Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center

The Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center is the main performing arts venue of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, set on the UAB campus along 10th Avenue South in the Southside area of Birmingham. Known locally as the Alys Stephens Center, it brings together four separate performance spaces under one roof and serves as a gathering place for concertgoers, theater audiences, students and families from across the region.

The center grew out of a conversation that began in 1990, when Birmingham arts patron Alys Robinson Stephens met with university leaders to talk about expanding the arts at UAB. Her husband, Elton B. Stephens, supported the idea, and ground was broken on the first phase, anchored by the Jemison Concert Hall, in June 1993. Mrs. Stephens died in February 1996, several months before that first phase was finished later the same year. A second phase opened in 1999, and an academic wing was completed in 2005. The 2026 to 2027 season marks the center’s 30th anniversary.

Programming at the center covers a wide range. Its presenting series has featured classical soloists, jazz artists, Broadway performers, dance companies, comedians and touring productions, with past headliners including violinist Itzhak Perlman and saxophonist Branford Marsalis. The anniversary season leans heavily on Broadway talent, with names such as Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr., alongside jazz vocalist Samara Joy and banjo player Béla Fleck. The building is also the performance home of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and of the UAB Department of Music and Department of Theatre, so the calendar fills with symphony concerts, student recitals and university stage productions throughout the academic year. Altogether the center hosts several hundred events a year.

The complex was designed by Davis Architects and contains four distinct rooms. The Jemison Concert Hall, with roughly 1,300 seats, is the largest and was renovated in 2016 to better accommodate dance. The Morris K. Sirote Theatre seats about 350 and suits plays and smaller touring shows. The Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall, with around 170 seats, is used for chamber music and recitals, and the Odess Theatre is a flexible space of about 150 seats. The venues are also available to rent for outside events.

Beyond the main stage, the center works with other UAB arts programs, including Arts in Medicine and the ArtPlay community art education program, on residencies meant to reach audiences from young children to older adults. The Young Concert Artists series now includes daytime performances by artists in residence at UAB, and select daytime events are offered on a pay what you choose basis. Recent seasons have added pre-show activities such as Broadway open mic sessions, bluegrass jams and DJ sets before certain performances. Accessibility is a stated priority: the center offers assistive listening devices, large print programs, sign language interpretation at select events, wheelchair seating locations and an elevator between lobbies, and it participates in the KultureCity sensory inclusive program with sensory bags and quiet areas available on request.

The center is not open for drop-in visits outside of events, so most people plan around a specific performance. Tickets can be purchased through the ticketing office, which keeps weekday business hours and opens three hours before show time on weekends when performances are scheduled. UAB students and staff are eligible for discounted tickets, and a membership program provides early ticket access and other perks. Accessible parking for vehicles with valid placards is available first come, first served outside the UAB Spencer Honors House, and the upper and lower circle driveways can be used for drop off before a show.