Lyric Theatre

I consider what I see on 43rd Street more than an insignificant small section of wall. Check it out for yourself.

Technically, the theatre was not razed. Gutted yes. Joined with the adjacent Apollo yes. When you walk west on 43rd street from Broadway you can see the remains of the ornate exterior Lyric wall. Incidentally, before the 42nd street vitalization project, this exterior wall was cleaned and resurfaced anticipating the revival of the theatre as had been done with the Apollo using 43rd street as the entrance to avoid the blight on 42nd street.

Read this excellent Wikipedia article on the Lyric Theatre: View link)

Hey Al, This photo link is of the Waverly 1 & 2 Theatres.

Al, this picture link is for the Manhattan 1 & 2 theatre.

Attached is a 1975 photo I took of the Lyric and other marquees. This was previously posted here a few years ago however also attached are a couple of more recent photos of The Hilton.

View link

Notice the XXX on the New Amsterdam marquee. They never ran XXX features, so it was obviously a set-up. I would like to know how they collapsed the New Amsterdam vertical sign in the movie. Finally, I never liked those yellow letters with the black background on the 42nd Street marquees. Looked sleezy and cheap.

I can’t believe it hasn’t been brought up yet, but the Lyric is portrayed significantly in the 1988 Sam Elliott/Peter Weller actioner SHAKEDOWN.
Now since I can’t confirm the authenticity of the interior, somebody with first hand knowledge will have to chime in.

The theater is portrayed as undercover cop Eliott’s office. You’re shown a screen and auditorium. The movie showing is James Glickenhaus’s THE SOLDIER (he also directed SHAKEDOWN).

It’s definitely the interior lobby because Weller and Elliot are tracked from the concession stand to the outside and it’s obvious they came from inside the Lyric by then.

Lots of other 42nd Street theatres on display in the film including the interior of the New Amsterdam.

The intro explains that.

40c to 95c in 1957 for two subrun movies.

I recall hearing about that incident back when it was news. I remember finding it very ironic and quite disturbing. It had always been my experience at the Lyric and other Duece grinders during the ‘80’s, that audience participation was an anticipated part of the entire “entertainment package.” By April of '88, I was already growing impatient with the change in programming on 42nd Street (many of the theaters were trying to book more mainstream product for the top of the bill) and was disconcerted by the unpleasant odors that had started to overwhelm some of the old grind houses. This story was just another – and perhaps final – reason why I stopped turning to Times Square for my cinematic adventures.

only for the summer of `1945 then i had to go back to highj school BKLYN TECH

i worked as an usher at the lyric 1945 20 bucks for 6 days work …i saw king kong and gunga din there about 50 times and still remember the dialogue…..as an usher i could go into any theatre on the block in my cheesy “uniform” at that time i think wm. brandt owned all the theatres…victory, lyric, times square, apollo,,selwyn, harris , liberty, empire and anco only the new amsterdam was the exception i remeber GRANTS across 42 stret where you could get good coffee to go and hot dogs sewrved at street level counter ……………memories