Lafayette Theatre
4 Broadway,
Buffalo,
NY
14203
3 people favorited this theater
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.
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Recent comments (view all 45 comments)
How does one contact Mr. Sandhu?
http://www.buffaloah.com/h/movie/sandhu/index.html
Don’t see the Lafayette Theatre on the above site though. I would think that Mr. Sandhu would have photos, if anyone!
http://ah.bfn.org/h/movie/oral
Patsy,
The above site has some information on the Lafayette.
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.
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.
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.
The Lafayette Square theatre opened on February 27th, 1922 with “Thunderclap”
Lafayette Square Theatre building opening 26 Feb 1922, Sun The Buffalo Times (Buffalo, New York) Newspapers.com
Another paper: Lafayette Square theatre opening 26 Feb 1922, Sun Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express (Buffalo, New York) Newspapers.com
Closed October 28th, 1962 per:
Lafayette Theatre closing 04 Oct 1962, Thu Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, New York) Newspapers.com