Muscle Shoals High School auditorium gets major face lift

When the Muscle Shoals High School Stratford Auditorium was first opened in 1999, it didn’t feature much in the way of technology.

The lights could turn on and off, and it had speakers. That was about it.

That is, until former MSHS Principal Kevin Davis managed to secure a $1.5 million grant for upgrades to the venue.

He told Muscle Shoals High School Performing Arts Director Hannah Bradford it was a going away present.

“When the school was first built, everything in the auditorium was band related,” Bradford said. “It had not been updated since 1999. When I came to the school in 2012, I started incorporating things like show choir, drama and theater, but nothing on the stage helped us with those things.”

Bradford said whenever she and her students wanted to perform, they were forced to rent the necessary equipment. Costing as much as $8,000 a production and $50,000 a year total.

“It was crazy expensive,” she said.

So, Davis calculated what the school had spent on the program over the last five years and made a list of upgrades the auditorium needed.

“We go all out here,” Bradford said. “It costs us about $25,000 to do a show. Owning our own stuff will cost a lot less, and we can spend more on things that will boost the opportunities for our kids.”

Once the grant was awarded, the MSHS auditorium had to be closed for the renovation.

It took from the end of the previous school year in May until January to be ready for use.

Bradford said she and her students were supposed to be able to hold a production in the venue around Oct. 31, but delays pushed the entire schedule back.

However, the wait has definitely been worth it.

Bradford said the auditorium has a new, fully upgraded sound system, three new stacks of main house speakers, seven working stage monitors, brand new subwoofers, two new LED screens on par with what the Rocket City Trash Pandas minor league baseball team has in its stadium, stage lighting comparable to a rock concert, a video system allowing personnel back stage to follow along with the production and three in-house cameras that will allow for filming.

“The stuff we have at the high school is the same stuff they use in Norton Auditorium at the University of North Alabama, but newer,” Bradford said. “This is now the best auditorium in the Quad Cities.”

Now that the upgrades are complete, Bradford and her students are hosting a production called “More Cowbell,” a choir performance based on a famous Saturday Night Live sketch featuring Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken.

The show has three performances, including Jan. 8, 9 and 11 at 7 p.m.

The performances will feature “dad rock” songs from years past, including “Carry on My Wayward Son,” “Barracuda,” “American Girl” and more.

The show is about two hours and 15 minutes long with a 15-minute intermission and features a 22-song setlist.

“We can’t wait,” Bradford said. “Tickets are selling like crazy. It feels awesome to me and my students. It has been a long time coming, and a lot of stress and accommodation. It has definitely been worth it.”