Bama and the Bard
The sixth largest Shakespeare Festival in the world, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF), attracts 300,000 visitors annually. The massive $21.5 million facility is set atop a hill in a 225-acre park with a lake and English style gardens. Seating is intimate. The Octagon holds 250 people and the Festival Stage seats 750.
The ASF mounts 14 productions a year. A recent sold-out performance of Disney’s "Beauty and the Beast" featured cast members who had Broadway and off-Broadway credits. Equity auditions for the ASF shows are held in New York City and occasionally in Chicago or Los Angeles.
The facility is huge. Almost everything needed for a show is created on the premises. Wigs are hand-made; every costume is fitted on the actors—sewn first in muslin, then again in rich fabrics. If necessary, the perfect color for a garment is achieved in the dye room. Massive headdresses and delicate jewelry are designed and created in the basement of the 100,000 square foot complex. The green room (the place where actors relax when not on stage) is located next to the work area where props and sets are built. Visitors can take a backstage tour for $5.
Each year, more than 400 shows are performed at the ASF. And they aren’t all the works of Shakespeare. Typically, three of the season’s offerings are Shakespeare’s plays while the remaining shows are classic works, such as "Death of a Salesman", musicals, or new works commissioned by the festival.
The ASF wants to educate the audience. Most Saturdays, it offers free award-winning lectures at the Theatre in the Mind which explores the authors, issues, and eras of ASF plays. If you purchase a ticket to a Shakespeare production, arrive 30 minutes early for an informative explanation of the show before the curtain rises with Dr. Susan Willis, resident dramaturg. After each matinee performance, stick around and ask the staff (actors, conductor, and others) about the play.
Each theatre has wheelchair and companion seating. For more information on accessibility, contact Abby Bryson Accessibility Coordinator at (334) 271-5336 or abryson@asf.net. For more information on ASF, visit www.asf.net or call 800-841-4ASF.
It’s All Greek to Me
The Jasmine Hill Gardens and Outdoor Museum is situated on the southernmost outcropping of the Appalachians, just north of Montgomery, Alabama, in Wetumpka. A few brief weekends, between mid-March and mid-May, the stunning 20-acre garden is open to the public. A favorite wedding site for local brides, the garden is ablaze with hundreds of camellias, Japanese cherries, azaleas, dogwoods, roses, snowballs, poppies, seasonal annuals, and magnolias.
Nearly 80 years ago, the original owners of the property, Ben and Mary Fitzpatrick, traveled extensively to Greece collecting ideas and art objects for their home. The garden walkways and walls were built during the Depression when the Fitzpatrick’s neighbors hauled the stones by horse and wagon from a nearby creek.
During the next 30 years, the couple commissioned sculptors in Greece and Italy to recreate famous statuary and fountains for shipment to Alabama. Since the early 1970s, Jim and Elmore Inscoe have added pieces to the garden and supervised the grounds’ maintenance.
Today, the garden is affectionately known as, “Alabama’s Little Corner of Greece.” A self-guided walking tour of the property includes some 40 pieces of Greek statuary honoring Olympic heroes and mythical gods. Take a stroll past the Temple of Hera ruins, a dolphin fountain, a goat and piping Pan, a pouting maiden, a bust of Zeus, and terracotta lions.
A non-profit organization, Jasmine Hill is open weekends in March, April, and May. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for children. Children under 6 are free. From Montgomery take U.S. Highway 231 North, turn right on Jasmine Hill Road, and travel 2.2 miles to the garden entrance. (For additional information call (334) 263-5713 or visit the website www.jasminehill.org.)
Small Town, Big Impact: Wetumpka, Alabama
Look to the east of Jasmine Hill Garden—across a forested valley. The spectacular view was created by an asteroid impact that hit the area about 85 million years ago, near the end of the Age of the Dinosaurs.
Scientists estimate the Wetumpka impact event was 175,000 times more than the energy of the nuclear bomb detonated at Hiroshima during World War II. In 2002, Wetumpka was added to the Earth Impact Database, which is an international list of approximately 200 proven impact craters. (For more information: www.wetumpka.al.us)
Go To Guide
A Courtyard by Marriott is conveniently located less than a mile from the ASF. The Renaissance Montgomery’s Hotel & Spa located in downtown was inspired by New York’s Plaza Hotel. The stunning property is next to the convention center and has a 1,800-seat theatre. Bring your bathing suit, because the roof top pool has a chairlift.
While visiting Montgomery, stop by the Rosa Parks Library and Museum in downtown. Tour the Alabama State Capitol where Jefferson Davis took the oath of office as President of the Confederate States of America. Spend an afternoon at the Montgomery Zoo and Mann Wildlife Learning Museum. For more information on Montgomery, visit (www.visitingmontgomery.com) or call 800-240-9452 for a free visitor guide.
