Lyric Theatre

Lonely Planet review

Hallowed names such as Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald once walked across the Lyric stage when it was major stop on the 'Chitlin' Circuit,' the black live entertainment trail of pre-integration America. But as years passed both the theater and the neighborhood it served, Overtown, fell into dysfunctional disuse.

Then the Black Archives History & Research Center of South Florida kicked in around US$1 .5 million for renovations and overhauled everything. The phoenix reopened its doors in 1999 to appreciative neighbors, civic leaders and entertainers alike. A 2003 expansion feels a little too modern when juxtaposed with the Lyric's elegant early-20th century exterior, but it's shiny, we guess.