December 26, 1927

The Alabama Theatre opened in Birmingham to a capacity audience of 2,585 for a showing of the Paramount comedy The Spotlight, starring Neil Hamilton and Ester Ralston. Dubbed the “Showplace of the South,” the movie palace featured an elaborate style of architecture and interior design meant to inspire awe. Features included a 70-foot-high gold-domed auditorium illuminated by more than 15,000 light bulbs, a star-shaped chandelier bearing more than 8,000 crystals, and the massive Wurlitzer organ known as Big Bertha. The theatre is best known, however, for its 60-foot neon and fluorescent “ALABAMA” sign. Today, the theatre as a 2,200-seat performing arts venue, hosting more than 300 events annually.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Historic American Buildings Survey drawing of the Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Front façade and exterior sign, Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Lobby of the Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Interior, box office, Alabama Theatre, Birmingham, 2010. The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Grand lobby, Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Chandelier, Alabama Theatre, Birmingham, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Alabama Theatre stage, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

View of the stage with fire curtain, Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Wurlitzer organ, Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Lobby of the Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Mezzanine level of the Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Main floor ‘tunnel’ near the north entrances, Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Photograph of a typical dressing room at the Alabama Theatre, Birmingham. (HABS, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.