Red Mountain Theatre

Red Mountain Theatre is a professional musical theater company and arts education organization based in the Parkside district of Birmingham, on 3rd Avenue South near Regions Field and Railroad Park. Its home, the Kathryn Harbert Arts Campus, brings together a mainstage theater, a black box space, rehearsal studios and classrooms under one roof. The company produces Broadway musicals, plays, cabaret shows and holiday productions each season, while also running one of the region’s largest training programs for young performers.

The company traces its roots to 1979, when James Hatcher founded Summerfest as part of a University of Alabama at Birmingham theater program that joined campus and community. Summerfest grew into a year round organization during the 1980s, adding cabaret performances to its summer musicals. In 2002 Keith Cromwell became executive director, and the company took the name Red Mountain Theatre Company to reflect its broader mission. For many years it operated out of more than a dozen separate locations around the city, renting stages, rehearsal halls and offices wherever space was available.

That changed with the arts campus. After reviewing nearly twenty possible sites, the company chose a century old warehouse that once belonged to the Wittichen Supply Company. Ground was broken in December 2019 with Mayor Randall Woodfin and donors Kathryn and Raymond Harbert in attendance, and the campus opened in 2021 after delays caused by the pandemic. The roughly 60,000 square foot, $25 million project kept the industrial character of the old building while adding modern theater systems, wide lobbies and a courtyard.

Performances take place in two main venues. The mainstage theater seats around 450 and hosts the company’s larger musicals, while the Discovery Theatre, a flexible black box room with about 130 seats, is used for smaller productions, concerts and rehearsals. A grand lobby, a patron bar, the Keys on 3rd lounge and an outdoor courtyard serve audiences before shows and at intermission. Many of these spaces are also rented for weddings, conferences, luncheons and receptions, bringing other events to the campus throughout the year. Large windows, exposed structure and open circulation spaces give the building a bright, informal feel that suits both evening performances and daytime classes.

Education is central to the organization. Classes and camps serve students from age 4 to 18, with training in acting, singing and dance, and programs for adults round out the offerings. Young Artist Productions give students a chance to perform in fully staged shows, and performing ensembles give advanced students regular opportunities to sing and dance in front of audiences. Partnerships with area schools extend the reach of the program, and financial aid and scholarships help make training available to more families. Many students who begin in introductory classes go on to audition for company productions, and the campus studios are busy with rehearsals, lessons and camps on most days of the week, including school breaks and summer sessions.

The box office is open Tuesday through Friday from 1pm to 5pm and on performance days, and tickets are also sold online. Paid parking is available in the campus lot on 3rd Avenue South and in the Children’s Hospital surface lot directly across the street. Lots open at 1pm before matinees and at 5:30pm before evening performances. The company offers ASL interpretation and audio description for select performances, and its administrative office keeps weekday business hours for questions about classes and rentals.