Lyric Theatre
251 Conti Street,
Mobile,
AL
36602
251 Conti Street,
Mobile,
AL
36602
No one has favorited this theater yet
The Lyric Theatre opened on October 22, 1906, seating for 1,200, as a vaudeville house. The theater was designed by the Stone Brothers. It also presented live stage shows, and occasional movies. The Lyric Theatre contained two balconies and two sets of boxes, a large, ornately decorated proscenium, and a fire curtain decorated with scenes of Mobile’s Bienville Square. It was also said to have wonderful accoustics.
Many famous names played the Lyric Theatre during its vaudeville days, including Richard Strauss, Sarah Bernhardt, Burns & Allen, W.C. Fields and in 1913, President Woodrow Wilson spoke to members of the Latin-American Congress at the Lyric Theatre.
After Saenger Amusements opened their Mobile Theatre across the street from the Lyric Theatre in 1927, the Lyric Theatre was seen as competition to the new theater, and was acquired by Saenger later that same year. The Lyric Theatre primarily was by this time a movie house. By the 1930’s and 1940’s, the Mobile Theatre was playing first-run fare, while the Lyric Theatre was reduced to second-run movies, and most often B-grade ones at that.
After the Lyric Theatre closed in 1950, it was demolished to make way for a parking lot.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Here is a link to a photograph of the Lyric, circa 1910, from the Library of Congress.
A Robert-Morton theater organ was installed in the Lyric Theater in 1927.
Here is a new link to the Library of Congress photo.
This theatre is mentioned in a book about Nelle Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird) by Charles Shields.
The February, 1906, issue of Engineering World ran this announcement about the proposed Lyric Theatre in Mobile:
From 1901 to 1910, the Stone Brothers architectural firm consisted of Guy Stone, Grover C. Stone, and Sam Stone, Jr.The Sanger Amusements web site offers this page with a brief history of the Lyric, and several illustrations.