Lyric Theatre, Historical entertainment venue in Stuart, United States

The Lyric Theatre at 59 Southwest Flagler Avenue in downtown Stuart is a concrete building combining Beaux Arts and Mission/Spanish Revival elements. It opened in 1926 as a movie house and now serves as a stage and music venue, with west-side additions providing backstage space.

Stuart already had two Hancock family theatres when John C. "Judge" Hancock built a third, designed by John N. Sherwood and Mark J. Casto; it opened in March 1926 after about $100,000 was spent. The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane badly damaged the roof and ruined the original curtains, and talkie equipment arrived in the early 1930s. Financial trouble in the Depression forced a 1936 sale order, and the building joined the National Register on November 12, 1993.

The theatre's name comes from the Lyric, and its programming shifted from films to live stage and music. The Hancock family, who already ran two Stuart theatres, built it; John C. "Judge" Hancock oversaw construction. In the early 1930s a balcony let African American patrons attend in compliance with Jim Crow laws.

The theater sits in downtown Stuart and is easily accessible on foot from nearby streets. It is helpful to check ahead for upcoming events and any special accessibility needs before planning your visit.

The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane tore off part of the roof and ruined the original curtains. In the early 1930s the Hancock family bought sound equipment for talkies, and a balcony was added so African Americans could attend programs under Jim Crow segregation. The Hancocks' Depression-era debts forced a court-ordered sale of the building in 1936.