Hi all read this article if you can. It is bound to make you cry ...
Above is the only known surviving photo of the interior of the original Lyric Theatre, published in The Hamilton Spectator on 3 January 1914. The original caption read: “AN EXPECTANT AUDIENCE. NEW YEAR’S DAY PERFORMANCE OF NOODLES KING OF THE NEWSBOYS IN AID OF LOCAL ORPHANS.” It seems that the Lyric wished to ring in the new year with visual evidence of a full house, to demonstrate its continued popularity despite business raids by hostile competitors. This photograph, poorly printed in half-tone in a local newspaper, and then poorly microfilmed, battered, and finally copied on a standard-quality photostatic machine, reveals precious few details. We can see how large the place is. We can see the locations of the sconces and ceiling lights. We can catch glimpses of the box seats, which appear to be three on each side at the balcony level, though we know that there were actually a total of eight. They appear to be as elaborate as all of Leon Lempert’s beautiful box seats in other theatres. We can see where the two stairways emerge upon the middle of the balcony, to a walkway that separates the upper balcony from the lower balcony. It is impossible to tell if there are windows at the back of the balcony. If there were, they would have been covered by heavy draperies during a show. One would not guess from this photograph that the Lyric was capable of showing movies, but the press releases quoted above tell us without question that there was indeed a projection booth, segregated from the auditorium. So where is it? It’s behind the stage, amidst the dressing rooms. All movies at the Lyric were rear-projected!
http://rjbuffalo.com/lyric_theatre_h...n_ontario.html
Honestly make sure you have a box of Kleenex with you. Anyone who had ever been to The Century will not be left dry eyed. God how I hate progress sometimes ...