VIDEO: Lyric Theater Celebrates 105 Years

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Reaching the century mark is an achievement, and for the Lyric Theatre in Tupelo its reached that and then some.

The 105th anniversary of the building was celebrated Sunday afternoon.

One-hundred and five doesn’t mean the building is a landmark.

This symbolic theatre continues to attract people from around the state for performances year after year.

“Tupelo is extremely fortunate to have a historic theatre like this, a theatre that was important in the 1936 tornado, and still survives today. The arts continue to thrive here,” said theatre Executive Director, Tom Booth.

Community theater board members felt a long standing arts tradition in Tupelo should be celebrated.

“It’s the 105th anniversary of the building being built, and it’s in phenomenal shape. So we are so proud of it, and we want to share it,” said Board Member, Lynn Nelson.

A building like the Lyric not only adds to the artistic community but also plays a larger role in the area.

“We know that some of the bigger companies that came here, like Toyota, looked at the education in the community, the healthcare in the community, and the arts in the community,” continued Nelson, “and when you have that whole package it helps attract big business.”

That whole package was almost split off back in the 80’s when the building was going to be torn down, but the Tupelo Community Theater happened to be in need of a facility at the time.

“We said ‘Wait just a minute,’ and we kind of passed the hat and bought the building in 1984 and spent about a year getting it brought back to its glory as a live venue. Ever since then, we’ve had all of our productions here,” said Nelson.

Productions to entertain residents from across the state.

“People from all over North Mississippi come here to see theatre productions, concerts, educational events, and just have a good time,” said Booth.

Currently the theatre is preparing for the play “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” set to take the stage on December 7th.