Miller Symphony Hall
23 N. Sixth Street,
Allentown,
PA
18101
23 N. Sixth Street,
Allentown,
PA
18101
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The Lyric continued to stage its Saturday night shows independently until 1975, long after the last traveling burlesque circuit had gone out of business. The Allentown Morning Call newspaper, 10 May 1975, reported that the Lyric was giving its final burlesque shows. It must have been among the very last such venues still in continuous operation in the United States.
The Lyric was a stop on the last surviving burlesque circuit in the United States. The Saturday night shows were wonderfully entertaining and drew huge crowds, including lots of couples. I think the shows were still going into the 1960s. Does anybody know just when they ended?
To help keep the doors open in the late 50’s the Lyric featured traveling burlesque on Saturday nights. I have fond memories of when my friend and I would buy the cheap balcony seats and spot his father’s bald head down in the orchestra.
The Lyric Theatre as designed by John McElfatrick was Romanesque Revival in style, but sometime around 1920 the 6th Street facade was entirely replaced with a new Beaux Arts front. The side wall along Court Street remains Romanesque to this day.