Lafayette Theatre

4 Broadway,
Buffalo, NY 14203

3 people favorited this theater

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Basil Brothers Theatres

Architects: Leon H. Lempert, Jr.

Previous Names: Lafayette Square Playhouse, Basil's Lafayette Theatre

Nearby Theaters

Located at the corner of Washington Street and Broadway. Opened on February 27, 1922, to replace an earlier theatre of the same name nearby, the Lafayette Square Playhouse was designed by architect Leon H. Lempert for legitimate theatre and vaudeville. It was located, as the name suggests, off Buffalo’s Lafayette Square, with its entrance on Broadway. The theatre’s name was eventually shortened to simply the Lafayette Theatre. It could seat over 3,542. The Lafayette Theatre was acclaimed for its superb acoustics and had a large stage. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer 3 manual 15 ranks organ. In 1927, it was the first Buffalo movie house to show the “The Jazz Singer”.

In later years, it would begin to suffer in attendance partly due to the fact in was away from the other major theatres located on Main Street, such as Shea’s Buffalo Theatre and the Paramount Theatre. The Lafayette Theatre was closed on October 28, 1962 and was soon demolished. The site is now a parking lot.

Part of the Lafayette’s organ was later installed at the Temple Beth Zion on Delaware Avenue.

Contributed by Bryan Krefft

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Recent comments (view all 45 comments)

Patsy on February 1, 2009 at 9:16 am

How does one contact Mr. Sandhu?

Patsy on February 1, 2009 at 9:18 am

http://www.buffaloah.com/h/movie/sandhu/index.html

Patsy on February 1, 2009 at 9:22 am

Don’t see the Lafayette Theatre on the above site though. I would think that Mr. Sandhu would have photos, if anyone!

LouB on February 1, 2009 at 9:47 am

http://ah.bfn.org/h/movie/oral

Patsy,
The above site has some information on the Lafayette.

Patsy on February 1, 2009 at 10:35 am

I have tried clicking on the Bob Schley name in 2 different locations and neither one seem to be deliverable email addresses and Chuck LaChiusa was of no help to me.

larryfenner on September 1, 2012 at 2:10 pm

Dear Tinseltoes – THANK YOU very much for posting the links to the “Exhibitors Herald” and “Boxoffice” articles showing pictures of the Lafayette. I really appreciate it. The WurliTzer trade ad from “Exhibitors Herald” included the best picture of the WurliTzer organ(which I currently own) while still in the theatre that I’ve ever seen. Larry Fenner.

TivFan on January 15, 2013 at 12:33 pm

The Google map for the Lafayette is incorrect. The same for the Olympic Theatre. The map on the Lyric page is the correct map for the location of these three theaters.