Lexington’s historic Lyric Theater offers Jazz Nights to beat the winter doldrums

Back in the 1950s, the Lyric Theater was the place to be for jazz and R&B – and during the winter months this year, it still is.

As part of the citywide celebration of Lexington’s 250-year history, the Lyric is providing smooth sounds to warm up the final (official) winter nights during its Winter Jazz, Blues, and Soul Series.

From 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights through March 20, the theater will present a lineup of musical performances.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with 250Lex and our neighborhood partners to create an inclusive, community-centered event that celebrates local musicians and fosters a warm, lively atmosphere,” said Christian Adair, executive director of the Historic Lyric Theatre.

“We hope these Thursday evenings become a staple for friends, family, and neighbors to enjoy music and make lasting memories together.”

The Lyric started in 1948 as a movie house for Lexington’s Black community. At the time, only four of the city’s six movie theaters offered seating for Black audience members, and that was in the balcony.

Black theaters had come and gone in Lexington prior to the Lyric – the Frolic Theater, the Gem Theater and the Pekin Theater had even been part of the vaudeville circuit. But the Lyric was different.

The Lyric quickly grew from a movie house to an entertainment venue for such big names as Ray Charles, Count Basie, B.B. King Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway and others. The theater also hosted vaudeville acts, fashion shows, local concerts and pageants. For the Black community in Lexington, it became a cultural icon.

Throughout the 1950s, an entire economy grew up around the theater giving rise to numerous small Black-owned businesses – from clothing stores to ice cream shops.

However, by 1962, business was beginning to wane. The theater returned to its roots and showed movies - horror movies, Black cowboy movies and cartoons – before finally closing in 1963.

For nearly 30 years, the building sat empty until politicians and community leaders came together to restore the theater. In 2005, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government bought it and appointed a task force to hear what the community and the theater’s neighbors wanted from the facility.

Between 2006 and 2010, the task force created designs to renovate and expand the building to serve as a community center and theater cultural arts center. The Lyric Theater and Cultural Arts Center officially reopened in October 2010.

Since its reopening, the facility has provided a place for concerts, performances, films and plays, as well as youth arts education programs and other events.

The Winter Jazz Concert Series was designed to provide people with something to do during the dismal days of winter, said Kendall Meiller, rental and sales director at the theater.

“The first one was last year, and the idea was to get people out of their houses during the winter months,” she said.

“There are all kinds of things going on during the summer where you can go to concerts, people are outside, people are more eager to get out of their homes. So, we wanted to give the people something to do January through March where it’s a little bit colder.”

For more information on the performances at the Lyric, you can find the schedule of events at 250Lex.com, or contact the Lyric at (859) 280-2201.

This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 11:36 AM.