Historic Lyric Theatre Harrison, Arkansas

The Lyric Theater is a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

located on W. Rush Street in

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

, Boone County,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Designed and constructed by J. W. Bass of Detroit, the Lyric was built in 1929 and adorned with murals by J. W. Zelm (though mythology became prevalent in the area that they had been painted by an unknown

hobo A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works. E ...

). The theater was built as the first cinema in the area to show

talking pictures A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

and operated under the same family's ownership until 1977, though as a franchise of different chains. Following its closure due to an inability to compete with the larger movie theaters, the theater was scheduled for demolition. After more than two decades of disuse, the Lyric reopened as a live performance venue in 1999 when the Ozark Arts Council purchased it for $150,000 and began operating the space. Renovations focused on updating the space for modern use without losing the historic character, including the murals, and these efforts were recognized by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. The theater has been lauded as the "Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks."The Ozark Arts Council
Lyric Theater Coming Events.

References

Buildings and structures in Harrison, Arkansas Theatres in Arkansas Cinemas and movie theaters in Arkansas Tourist attractions in Boone County, Arkansas {{US-theat-struct-stub