From the first meeting in December 1973 of a group of friends who wanted to “do some musical theatre,” to the cast and crew working on the current production, we all share in the legacy of Lyric Theatre. We’ve come a long way in the past three decades, and we look to our future with an experienced eye.

Lyric’s first production was How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The entire budget for that show was about $9,000. Today, that figure wouldn’t even cover our royalty costs. We don’t know if the late W. Howard Delano and the other founders of Lyric Theatre ever envisioned that we would become one of the largest community theater groups in the United States; that we would become a fixture in the Burlington Arts Community; that we would engender the kind of support and loyal following we enjoy. In the beginning it was just a dream.

Costumes and Wardrobe, Peter Pan, 2000

Now we look back over dozens of productions and milestones of achievement. We have had our ups and downs and a few glorious moments. At the top of our list is the role we played in 1980 in saving the Flynn Theatre. Lyric Theatre was instrumental in forming what was, until recently, the Flynn Theatre for the Performing Arts, and is now known as the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts.

Flynn Theatre, Burlington, VT

Since then, we have evolved into something of a hybrid. Whoever coined the term “show business” knew what he was talking about. Lyric is part community theater, part small business, and our further success depends upon a very clear understanding of those two components.