Spooks and Spotlights: A walking tour if vaudeville, film & crime

Outside the Lyric Theatre, we’ll relive the dazzling nights when legendary vaudeville acts brought the house roaring to life—and uncover the eerie tales of the spirits still waiting for their final encore. Though we won’t step inside, the echoes of applause and whispers from the wings will make you feel as if the show never truly ended..

Stand beneath the glowing marquee of the Alabama Theatre and hear chilling tales of its glamorous past, when vaudeville stars and silent film idols ruled the stage. From the sidewalk, you’ll learn why locals still whisper of phantom lights, unseen performers, and a restless usher who guards the theater long after the curtain fell.

At the old Empire Building, gaze up the towering façade once scaled by daredevil Harry “The Human Fly” Gardner, whose final stunt ended in tragedy—and some say, left him clinging to the walls still. Just down the street, the Redmont Hotel sets the stage for a blazing 1930s shootout that pitted hard-nosed Detective A.C. McGuire against a ruthless gangster, the echoes of gunfire still said to rattle its windows. We’ll walk the block once gripped by terror, where the Axe Syndicate and Harry the Hacker carved their bloody legend into Birmingham’s darkest history. The tour ends at Eddie Kendricks Park, where the music of Motown’s golden voice rises above the shadows—a soulful reminder that even the city’s haunted past can’t silence its rhythm.