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The Lyric Theatre was a large out of town Theatre with a capacity of 2,000 on three levels, Stalls and Boxes, Circle, and Gallery. The Theatre was built by Ellis Brammall Junior who also opened the Shakespeare Theatre in Liverpool.

The Theatre opened on the 26th of December 1897 with a twice nightly production of the Pantomime 'Blue Beard,' and was run by the Lessee and Manager, H. C. Arnold, who was a well known actor at the time. Apart from the annual pantomimes the Theatre was mainly used to house Drama productions, but when the Theatre became part of the Barrasford circuit and reopened on Easter Monday of 1903 it became a twice nightly Variety house.

Right - Sketch of the Stage, Proscenium, and Boxes of Lyric Theatre, Liverpool - From 'The Playgoer' of 1901 - Courtesy Iain Wotherspoon.

The Lyric remained a Variety House for many years but eventually closed down and remained so for some years until it was taken over by the W. Gordon Cinema Circuit and extensively refurbished and reopened as the Lyric Super Cinema on the 19th of September 1921.

This incarnation lasted until 1924 when it closed down. The following year the Theatre was refurbished and redecorated, and reopened as a live Theatre again on the 28th of December 1925 with the revue 'There You Are Then!' which was immediately a great success.

Failing a fire inspection by the Liverpool Fire Brigade due to unsatisfactory exits the Lyric closed down on the 19th of November 1932 during the run of another successful revue called 'Laugh and Risk It.' It was never to reopen and became a warehouse and was then destroyed by enemy action in 1940.

Some of the information for this Theatre on this page was gleaned from Harold Ackroyd's excellent book 'The Liverpool Stage.