Lyric Theatre
901 E. Broad Street,
Richmond,
VA
23219
901 E. Broad Street,
Richmond,
VA
23219
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Opened in 1913 as Richmond’s home of Keith vaudeville, the 1,800-seat Lyric Theatre operated as a combination house (vaudeville and movies) during the 1920’s, but remained a silent house.
In the 1930’s it became the home of the Richmond Theatre Guild, presenting live theatre, which policy continued into the 1940’s. In 1948 the Lyric Theatre was taken over by a radio station and became the WRVA Theatre, known for its live broadcast, “The Old Dominion Barn Dance". By this time the seating capacity had been reduced to 1,300.
In 1957 the Barn Dance was moved to another venue, and the Lyric Theatre returned to hosting occasional live theatrical events presented by local performance groups. The Lyric Theatre was closed and demolished in 1963.
Contributed by
Joe Vogel
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
The WRVA Theatre Was Named After The Radio Station Giant Here In Richmond, Via 1140 AM (Now Known As NewsRadio 1140 AM And 96.1 FM, A Class-A News/Talk Station).
Opened on august 26th, 1913. Grand opening ad posted.
A page about Claude K. Howell at the Architects of Richmond web site attributes the design of the Lyric to him. The Keith circuit was sufficiently pleased with his work to hire him to design additional theaters for them throughout the south.