Feature: Revitalized Alhambra Celebrates 50 Years

In the summer of 2009, local businessman Craig Smith took a huge gamble on Jacksonville's failing Alhambra Dinner Theatre, which had decided to close its doors after 42 years of production. The longest-running professional dinner theatre in the country had, for a number of reasons (not the least of which being the poor economy in the late 2000's) seen its subscription base drop from a peak of about 4,500 to 500 and struggle to fill even half the house at discounted prices.

"I grew up in Jacksonville on the Westside ... I didn't know what Broadway was when I was 10 or 11 years old. So when we came here to the Alhambra, I was like 'Sign me up! That's good stuff!'," Smith recalls. "I didn't get the 'theatre bug' in the sense that I wanted to be an actor, but I loved the feel of it. So fast forward to 20 years later, I had a daughter and this kind of became our Daddy-Daughter Date Spot. My parents loved it, I loved it, and all of a sudden - it's gone. I had sold my company, so I wasn't doing anything. So I thought 'I'm going to see if I can help them.' Just because I loved the place. That was a Wednesday night at about 7:00. By Friday afternoon at 3:00, I had agreed to own it. I tell you I didn't have the foggiest clue about theatre and all I knew about restaurants was that I like to eat. I had no clue about either business. Wednesday night I found out it was closing and by Friday, I agreed to buy something I knew nothing about. I was here around the clock for that final week or so ... watching, learning. Never in my wildest dreams would I have been in the theatre business - it just wasn't part of my life's plan. Of course, I hadn't planned it so good, it just all kind of happened. I loved the place."

Rebranded as Alhambra Theatre & Dining, and with Smith as Managing Partner and former owner, Tod Booth, continuing as Creative Director, the revitalized theatre has been a remarkable success story in the intervening seven years. "In that first week or two," Smith continues, "the paper had come out and announced that we were going to try to keep the doors opened. We heard from 10,000 people in 30 days in support of keeping the place open between Facebook and e-mail messages and people calling the Alhambra and leaving voice mail. And they all said the same thing - the shows were great, but the food and place needed work. So I knew what I had to do. Tod did a great job with what he did. All I had to do was make the place nice and clean and feed them. So that's what we set out to do."

Since reopening, Smith and Booth have seen the subscriber base rebound to nearly 5,000 and shows are selling at 80 to 90% capacity, most selling out completely over the last six months. In addition, Alhambra Theatre & Dining is seeing a younger audience as evidenced by enthusiastic groups of Gen X and Millenials hanging out in the bar area before a recent production. Smith and Alhambra's marketing lead Mark Berman of MediaShare Consulting Group, have also been working with the City's tourism department and sponsoring events such as a "Concierge Night" for local hospitality workers to increase interest in Jacksonville's visitors. "In the last seven years," Berman explains, "we've completely 're-culturalized' the place. It's a different brand - we stay true to what the brand has always been, but I think the service and experience have been elevated. The service, the food, the surroundings. One thing that makes us unique, outside of community theatre, from a value standpoint is that you're getting a three-course dinner that's spectacular, an incredible quality show, and free parking for under $50 a person. You can't go downtown for a touring show and park for much less than $20 ... it can be a $300 night for a family with a show and dinner."

But, at its heart, both Smith and Berman agree on what has kept the Alhambra going and why it continues to thrive. Berman adds, "When I tell people what business we're in ... yeah, we're in the theatre business, the entertainment business, the food business ... but I think we're in the memory business. We make nights out for people to share good moments, do cool things, to get engaged, to go on first dates. We're making memories on an everyday basis - that's what this place is all about. Unlike the big professional theatre venues in town, we're more relationship-oriented than transactional. People have a passion for the place and what it represents and not just 'popping in for a show' and leaving."

In fact those memories have now been captured in a 175-page deluxe coffee table book "Alhambra Theatre & Dining: 50 Years of Memories," which is now available on the Alhambra's website. Recently both the original Managing Director, Ted Johnson, and Artistic Director, George Ballis, who opened the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in 1967 were on hand at the theatre for a special book-signing event to kick off the theatre's 50th anniversary. A picture of Johnson and Ballis seated at an elegantly-set table for two in the middle of a field where the Alhambra was built and still remains is featured as the first photo is the spectacularly-comprehensive book loaded with photos and fascinating history.

"The question mark is 'What's next?,'" Smith asks. "Alhambra's been here for 50 years and you haven't been able to get a seat to a show here in the past six months. The public's fickle - it could all change tomorrow. But my goal is to be here another 50 years from now. And, as you sit here, you can't just keep doing what you're doing every day, right? You've got to make it better. You've got to make the production values better. You've got to make the experience better. So, we're just now getting started. We've proved in seven years that, if you do it right, folks will love it and want to come. Now we've got to figure out what's exactly the right way. The other thing is, this place is so much about its history and the memories that have been created here. This place is important to people, it's well beyond an entertainment venue. But there's got to be even more ..."

Alhambra Theatre & Dining opens its 50th anniversary season with a special three-week limited run of Neil Simon's COME BLOW YOUR HORN, opening on January 4. The comedy, which was the first show ever staged at the Alhambra back in 1967, will feature Creative Director, Tod Booth, along with his wife, Lisa Valdini Booth, and daughter, Jessica Booth, all performing for the first time on stage together as a family. The season continues with a special line-up of classic plays and musicals, "popular demand" shows, and some new productions. Classic television stars Dawn Wells and Morgan Fairchild will star in STEEL MAGNOLIAS and DIXIE SWIM CLUB, respectively, and Alhambra favorite, Tony Triano, returns to star in the theatre's perennial holiday tradition, Bruce Scudder's CHRISTMAS CAROLE. For season, ticket, and subscription information, please visit the Alhambra Theatre & Dining website at www.alhambrajax.com.

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