Nov. 26, 1914

The Lyric Theatre first opened its doors in January 1914 during a boom period for the young city of Birmingham. Boasting more than 1,500 seats, it became a popular stop on the vaudeville circuit. On Thanksgiving evening that year, the Four Marx Brothers brought a company of 16 to perform at the Lyric. The brothers went on to stage a successful Broadway show before making it truly big in movies. As for the Lyric, it thrived until the Great Depression, when declining attendance forced its closure in the early 1930s. It reopened soon after as a movie theater and continued to operate until the late 1950s when it closed again. It would reopen yet again in the 1970s – first as a revival house and later as an adult theater before closing again in the early 1980s. In 1993, the vacant building was sold to the nonprofit Birmingham Landmarks, but for years it remained closed and in poor condition. Efforts to restore the theater were launched in earnest in 2009, and after a major fundraising push, construction began in 2014. The theater reopened as a performing arts hub in January 2016, on its 102^nd birthday, after a $7 million restoration.

Read more at Bhamwiki and Lyric. 

Lyric Theatre, 1914. (Birmingham Age-Herald, Lyric Fine Arts Theatre, Bhamwiki)

The Marx family, c. 1915. Left to right: Groucho, Gummo, Minnie, Zeppo, Sam (Frenchie), Chico, Harpo. (Wikipedia)

The Marx Brothers, 1931. Top to bottom: Chico, Harpo, Groucho and Zeppo. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

TIME Magazine cover, featuring Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo Marx, Aug. 15, 1932. Time magazine archive. (TIME Magazine, Wikipedia)

Lyric Theatre, 1930. (Birmingham News Collection, Birmingham Public Library Archives, Bhamwiki)

For more on Alabama’s bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.