Lafayette Theatre
4 Broadway Street,
Buffalo,
NY
14203
4 Broadway Street,
Buffalo,
NY
14203
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Opened in 1922, to replace an earlier theater of the same name nearby, the Lafayette Square Playhouse was designed by architect Leon H. Lempert for legitimate theater and vaudeville. It was located, as the name suggests, off Buffalo’s Lafayette Square on Broadway. The theater’s name was eventually shortened to simply the Lafayette Theatre. It could seat over 3000. The Lafayette was acclaimed for its superb acoustics and had a large stage. 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 theaters located on Main Street, such as Shea’s Buffalo and the Paramount. The Lafayette was demolished in 1962, and 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 43 comments)
I have found the current owners through their wonderful website www.opus501.com This organ has quite a history and road traveled among its many owners over the years.
If anyone has interior photos of this theatre, please contact or myself. Thank you!
John Basil,who is the author of “True Theatre History During the 20th Century”, has a phone number posted above(716-834-0348). In his book there are a number of pictures of the Lafayette.
LOUB: Are there pictures of the auditorium showing the Opus 501 and the lobby, etc. And are they good clear photos? Don’t mean to be picky, but many of us are really wanting to see some good interior photos of this once great theatre! Would the Erie County Library be of any help to us?
Patsy,
I don’t think the Erie County Library has a copy of John Basil’s book,but in the Special Collections Department of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library there is a manuscript by Ranjit Sandhu,who is an authority on Buffalo theatres. It is said to document every known theatre built before 1939 in the city of Buffalo. It cannot be used outside of the department.
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.