Lyric Theatre (II)

After its first short-lived Lyric Theatre which owned by Charles Caldwell closed after a short-run since January 6, 1909, the theatre relocated a few doors down. The old building then became a café, which would be later owned and occupied by Elmer Due. The second Lyric Theatre opened in the fall of 1909 by B. W. Merrill. The second Lyric Theatre is a very popular one in all across Edgar.

On May 30, 1929, the Lyric Theatre installed talkies with a Merritone system with Robert Ames in “The Voice Of The City” being its first sound film.

1. 1. Merrill operated the theatre until sometime in 1939 when it was given to Jimmy Story, who closed its doors in the Spring of 1940 and the theatre sat vacant until August 27, 1944, when the theatre reopened with Dick Powell in “Riding High” in Technicolor. 31-year-old Murdith Springer (who lived in Edgar since as a kid, and a former honor roll student at his nearby high school which would later became the school’s president of the first semester, and graduated after the 1930-31 season), purchased the Lyric Theatre and equipment a few days prior to the reopening. He did promise on sharing the support to the community in his endeavour.

He operated the theatre until he sold the theatre to Tommy Thompson of St. Paul, Nebraska on November 13, 1951 and the theatre reopened on January 31, 1952. Tommy is well-acquainted with the theatre business beginning in Superior, Nebraska in 1906 as an operator. He owned and operated many theatres, including the Riviera Theatre in St. Paul and a buyer and booker for the Royal Theatre in Fullerton. He is also a former worker at 20th Century Fox. The theatre was also remodeled at the time.

Information about the theatre goes as follows: The Streamlined Moderne styled theatre has a capacity of 253 people. With 6 seats on one side and 5 on the other side of the aisle in 23 rows in total. The special acoustics, indirect lighting and aisle lights added to the pleasant surroundings. The beaded screen is a 10 feet, 3 inches by 14 feet. The booth which is 14x14ft as of 1952 has been fully insulated with Transite to make it fireproof. It is fully equipped with 2 Simplex projectors, Century Altec Lansing sound system and a “The Voice of the Theater” speaker. Ventilation as of February 1952 hasn’t been overlooked in the booth. The lobby, is 7x14ft in the center of which is the ticket office. The foyer is more commonly in the greatest shape form in construction, and at either end is the entrance to bathrooms for both genders. The floors and aisles are covered with green felt carpeting under which has been placed a rubber matting. Masonite in several colors have been used in the walls in the lobby and foyer was used around the ticket office. The light green coloring on the upper walls were added. The doors in the foyer, lobby and to the toilets are imported birch veneer and came all the way from Finland. Entrances to the theatre were gained through one center door and two doors are on either side for departing.

James B. Andersen (of Edgar), Newt Gunn, and E. H. Boynton have been employed to do the remodeling. Their first job is to lower the floor one inch to the floor and removed most of the wall and ceiling covers. Oak flooring was laid after the floor had been lowered. A. A. Recht did the tinning, D. A. Jackson did the plumbing and L. H. Moore did the wiring. Tommy himself employed the services from Andersen to be the floor manager. Kenneth Wicker would later became the operator and Shirley Mills as the cashier.

In May of 1953, James Andersen himself sold the theatre from Tommy Thompson.

On April 16, 1955, Carl White from the Quality Theatre Supply Company of Omaha drove to Edgar to install CinemaScope/VistaVision. James Andersen and his wife demonstrated the CinemaScope at the city’s local high school.

The theatre’s marquee was redecorated on July 11, 1960 with the canopy painted in front with a cream color.

The theatre was later then taken over by Mr. and Mrs. Ray Brown who later closed the theatre after moving to Clay Center. It was reopened by new management on October 14, 1972 as it was taken over by Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Gesch. There is happy news for the folks in Edgar that this theatre is mostly a family-friendly theatre in portions of the 1970’s. But sadly enough, this theatre came into a close later on, and the Lyric Theatre closed its doors for the final time in 1973 or 1974 (the date is not known yet).

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