Lyric Theatre
210 W. State Street,
Atkinson,
NE
68713
210 W. State Street,
Atkinson,
NE
68713
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Just for the sake of ease, this should be changed to the Lyric Theatre at 210 West State Street. (One picture of the Miller Theatre should be moved to that theater’s new entry.) This one should read:
Arthur G. “Tidy” Miller’s first Miller Theatre had launched in 1912 as the Electric Theatre then, later, Miller’s Theatre. But it proved too small for the town’s growing interest in motion pictures. Miller moved the operation to the town’s Memorial Hall. He launched the Lyric Theatre on February 9, 1926 on a 20-year lease with Lon Chaney in “The Unholy Three.” The theatre had 250 seats.
On January 19, 1930, the theatre was equipped with Western Electric sound showing the film, “The Sophomore” to bring talkies to Atkinson. After World War II and the Lyric’s leasing deal reaching expiry, Miller closed the Lyric to move to a new location. The former Memorial Hall/Lyric Theatre served as the town’s American Legion Building. When the American Legion moved, it became the town’s library and community auditorium sometimes referred to as the Lyric Theatre.
As for Tidy Miller, he converted the former Seger Brothers garage to launch the town’s second Miller Theatre. It opened on May 12, 1946 on a 30-year lease. It has its own entry. Miller survived the first 29 years of the new Miller Theatre but passed away after more than 60 years of motion picture operation in downtown Atkinson.
A thumbnail biography of theater operator A. G. Miller in the 1937-38 International Motion Picture Almanac says that he opened the new Lyric Theatre at Atkinson on February 9, 1926. Miller had begun showing movies in Atkinson’s old Opera House on December 19, 1909, when he was 18 years old. It was the town’s first regular movie theater.