Lyric Theater
overview
Opened in 1903, the Lyric Theater staged several productions involving major LGBT performers and creators, including Clyde Fitch, Cole Porter, and Sarah Bernhardt, among others, before becoming a movie theater in 1934 The historic interior was demolished in 1996, and, incorporating portions of the interiors of the adjacent Apollo and Times Square Theaters, it reopened as the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in 1998.
See New York Area Council of the Mattachine Society, Inc. at Avlon Studios for more information on this site’s LGBT history.
The Blue Mouse program, 1908.
Harrison Ford, actor in Glorious Betsy, n.d. Source unknown.
The City by Clyde Fitch, 1909. Source: flipkart.com.
Edward Everett Horton, actor in The Cheater, n.d. Source unknown.
Rachel Crothers, playwright of Ourselves. Photo by Paul Thompson, c. 1917. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
Playbill cover for Fifty Million Frenchmen, 1929.
(l) Hall Johnson on the cover of the Run, Little Chillun (1933) playbill and (r) Stage set for Run, Little Chillun. Courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
Playbill cover for Ragtime, 1998.
The 43rd Street facade of the Lyric Theater. Photo by Christopher D. Brazee/NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, 2022.
History
The Lyric Theater opened in 1903. An early LGBT-associated play here was Ourselves (1913) by Rachel Crothers. The Lyric also had several hits by LGBT creators and with LGBT performersplaywrights and composers:
- The Blue Mouse (1908-09) by Clyde Fitch
- The City (1909-10) by Clyde Fitch
- Abe and Mawruss (1915-16) by Montague Glass and Roi Cooper Megrue
- Fifty Million Frenchmen (1929-30), directed by Monty Woolley, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter
- Run, Little Chillun (1933), a folk opera with an all-Black cast and considered one of the most successful musicals of the Harlem Renaissance, was written by Hall Johnson, who also was the choral director and composed the music, and included actor Edna Thomas and dancer Bruce Nugent
Other LGBT-associated productions at the Lyric included:
- Sarah Bernhardt (1906), with famous actor Sarah Bernhardt playing roles in scenes from four plays
- Glorious Betsy (1908), with actor Harrison Ford
- The Great John Ganton (1909), with actor Laurette Taylor
- The Cheater (1910), with actor Edward Everett Horton
- What’s In a Name? (1920), with costume design by Robert Locher and Kay Turner (opened at Maxine Elliott’s Theater)
In 1934, legitimate theater ended here and it became a movie theater. The historic theater interior was demolished in 1996. Incorporating portions of the interiors of the adjacent Apollo Theater and Times Square Theater, it reopened as the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in 1998. The first production was the hit Ragtime (1998-2000), by Terrence McNally (Best Book of a Musical Tony Award), with music by Stephen Flaherty (Best Original Musical Score Tony Award), and directed by Frank Galarti. The theater had several name changes: Hilton Theater in 2005, Foxwoods Theater in 2010, and a return to the Lyric Theater in 2014.
See New York Area Council of the Mattachine Society, Inc. at Avlon Studios for more information on this site’s LGBT history.
Entry by Jay Shockley, project director (June 2019, with multiple additions).
NOTE: Names above in bold indicate LGBT people.
Building Information
- Architect or Builder: Victor H. Koehler
- Year Built: 1903
Sources
Internet Broadway Database.
Mattachine Society, “New York Chapter,” Mattachine Review, May 1956, 8-9.
- Peter Marks, “Turning Two Historic Theaters Into One Big One,” The New York Times, January 17, 1996, C11.
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