Lux Theatre

Here is one of the 1909 colour postcard views that feature the Lyric Theatre - - -
http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?g=vm;sid=51ad0c6a604fa867b2c32e3eef83230f;q1=Downtown%20Joplin;rgn1=joplinic_ta;c=joplinic;evl=full-image;quality=2;view=entry;subview=detail;lasttype=boolean;cc=joplinic;entryid=x-jpl10-und-307-und-012-und-a-und-l;viewid=10_307_012_A_L;start=1;resnum=9

This 1937 airplane view shows that the Lyric Theatre (left of center) had a nice size stagehouse. There also appears to be a modern marquee.
http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?g=vm;med=1;sid=23eb224cf414577ba409f9b1b535c52b;q1=joplinic;rgn1=joplinic_all;c=joplinic;evl=full-image;quality=2;view=entry;subview=detail;lasttype=boolean;cc=joplinic;entryid=x-jpl10-und-307-und-009-und-a-und-b;viewid=10_307_009_A_B;start=41;resnum=52

This theater should be listed under its final name, the Lux Theatre. It also had at least one name between Lyric and Lux. From the 1930s until 1952 it was the DeRay Theatre.

The Lyric Theatre opened after 1900 and was in operation at least as early as 1906 when it was shown on the Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Joplin. Though it was a narrow house it had a fairly deep stage, and may have presented legitimate stage productions, though it was not the town's largest theater. The Lyric was more likely a vaudeville house before movies became popular.

I've been unable to find out anything about the house between the 1900s and the 1930s, but at least as early as 1937 it was being operated as the DeRay Theatre by the Fite brothers, whose small regional movie house circuit consisted of five theaters in Kansas and Missouri.

In 1952 the DeRay was acquired by Dickinson Theatres, and was completely remodeled and reopened as the Lux Theatre. Dickinson operated the Lux for two decades, and it appears to have been a first-run house the entire time.

The Lux closed when Dickinson opened their new Northpark I & II Theatres at Northpark Mall in 1972. The Lyric Theatre building has since been demolished, along with everything else on its block.

The DeRay's vertical and marquee can be seen in this 1941 photo of Joplin's Main Street. The theater also had a large rooftop sign at this time, but it is facing the other direction. The vertical signs of the Fox and Paramount can also be seen, down the street on the left side.