Lyric Theatre

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The Lyric Maylands – HISTORY & TALKIES COME TO MAYLANDS

Greg Lynch said – The Lyric Theatre Maylands was built in 1923 by Mr. H. C. Leister, who is recorded as the first exhibitor, followed by Tom Snooks. During the opening years the theatre traded well, however in 1929 the public stopped going to the pictures as the USA Wall Street crash led to a worldwide economic depression. At the height of the Great Depression, 32 per cent of the Australian workforce was unemployed, causing the economy to collapse. It took Australia almost a decade to recover from the Great Depression. It was in this environment that the Lyric management reduced screenings to one night a week (Sat), and in desperation introduced roller skating to operate Mon to Fri. This continued with moderate results until the handing over of the theatre to a Mr. R. Hatfield who announced in the “The Swan Express (Midland Junction, WA) Fri 1 Nov 1929” that he had taken over The Lyric theatre and was going to introduce TALKIES (Talking Pictures) to quote : “The Lyric Theatre is now being installed with the latest all-Australian invention “Australtone, which has proved itself at the Rosemount and other theatres as the equal of any Talkie device on the market. The projection booth was also to be updated with the installation of Simplex projectors”. Mr Hatfield would continuing running The Lyric Maylands until 1934.

New Owner

1934 – Twelve months after opening the Roxy Gardens, Maylands, H. R. (Herb.) Robinson & his sister Miss M. I. Robinson took over the Lyric Theatre, also located in Maylands. Both theatres were now run and owned by the Robinson’s. Simultaneous screenings at both Lyric and Roxy gave patrons the choice of either indoor or open-air entertainment. The Lyric in it’s heyday was a splendid building featuring red carpet and a grand staircase, while in the early 1950’s a wide screen was installed to replace the old square format. It is believed for reasons unknown that Herb didn’t install CinemaScope at either The Roxy Gardens or The Lyric theatre. This writer remembers Herb Robinson with great affection. My grandmother always said that our families were related, which was never proven, but it made for a good conversation at the Saturday matinees.

Welcoming

The Robinson’s were welcoming hosts in the old style by positioning themselves at the upstairs lounge door on Saturday nights to farewell the patrons as they left the show. In those days there seemed to be a greater sense of community. The Saturday afternoon matinee was always a wonderful experience as we journeyed through a “James FitzPatrick Travelogue”, a Superman serial, and perhaps a couple of Walt Disney or Tom & Jerry cartoons, and of course there were times when we followed the bouncing ball, usually to the tune of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”. The sing-a-long was a special time. The most popular song of the era was without doubt the 1953 Patti Page hit single (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window ? – At times Herb or his manager would stand on the stage and conduct the kids with the words projected on the screen behind them. We really looked forward to this segment and would sing out on the top of our voices. The Lyric matinees often presented black and white movies featuring, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Dagwood & Blondie Bumstead, or even a Cisco Kid pot boiler. The Lyric theatre closed in June 1961. The Roxy Gardens and the Lyric theatre Maylands left a powerful impression on this writer which led to a lifetime of involvement in the Motion Picture / Cinema Industry. I mourn the passing of the great Picture Palaces and the Golden Era of cinema and I know that Maylands is a poorer place without them. – Greg Lynch ……