Lyric Theatre

The Lyric Theatre is a former vaudeville and movie theater located at 1800 3rd Avenue North.

History

The Lyric was built in 1914 by Jake Wells, who owned numerous theaters across the South. It operated successfully up until the Great Depression. His funds overextended, Wells lost his chain of theaters and ultimately committed suicide. Ownership of the Lyric reverted to the mortgage company which leased it to the Schubert organization. The Lyric continued to present vaudeville acts, but the Depression and competition from movies led to its decline.

In 1935, the Waters family of Birmingham bought the Lyric, turning it into a second-run movie theater. It continued thus until it closed in 1958. It was reopened for a few years in the 1970s, first as a revival cinema and then as an adult film venue, before closing again for good. In the 1990s, the Waters family donated the building to Birmingham Landmarks, a nonprofit organization which took ownership of the Alabama Theatre across the street from the Lyric a few years earlier. Birmingham Landmarks is currently trying to raise the $16.2 million that the theater's restoration is estimated to cost.

Architecture

The Lyric originally 1200 seats spread across the main floor and two, steep balconies, plus two opera boxes. A gold-leafed curtain hung on the stage beneath a proscenium featuring a large mural known as The Allegory of the Muses, which was painted by local artist Harry Hawkins. The opera boxes were removed in the 1950s to accomodate wide-screen films. Beneath the stage are a series of dressing room, each about eight square feet with sinks in the corners.

The theater interior is currently in disrepair and has no climate control system, leading to further deterioration. It is the only surviving vaudeville theater in Birmingham. Although the theater itself has not been used since the 1970s, it houses operating retail spaces at street-level along 3rd Avenue, including Lyric Hot Dogs.

References

• Chambers, Jesse. (July 3, 2008). "The voice of the theatre." Birmingham Weekly.