CENTER STAGE
Century-long story of the Lyric is an uplifting drama unto itself
BY SUSAN BURGESS
One hundred years ago The Lyric Theatre we know today was a silent movie house under construction in Stuart. It opened on March 15, 1926. But the Lyric’s story really began before that. It was actually the third Lyric Theatre in Stuart. The first one opened in 1914; the second, three years later. The third is today’s, built in 1925. Over the years, though, it had its share of hard times and was no longer a theater when a determined realtor with big dreams picked it up 67 years later.
More than anything, realtor Roy Laycock in 1987 wanted the Lyric — originally a silent movie house — restored to its former glory but with a somewhat different purpose: as a performing arts theater, but with the same power to draw people downtown it had in its younger years.
He knew that the grand old theater — he later privately referred to it as Queen Lyrica — would lose its chance if he didn’t act. It was owned by the New Life in Christ Church at the time, but they wanted to sell and build a new church in Palm City. Although Laycock was chairman of the Downtown Redevelopment Authority, which had been trying to find funding, he decided one day to grab the bull by the horns and set out to get the Lyric.
As he describes it, he was on his way out the door when his friend Leo Galanti said, “Hey, Roy, where you going?” Roy answered, “I’m gonna go buy the Lyric Theatre.” “Do you have any money?” Leo asked. Roy said, “No.”
Off he went — with $500 in his pocket — to raise another $4,500 for a partial down payment on the theater, which the church had agreed to sell. “I think money is the greatest excuse for not doing things that need to be done,” Laycock, now 88, said. “I had no idea if I could raise it or not, but that’s my modus operandi: audacity.”
He did know people who could probably donate $500 apiece, so he went looking for nine of them. He found eight. But then he decided his attorney should be the ninth. He presented the idea to the assistant while his attorney was out. Laycock didn’t know what would happen — but he got lucky, and the attorney agreed to donate the last $500. Today, that $500 would be equal to more than $1,300.
UNDERWAY
Laycock signed the contract to buy the church but turned it over to the newly formed nonprofit, Friends of The Lyric. The church allowed the Friends to use the building for fundraising. “The church was very generous and wanted to help us,” he said. “We had six months to raise more money.” At the closing, $50,000 of the $300,000 purchase price was paid; the First National Bank and Trust Company of Stuart held a mortgage for $250,000.
“The Friends were real visionaries,” says current executive director Kia Fontaine, who’s also president and chief executive officer of the board of directors. “They ushered, they sewed draperies, painted, chose the bands, sold the tickets and recruited volunteers.” Determined to make the theater work, they did every job needed to make their vision a reality, she said.
Laycock had his heart set on restoring Stuart’s historical downtown to a bustling business center, calling that the overarching reason for his determination to get the Lyric. But until the purchase of the theater, it was rough going, he said. “Downtown Stuart was in the doldrums but there was a small group who believed [it could be restored],” he said “We had tried street art shows and other things, and didn’t have much success. We were probably seen as unrealistic sentimentalists.”
The turnaround came when they hosted a downtown Battle of the Bands. Those popular contests are still being held today. “The crowd so far exceeded our expectations,” he said. “We ran out of beer — imagine that!”
The next step forward came when the Friends learned about Main Street America and Florida Main Street: statewide and national revitalization programs. Laycock visited several participating cities before they joined, too.
The acquisition of the 1925 Lyric Theatre along with the new interest in downtown activities and the participation in the Main Street program “made it all start to come together,” he said. “It involved not just a few people but many, who all deserve credit. Ultimately it became a dream realized.”
BIG TIME
The saga of the three Lyrics began in 1914, when John Hancock built a 250-seat theater — which could have seated nearly the city’s entire population back then. Old photos from the Stuart Heritage Museum show it as a two-story, white building on Osceola Street at Colorado Avenue, with the outdoor box office in front under an overhang.
Only three years later it was decided that 250 seats weren’t enough, and plans were drawn up by Hancock for a larger Lyric, made of wood, on Flagler Avenue by the tracks. This one had 350 seats, according to the South Florida Developer newspaper. But that didn’t last, either.
By 1925, newspapers reported that construction of a new 1,200-seat Lyric was underway on Flagler, in the same spot as Lyric No. 2 had been. The second Lyric had been moved to an adjoining piece of property. Later accounts had conflicting counts on the number of seats: One newspaper said it was 1,000 and later historians recalled 900. Another paper fudged and called it “over 900.” At any rate it was a big theater at a time when the population was about 1,200 according to an estimation from the U.S. Census. Once again, the Lyric Theatre could hold the whole city.
The year 1925 was a momentous one in the city’s history. It was when Martin County was created from pieces of Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, with Stuart as the county seat. Stuart, which had become an official town in 1914 when Hancock built the first Lyric, became a city in May 1925 when the third Lyric was under construction. This Beaux Arts, Spanish Mediterranean-style building thrilled the audience on opening night in March 1926 with the silent movie Skinner’s Dress Suit, starring Reginald Denny and Laura LaPlante. In an article about opening night, The Stuart Daily News called it, “Stuart’s $100,000 theater, the last word in theater construction, and the largest building in Martin County.” At least two other businesses also occupied the Lyric Building.
Things were going well for the popular young theater when, two years after it opened, a devastating hurricane hit on Aug. 8, 1928, destroying half of its tile roof, soaking the interior and doing major damage throughout the city.
Only six weeks later, the infamous Sept. 16, 1928, hurricane, which drowned 2,500 people living around Lake Okeechobee, landed in Palm Beach County with furious winds and rain that tore the rest of the roof off the Lyric, further drenching and wrecking the interior. That storm was a Category 5, with winds of 200 miles an hour when it hit Puerto Rico the day before, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Despite the wreckage the theater continued to present movies — with the help of a generator — beginning just two days after the storm.
About five years after the theater opened, on Dec. 1, 1930, it presented its first “talkie” movie. Danger Lights, a romantic drama starring Louis Wolheim, Robert Armstrong, and Jean Arthur attracted record crowds to fill its 900 seats and then some. Decades later, then-theater executive director John Loesser in an interview on WQCS-FM with Drew Mello remarked, “It originally had 900 seats. I have no idea — people must have sat on each other’s laps or benches. We have 500 now.”
The resilient Lyric underwent numerous owners, changes, restorations and renovations over the years. John Hancock sold it in 1937, as the Great Depression dragged on, to the Sparks Theater chain. After that, it was run for a few years by the Koblegard family of Fort Pierce, who had built the 1923 Sunrise Theatre in that city. The Sunrise Theatre now serves as the anchor for the Fort Pierce historical downtown. Both theaters are on the National Register for Historic Places. In 1953, the Talgar Theatre Company took over, and in 1968 Kent Theaters Inc. owned it.
Then suddenly, in its 53rd year, the Lyric was no longer a theater. It was a church. The New Life in Christ Church bought it in 1978 and held services there until 1987, when Laycock plunked down the $5,000 he raised in one day for part of the down payment. With that, his dream of the Lyric becoming the anchor for Stuart’s now-faltering downtown was on its way.
FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS
Significant renovations took place in 1991, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2014 and 2021, with the help of numerous fundraisers, donations and some grants. Over the years seats were torn out and replaced; seating was reduced to a comfortable 500; the walls were opened to repair rot and damage; carpeting was replaced; the sound system was improved; the small stage was expanded, in a major effort to make it suitable for touring companies; new dressing rooms were added; a bathroom was put in for performers; the stores that had rented space in the building moved out, and part of that space was converted to a bar and lobby. Some work was done on the exterior, but most was inside.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Lyric and other theaters on the Treasure Coast found various ways to cope. Some shuttered for short times and some for longer times. Many, including The Lyric, took the opportunity to do extensive renovations or expansions. The Maltz in Jupiter built a new building, made extensive changes to its appearance, and created a Broadway-size stage for $36 million. The Vero Beach Theatre Guild removed 120 of its 300 seats, widened the spaces between rows and created a second “studio” theatre. The Sunrise in Fort Pierce reopened with rules requiring empty seats between audience members.
The Lyric went dark during the pandemic for more than a year, spending the time on a mammoth million-dollar improvement project that included putting on a new roof, restoring marquees, installing an elevator to the balcony and more. In her letter to supporters, Fontaine said, “But once again you, our loyal supporters, have been our light during these dark days. Your commitment makes it possible for The Lyric to once again open her doors and serve the community.”
Today, as it gets ready to celebrate the day of its opening next year, The Lyric has a full schedule of performances in its restored theater this season. It stands as the anchor of the historical downtown of Stuart, as John Hancock intended when he built the Lyric Building, 100 years ago.
See the original article in print publication
Nov. 20 , 2024
