Lyceum Theatre
417 St. Charles Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70139
417 St. Charles Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70139
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Nearby Theaters
The Lyceum Theatre opened in March 1913 with seating listed at 450. The theatre was located on St. Charles Street at Perdido Street. It was remodeled on December 14, 1927 with Leatrice Joy in “Angel of Broadway”. A Robert Morton pipe organ had been installed which was played by organist Ethel Reynolds.
The Lyceum Theatre closed on October 31, 1961 with Ron Randell in “Most Dangerous Man Alive” & Boris Karloff in “Voodoo Island”. It was used for sparodic live events for a short while and was demolished in the late-1960’s. A skyscraper housing a bank now stands on the site.
Contributed by
Chuck
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 2 comments)
The November 27, 1961, issue of Boxoffice said that the Lyceum had been closed permanently by order of the New Orleans Board of Buildings Standards and Appeal. The house had last been operated under a lease by J.G. Broggi. The item noted that the Lyceum had been built by the late Frank Heiderich, but didn’t mention when it had opened. The item did refer to the Lyceum as one of the oldest movie houses till operating in New Orleans at that time.
The earliest mention of Heiderich and the Lyceum I’ve found is in Boxoffice of June 19, 1937, which said that he had become a grandfather. I haven’t found an obituary for Frank Heiderich in Boxoffice, but the April 5, 1952, issue had a brief item about the death of Mrs. Heiderich which said that Mr. Heiderich was believed to have started his career in exhibition in 1907. The April 12, 1952, issue mysteriously changes the spelling of the name to Heidrich, and says that Frank Heidrich had owned the Lyceum for “…over 20 years.” Son Henry Heidrich would take over management of the theater, this item said.
Frank R. Heiderich bought the 417 St. Charles property in 1912 and opened the Lyceum Theatre in March of 1913. He quickly remodeled the venue exclusively for motion pictures for his St. Charles Amusement Company reopening with the policy and a mirrorroide screen on May 24, 1913. At that time, seating was increased to 500 seats. Hiederich then conducted a more significant remodeling effort complete with a Robert Morton pipe organ reopening as the New Lyceum Theatre on December 14, 1927. He converted it to Phototone sound in November 1928.
In 1955, the venue received its last upgrade when it converted to widescreen projection to present VistaVision and CinemaScope titles. It completed its run as a grind house playing continuous showings of “Most Dangerous Man Alive” and “Voodoo Island” until the last customer left on Halloween, October 31, 1961. It was used for sporadic live events for a brief period. In the late 1960s, it was torn down in major urban renewal in downtown NOLA.