Red Mountain Theatre Presents 'Bar Mitzvah In Birmingham'

BIRMINGHAM, AL — a new Broadway-aimed musical will debut at Red Mountain Theatre’s upcoming Human Rights New Works Festival in Birmingham.

Originally pegged for a movie, “Bar Mitzvah in Birmingham” will be heard as a musical for the first time Sunday at 2 pm to conclude Red Mountain Theatre’s annual creative conclave.

The show is authored by Ben Andron, an Orthodox Jew and producer of prominent movie and TV trailers in Hollywood, including many Harry Potter films, HBO’s Watchmen, and most recently Tiger King and Cobra Kai. Andron also authored a musical version of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley.

He is joined by Thomas Jones II, former Founder and Artistic Director of award-winning, internationally acclaimed Jomandi Productions in Atlanta and current Executive Director of Via Theatrical. The show is composed by Nissim Black, a well-known hip-hop artist residing in Jerusalem, who is making his first foray into musicals.

"Our story seeks to both entertain but also to educate," Androm said. "What once was contemplated as a comedic fish-out-of-water story has evolved into an inspirational and important work addressing systemic racism and the contours of the ‘New South,’"

“As soon as I heard ‘Bar Mitzvah in Birmingham’ I was sold,” said Red Mountain Theatre’s Executive Director Keith Cromwell. “Our theater has not been a source of new musical works so this is a particularly exciting incubation for us.”

According to Cromwell, this will be the first time any audience has heard “Bar Mitzvah in Birmingham” in its early, raw form. All of Act 1 will be read with numerous but not all songs interspersed.

Following its premiere in Birmingham, Jones said the team would continue to refine and ultimately finalize the work in hopes of working with Cromwell and others to schedule a World Premiere of the musical during an upcoming Red Mountain Theatre season.