Click here for a list of our past seasons.

Theatre 98 was founded in 1961, when two older community theatre groups merged. In those early years we performed in various places around Fairhope, including Comings Hall on what was then the Organic School campus (now the Faulkner State Community College campus), The Grand Hotel, the stage at the high school (now the K-1 Center), and the park on the bay. Although people frequently assume that we took our name from the number of seats in our current playhouse, the name comes from Highway 98, the main artery of the Eastern Shore, and predates our occupation of our current home by many years. (And by the way, there are only 94 permanent seats in our theatre building.)

In the 1970's the group became dormant, but in November of 1982 we were re-activated under the leadership of Nancy Head, who continued as a guiding force of the theatre until her death in 1996. We were incorporated in 1983 as Theatre 98 of Baldwin County, and performances resumed at the Fairhope Civic Center and the Eastern Shore Art Center. In 1985, Theatre 98 moved to our current space on the corner of Church and Morphy streets, sharing it at first with Sherilyn McNally's children's theatre and the Literacy Council. On August 1, 1990, we signed a 20-year lease with the City of Fairhope, the owner of the building, and since then have enjoyed the luxury of a theatre home.

Our theatre building, sometimes known as the Church Street Playhouse, has a fascinating history of its own. Built during the 1920's as the First Baptist Church of Fairhope, it was later used as rehearsal and performance space for the Fairhope High School band (with egg cartons stapled to the ceiling to improve the acoustics) and then as Fairhope's Satellite Courthouse. In the early eighties, local theatre legend Tom Pocase converted the building to an intimate, three-quarter round theater, where his company, Theatre 8:15, specialized in musicals. The new theater was dedicated on March 25, 1983.

Today we work hard, in partnership with our landlord, the City of Fairhope, to maintain and improve our beautiful old building. Since Theatre 98 took over the space we have remodeled the lobby, added a wheelchair ramp, and made the restroom wheelchair- accessible. As our membership has grown over the years, we have added more performances of each production, going from four in 1987 to our current eight. In addition, we offer free admittance to the final dress rehearsal for Fairhope's senior citizens and students.

Theatre 98 is a Fairhope institution that increasingly draws talent and audience from all over the Greater Mobile Bay Area, a fact that was recognized by the Mobile Arts Council in 2004, when we were awarded their first annual Arts Organization Award.

Click here to see the recipients of our Student Service Award.