Yet Another Name Change For 42d St. Mega-Theater

[Frankly Rich]

The 1900 hundred seat theater recently home to the musical Spider Man was originally a combination of two old 42d St. theaters- the Lyric and the Apollo. The Lyric had shown live theater, the Apollo movies, and when combined in 1998 and remodeled were named The Ford Center for the Performing Arts. That mouthful was first changed to the Hilton in a sponsorship deal, then yet another sponsorship deal made it the Foxwoods.

 

Now it is back to being called the Lyric, and will be home to a revival of On The Town in October. The musical version of King Kong was thought to be slated for the huge space, but "creative changes" are needed and the show is being delayed, perhaps until 2015 in a theater yet to be determined.

 

The Pantages Theater in Los Angeles seats 2700, making it the least intimate theater-going space I am aware of. Yet it draws audiences since LA is so bereft of good venues.

 

Even when Spider Man played on 42d St, the theater closed off about 300 seats to give the old Lyric a more comfortable feel. I boycott the Pantages, and will no doubt avoid the Lyric too as I like smaller theaters where I feel I can connect in some way with the performers on stage. Besides, my binoculars broke!