South City Theatre

About Us:

SCT is a 501C3 non-profit theatre dedicated to promoting theatre in Shelby County, AL and a proud member of the Alabama Conference of Theatre, the Southeastern Theatre Conference, and the American Association of Communty Theatre.  We produce six mainstage plays each year, attracting approximately 3,000 audience members annually. Our youth program, Acting Up, offers two workshops during the school year and a two-week summer camp, which allow children ages 9-16 the opportunity to study the craft of acting by producing a production under the direction professional theatre instructors. 

SCT was the the brainchild of Alan and Francie Gardner who shepherded the fledgling organization through multiple facilities and grew the theatre into a flourishing community entity for twelve years.

In May, 2012, the Gardners passed the reins to the Gerrells'.  Sue Ellen serves as Artistic Director and Mike Gerrells is the Facilities Manager/ Technical Director. The Gerrells have brought energy, passion, and expertise to South City. Sue Ellen, an award-winning actress and director, is the former Executive Director for the Alabama Conference of Theatre and currently serves as an Ambassador for the American Association of Community Theatre. In 2016 she is the Chair of both Alabama and the Southeastern Theatre Conference's Community Festivals. Mike is a past-president of The Seasoned Performers, Alabama’s only senior adult theatre, and works as set construction consultant for City Equity Theatre in Birmingham. In 2016, Daniel Strickland joined Mike as a second technical director.

In 2015, the SCT board took a leap of faith and moved the theatre to Pelham, AL. Success followed success as this gamble paid off in triple attendance figures and doubled youth programming. SCT has turned its Pelham home into Shelby County's most intimate theatre. With the acquisition of the adjacent office/work bays, SCT now has a complete theatre facility with performance space, a much needed rehearsal/workshop room, storage facilities, lobby, green room & dressing rooms and both public and private restrooms. In addition to a full season of six adult stage productions, we tour some of our shows to Homewood Public Library. Special productions can be mounted for company events such as NUCOR's annual company retreat and the Alabama Community Theatre Festival in Wetumpka in October.  Workshops by theatre professionals such as Professor Neil David Seibel (Auburn University, Montgomery) and Equity actress Jeanmarie Collins offer adult participants new tools for their craft toolbox.  Two children's workshops and a summer camp with three children's productions help train the next generation in theatre artists.

Our theatre has produced over 150 productions on our mainstage and in our children's programs. SCT has won "Best in Show" at recent state festivals and represented Alabama at the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) with "Driving Miss Daisy," "Agnes of God," and "Sylvia." In 2015, SCT and The Wetumpka Depot Players joined forces for a joint production of "night, Mother" which won the State competition to advance to SETC  where we earned third place in a field of 12 shows from 10 states in the southeast region. The photos on our home page showcase our latest productions. Check out our "BLOG" for information about upcoming productions, auditions, and other events.