The Lyric Theatre was a
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually 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 perfor ...
in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...
.
The -story structure designed by Owen Saylor and Payson opened on December 18, 1926 as the Ararat Shrine Temple. It cost the
Shriners $1 million and had a seating capacity of 3,000. It was designed to imitate the
Temple of Vesta
The Temple of Vesta, or the aedes (Latin ''Aedes Vestae''; Italian: ''Tempio di Vesta''), is an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy. The temple is located in the Roman Forum near the Regia and the House of the Vestal Virgins. The Temple of Vesta h ...
and was to be part of a complex that also consisted of the Deramus Building and the
American Hereford Building on other corners of the intersection at 10th and Central.
In 1939 Union Trust of St. Louis foreclosed on the $600,000 note on the building. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
it was sold to the
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the des ...
as a
blood collection
In medicine, sampling is gathering of matter from the body to aid in the process of a medical diagnosis and/or evaluation of an indication for treatment, further medical tests or other procedures. In this sense, the sample is the gathered matter ...
center.
It was used as a legitimate theatre called the Playhouse and later the Victoria.
Midland Broadcasting bought the building in 1947 for its
KMBC
KMBC-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside CW affiliate KCWE (channel 29). Both stations share studios on Winchester Avenue in the Ridge ...
radio broadcasts (and later
KMBC-TV
KMBC-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside The CW, CW affiliate KCWE (channel 29). Both stations share stud ...
)
In 1957
Durwood Organization took it over and converted for
Todd-AO
Todd-AO is an American post-production company founded in 1953 by Mike Todd and Robert Naify, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. For more than five decades, it was the worldwide leader in theater s ...
and later
Cinerama
Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporati ...
movies at called the Capri Theatre.
[Lyric Theatre of Kansas City - Lyric Theatre History - Retrieved August 20, 2009]
KMBC continued to broadcast from beneath the stage.
In 1970 the
Lyric Opera of Kansas City Lyric Opera of Kansas City is an American opera company located in Kansas City, Missouri.
Founded in 1958 by conductor Russell Patterson, the company presents an annual season of four operas at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Product ...
signed a lease to perform at the theatre.
In 1974
Metromedia
Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMon ...
, then owners of KMBC-TV, took over management of the building although the live arts continued to be performed.
In 1982
The Hearst Corporation
Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.
Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televis ...
, KMBC-TV's new owners, acquired the building. In 1989 a piece of plaster fell from the building during a rehearsal of the
Kansas City Symphony
The Kansas City Symphony (KCS) is a United States symphony orchestra based in Kansas City, Missouri. The current music director is conductor Michael Stern. The Symphony performs at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, located at 1601 Bro ...
. Hearst initially began repairs and eventually sold it to the Lyric Opera which continued the repairs.
In 2007 the Lyric Opera sold the theatre to DST Realty.
Kansas City approves incentives for Lyric Theatre
/ref> KMBC-TV left its long-time home to go to new quarters near Swope Park
Swope Park is a city park in Kansas City, Missouri. At , it is the 51st-largest municipal park in the United States, and the largest park in Kansas City. It is named in honor of Colonel Thomas H. Swope, a philanthropist who donated the land to ...
.
In 2011 the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Kansas City Symphony and the Kansas City Ballet moved their performances to the newly constructed Kauffman Performing Arts Center
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in Downtown Kansas City, downtown Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, at 16th and Broadway, near the Power & Light District, the T-Mobile Center and the Crossr ...
.
References
{{reflist
External links
Ararat Shrine Temple history
Theatres in Kansas City, Missouri
Theatres completed in 1926
Cinemas and movie theaters in Missouri
1926 establishments in Missouri
2011 disestablishments in Missouri