Lyric Theatre

I get the criticism, however. The theater swallowed up a lot of the comedy in Mel Brooks' musical version of “Young Frankenstein.” Admittedly, the show and production did have a few intrinsic problems of their own that had nothing to do with the house, but I felt that the size of the theater (as opposed to the smaller Richard Rodgers, where the more successful – and funnier – “The Producers” ran), caused the performances to reach even bigger and broader than is Brooks' usual style to sell the jokes up in the rafters, which squashed the life out of the humor. The set pieces looked wonderful on that big stage, however.

I can’t seem to link the Times article so here is its excerpted text, the parts dealing with the theater itself:

Broadway’s next mega-budget show, the Australian musical “King Kong,” will no longer open as planned at the Foxwoods Theater next winter, which will instead become home to a revival of the musical comedy “On the Town,” the producers of both shows said in separate statements on Thursday. At the same time, the theater’s new leaseholders announced they were renaming the 1,900-seat house – one of Broadway’s biggest – to the Lyric.

The new landlords of the Lyric, the London-based Ambassador Theater Group, could have waited for “King Kong,” but the theater has been empty since January after the closing of “Spider-Man.” No theater owner wants to have an empty house for a year or more, especially after paying roughly $60 million to take over the lease, as Ambassador Theater Group did. A spokesman for the company said that its co-chief executive and point person for the Lyric, Howard Panter, was not available for an interview and that the organization had no comment.

The “On the Town” producers plan to put all 1,900 of the Lyric’s seats on sale, according to a spokesman for the show. “Spider-Man,” which struggled to fill seats late in its three-year run, ended up closing off some rows and shrinking the capacity of the theater to 1,600 seats.

The Lyric has been renamed following the end of a sponsorship deal last year between the Foxwoods casino and the theater’s previous landlord, Live Nation. The theater has a reputation for feeling cavernous and having acoustic challenges and has been home to a string of unprofitable shows including “Spider-Man,” “The Pirate Queen” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” The theater opened in 1998 after combining two spaces – the Lyric, a Broadway theater-turned-movie house, and the Apollo Theater. The new space was named the Ford Center for the Performing Arts; the name was later changed to the Hilton, and then the Foxwoods.

I am happy to report that this theater has new owners and since the contract with Foxwoods is over, they are re-naming this house —wait for it — the Lyric.

(Article is in the New York Times 3/7/14.)

I would have preferred it being called the Lyric Apollo, but the Lyric is the best name this theater has had in years!

As late as 1965 the Lyric was still “premiering” motion pictures albeit smutty ones:

Per NY Times 8/12/65: BOB HOPE, get some soap and scrub out that blue humor! “I’ll Take Sweden,” which United Artists opened yesterday at the midtown Lyric Theater, is altogether unworthy of a beloved sunshine man who has cheered millions. The picture is an altogether asinine little romp, laboriously eking out a winding trail of sexual innuendoes, with some pasted-on backgrounds of Sweden and much mad racing in and out of bedrooms. And it couldn’t be duller or more obvious.

So the Lyric wasn’t strictly a playhouse until 1934?

Was the 1922 Robin Hood a movie or a play?

Robin Hood?

The movie playing in that image posted on January 28 is MONEY FROM HOME with Martin and Lewis. Originally released in 3-D, it opened flat in New York, first at the Paramount and then at Loew’s theaters throughout the five boroughs.

Rob. Check the top of the ad. While the 42nd Street Lyric is not listed among the neighborhood houses showing the flick at the bottom of the ad, there is an announcement at the top of the ad for a live appearance by Smokey Robinson at this Lyric Theatre.

I actually went right for the photo there, too. Original link was just for the thumbnail image.

And, unfortunately, they took most of their links with them.

Great picture, Soren. As were the other Times Square photos on his website. I’m already trying to figure out what was playing at the Lyric. Looked like Dean Martin in a still.

The former Ford Center for the Performing Arts / Hilton Theatre will be renamed soon “The Foxwoods Theatre. Foxwoods Resorts Casino has won the naming rights to the theatre.