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A Short History
of Montevallo Main Street Players

Shelby County Community Theatre

The Shelby County Community Theatre was formed in 1972. Its first production, Life with Father, was presented that year in Palmer Auditorium. In the mid-seventies, plays such as Autumn Garden, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Member of the Wedding, and A Doll’s House were presented in the Depot in the Park.

After the Depot in the Park burned on New Year’s Eve of 1978, it was replaced by the Montevallo Recreation Building, which became the site of productions for several years. Among the plays produced there were You Can’t Take it with You, Our Town, Barefoot in the Park, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds, A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking, and Separate Tables.

Montevallo Main Street Players

During the 1980s, the Shelby County Community Theatre changed its name to the Montevallo Main Street Players and began producing plays upstairs in the old Strand Theater on Main Street. Among the plays produced there were Crimes of the Heart, Steel Magnolias, ’Night Mother, Sunday’s Child, Bus Stop, and The Oldest Living Graduate.

Changing Venues

MMSP produced plays in other venues during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Gin Game, Beyond Therapy, and Exit: Brautigan were produced in Reynolds Theater, and Cheaper by the Dozen was produced at Thompson High School.

Beginning in 2000, MMSP began producing plays in Montevallo High School’s new Performing Arts Center. The first production was The Man Who Came to Dinner, followed by A Christmas Carol, Dearly Departed, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Sisters Rosensweig, The Queen of Bingo, and others.

Reynolds Theater was used again for a production of The Foreigner and a new production of I Do, I Do. A new location for plays during this period, the Montevallo Grille, hosted performances of Three Tall Women, Grace and Glorie, Sylvia, and Truman Capote: Against a Copper Sky.

Parnell Memorial Library Theatre

In 2007, MMSP moved into its permanent home, the Parnell Memorial Library Theatre. For its opening, MMSP reprised the first play produced by the community theatre, Life with Father, followed by Ashes of Roses and A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking.

For information about the current season and other organizational information, click here. For information on membership or other questions, e-mail mmsp@montevalloartscouncil.org.