATOS then
mounted a public campaign to raise money to buy the entire Alabama
Theatre building, just to save the organ, "Big Bertha". Successful in
their efforts, ATOS then set about restoring the organ to its former
magnificence, while a new group called Birmingham Landmarks stepped in
to manage the complex as the Alabama Theatre for the Performing Arts.
Now beautifully restored and listed on the National Register of
Historic Places, the old Alabama Theatre regularly hosts screenings of
classic films and theatre organ events, as well as concerts and other
live events on their stage. You can read more about the beautiful
Alabama Theatre and and check out their schedule at their website alabamatheatre.com.
“Old Birmingham - The Alabama Theatre”
is faithfully reproduced as an archival-quality print from McGehee's
original color pencil and acrylic artwork, in a limited edition of only
2,000 pieces each hand-signed by the artist.
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