Lyceum Theatre
82 Eleventh Street,
Minneapolis,
MN
82 Eleventh Street,
Minneapolis,
MN
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Originally the first Minneapolis Auditorium Building, opened in 1905, the theater was rebuilt and renamed the Lyceum Theatre in 1924 by none other than showman S.L. “Roxy” Rothafel, who went on to open the Roxy Theatre in New York. The Lyceum sat around 1800 and cost more than $350,000 to construct.
Originally a first-run house, the format was switched to roadshows during the 30s, starting in 1933.
The roadshow idea never became popular at the Lyceum, so by 1938, it had been reduced to screening “Birth of a Baby” which had been banned in many cities for its controversial footage. However, unlike the roadshow films, “Baby” drew full houses and had quite a long run.
By the 40s, however, legitimate theater had replaced movies at the Lyceum, which such stars as Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, Anthony Quinn and Phil Silvers appearing onstage. When rent rose dramatically in the late 50s, the theater closed.
For many years afterwards, the Lyceum housed a church. In 1976, it was razed to make way for the new Orchestra Hall complex.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
The address for the Lyceum Theatre is 82 11th Street, Minneapolis, Mn.
Theater at left in this 1956 photo:
View link
I’m looking for information that would connect S.L Rothapfel to the current Orpheum theatre. Can anyone help? Or I guess any information that would connect him to any of the Hennepin theatre trust buildings.
The world premiere of the motion picture “Martin Luther” was held at the Lyceum in 1953: View link
This is a circa 1930 photo.
Another photo can be seen here.
Here’s another photo, from 1912. Select page 116 at left: View link