Professional theatre for young audiences. Find us on Twitter @BCTBhm123 , Instagram @bhamchildrenstheatre and the web www.bct123.org. Birmingham Children’s Theatre (BCT) was founded in 1947 under the auspices of Birmingham Junior Programs, an arts enrichment organization sponsored by the Junior League of Birmingham and City and County PTA groups. Over the next decade Junior Programs expanded and received encouragement from the Birmingham Board of Education, which excused children from school to attend productions on school days. In 1965, the Junior Programs Board voted to designate a separate organization – Birmingham Children’s Theatre – with responsibility for producing plays staged by local adult professional talents and for local audiences. As one of the oldest professional theatres for young audiences in the Unites States, BCT is also one of the largest in terms of number of annual performances and audience attendance. Not only do BCT productions play to nearly 125,000 local school children annually, but it’s touring educational outreach series, “BCT on Tour,” reaches an additional 75,000 children each year. Four to five productions are taken on tour each season to some 70 cities in Alabama and additional sites throughout the Southeast and up the eastern seaboard. The Birmingham Children’s Theatre has performed for selected audiences at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. and in New York City as an Arts in Education industry leader. Touring productions offer a complete theatrical experience with full sets, costumes and professional actors. Birmingham Children’s Theatre is the company in residence at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. The staff manages three theatres that include the 150-seat Charlotte Lane Dominick Studio Theatre, the 250-seat Wee Folks Theatre, and the 950-seat Main Stage Theatre.

Red Mountain Theatre Company (RMTC) is a non-profit professional theatre organization with an emphasis on musical theatre. The curtain first rose on Summerfest in 1979, when James Hatcher of the University of Alabama in Birmingham Theatre Department and Birmingham’s Mayor David Vann realized the need for a summer “stock” company. Summerfest was originally created to provide productions as part of the UAB Town and Gown Theatre’s academic year but over its 30 year history, has grown to become one of the only year-round professional musical theatre organizations in Alabama. In 2007, Summerfest Musical Theatre officially became Red Mountain Theatre Company but has held on the organization’s original mission to offer professional quality productions, Youth Programs and Education and Outreach opportunities to our local and national arts communities. With its own unique Cabaret Theatre located right in the heart of downtown Birmingham’s Theatre District and summer Mainstage productions performed at the Dorothy Jemison Day Theater at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, Red Mountain Theatre Company continues to bring both well-known national performers and incredible local talent to the Birmingham stage.

The Historic Virginia Samford Theatre is the oldest performing arts venue in Birmingham. We provide a location for local artists and arts organizations to grow and flourish!