The Birmingham Jane: Glenny Brock

By: Javacia Harris Bowser, See Jane Write Magazine Founding Editor

Sometimes we’re too close to excellence to recognize it.

I have a friend who is absolutely brilliant. She has a way with words, an ability to string together sentences in a way that can be meaningful and memorable, yet also utterly hilarious. But sometimes I forget just how smart she is because, well, she’s my friend. She’s a person I giggle and gossip with over scones and hot tea. But on March 1 this friend of mine reminded me of just how brilliant she is when she took the stage at TEDxBirmingham 2014.

Glenny Brock is not only my friend and a TEDxBirmingham speaker, but she’s also been instrumental in the revival of the Lyric Theatre, a historic theater that has been standing in the heart of downtown Birmingham since 1914 and was  once considered the finest vaudeville house in the Southeast.

If you live in or grew up in Birmingham, chances are you’ve passed the Lyric Theatre for years not recognizing the important piece of history in your midst.

Like I said, sometimes we’re too close to excellence to recognize it.

Glenny is our next Birmingham Jane, not because she is my friend, but because she loved Birmingham enough to help “light up the Lyric” and because she’s brilliant.

For people who weren’t at TEDxBirmingham can you briefly summarize your talk and what you hoped people would take from it?

Our talks didn’t have formal titles, but if they had, I would have called mine “Show People.” That’s a reference to the sort of characters who choose show business vocations — I come from a family full of such folks. The phrase is also an imperative, as in, “Show people who you are,” or “Show people what you want them to see.” I think my message was about seeing and doing. The way I conveyed that was to recount the history of Birmingham’s theatre district in general and the Lyric in particular, as well as my personal history with the building.

How have you used storytelling to help raise money for the Lyric?

I like to say that all I did was show people. That doesn’t merely sound good; it’s true. The Lyric is visually very appealing, but the stories of its history really captivate people. In leading tours there for the past five years, I’ve seen hundreds of people grin and clap their hands and gasp in amazement. Then they hear the stories of the vaudeville acts and the old movies, and the place feels powerful to them.

SJW Mag: Why do you think it’s so important to restore and revive the theater? How do you think it will help the city as a whole?

Glenny Brock: The Lyric is a redemption story. Its restoration provides an example of Birmingham getting something right. Birmingham’s Terminal Station — probably the greatest building the city ever had — was demolished in 1969 with relatively little public outcry, although we talk about it all the time now. I believe that the one gift of that building’s destruction was that it started historic preservation in a meaningful way in Birmingham. The Lyric is a counterpoint. We neglected it for a long, long time, but finally managed to save it.

The Lyric anchors the Theatre & Arts District and sits adjacent to the Civil Rights District. I think that makes its seat significant. There are hundreds of abandoned theatres all over this country. The fact that we saved one really makes Birmingham remarkable. I think it was a radical act.

What can other people do to support this project?

While we are under construction, the best thing to do is keep the conversation going. Follow our progress on www.lightupthelyric.com and www.restorethelyric.com. Take pictures of the sign, especially on nights when the lights are on, as they are every time we have an event at the Alabama Theatre.

What advice would you give to someone who has maybe fallen in love with a building or project that needs restoration and revival? How can they more beyond passion for the place or project to action? 

I wish I had a surefire formula, but I don’t. I can recommend the approach I took, but I do so with the warning that the Lyric benefitted from a lot of “right time, right place” factors. That said, here’s a possible course of action: Get committed and be a little relentless. If it’s a building, find out who owns it and what plans might already be underway. Get inside and make yourself available. Be flexible and friendly, but determined. And show people. Chances are, if you love a building, you can get other people to fall in love with it, too. As an individual, I couldn’t get anything significant done. Once I had a lot of like-minded allies, progress was a lot more rapid.

One other important thing: Form alliances beyond your subculture. One of the most satisfying moments I’ve had in the past five years was talking to an attorney about the Lyric. We had been on the phone for more than an hour discussing vaudeville, slapstick, the history of the theatre district and much more, and all of the sudden he interrupted me and said, “You know, I think politically you and I wouldn’t have much to say to each other, but we could talk about the Lyric all day.” I laughed because I realized he was right. If we met under other circumstances, I’m not sure we’d have given each other the time of day. But our shared love of the Lyric made us really good friends.

 You can see Glenny’s TEDxBirmingham talk here.