The Bama Theatre is a historic theatre in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

that currently serves as the city's performing arts center. Its modern redevelopment is the result of cooperation between the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa and the Tuscaloosa County Parks and Recreation Authority. The three-story brick and limestone building is located at the corner of Sixth Street and Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

(NRHP) on August 30, 1984. It is also a

contributing building In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

in the

Downtown Tuscaloosa Historic District The Downtown Tuscaloosa Historic District is a historic district which was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. With The listing included 50 contributing buildings on , including the historic city hall of Tuscaloosa. ...

, NRHP-listed in 1985.

History

Early history

The Bama Theatre was originally constructed from 1937–38 through

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

as a

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...

project. The building was built as a combination theater and city hall for Tuscaloosa. It was designed by Birmingham architect David O. Whilldin, who also designed other historically significant buildings in the Tuscaloosa downtown area and worked from the Whilldin Building. The building opened as a theater on April 12, 1938. The theater was one of the last

movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...

s built in the South. The building features a

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

exterior style, popular during the period, and a lavish "atmospheric" interior style that is decorated with a combination of Moderne and Renaissance elements. Twinkling stars and clouds on the ceiling create an open air feel in the performance hall. ''See also:'' The city hall was moved out the building following the city's acquisition and renovation of the former United States Post Office (built 1909) in 1968.

Renovations

The theatre was converted to a performing arts center in 1976 and has been completely renovated for live theatrical/concert use. With the arrival of theater manager David Allgood in 2003, the Bama has become a sought-after venue for touring artists. The movie fare at The Bama was also revamped, creating the Bama Art House Film Series, featuring independent, foreign, and documentary movies. Past screenings have included '' Boyhood'', ''

Moonrise Kingdom ''Moonrise Kingdom'' is a 2012 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson, written by Anderson and Roman Coppola, and starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, ...

'', ''

Turn Me On, Dammit ''Turn Me On, Dammit!'' ( no, Få meg på, for faen!) or ''Turn Me On, Goddammit!'' is a 2011 Norwegian coming-of-age teen romantic comedy film directed by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen. It is based on Olaug Nilssen’s novel of the same name. Set i ...

'', ''

Room In a building or large vehicle, like a ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure that connects it to either a passage (architecture), passageway, another roo ...

'', and the world premier of

John Sayles John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and ''L ...

's '' Honeydripper'', which was filmed in Alabama. Sayles attended the one-night screening, which drew an audience of nearly 900 people. The Bama continues to be the premier performing arts venue in Tuscaloosa, boasting over 300 nights per year of concerts, movies, dance, and live theater. The central panel of the theatre marquee was replaced with an

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

screen in March 2017.Bama Theatre marquee gets modern update, retains historic features
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Performance groups

The Bama Theatre is home to several performance groups from Tuscaloosa and the surrounding area. The Tuscaloosa Children's Theatre and Tuscaloosa Community Dancers perform at the theater 2-3 times a year each and entertain packed houses with every show. The ACT ("Actors' Charitable Theatre") performs 3-4 shows annually. The theatre is also home to several dance school end-of-year recitals including The Dance Centre and The Academy of Ballet and Jazz. The

Tuscaloosa Academy Tuscaloosa Academy (TA) is a private school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It serves 452 students and has been described as a segregation academy. History The school opened with grades one through seven in September 1967, the year Alabama public schools ...

Players, Tuscaloosa County High School Drama Dept and Brookwood Drama Department have also all enjoyed great success with their productions in this historic space.

References

External links

* http://www.bamatheatre.org * https://web.archive.org/web/20090208181539/http://www.tuscarts.org/bamatheatre.html {{National Register of Historic Places Theatres in Alabama Theatres completed in 1938 National Register of Historic Places in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama Event venues established in 1937 Buildings and structures in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tourist attractions in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Streamline Moderne architecture in Alabama Public Works Administration in Alabama