Seating Capacity: 1453

Venue Type : Auditorium

Longest Performance:
02.13.96 - Warehouse (7:44)

Media Gallery

The main theatre – previously called the Flynn Theatre and now the centerpiece of the Flynn Center – was built in 1930 by Burlington businessman John J. Flynn as the city's newest and largest "entertainment palace." With the largest proscenium in the state, a sophisticated "fly" system for set changes, sloped floor seating, excellent acoustics, and a central downtown location, the theatre was originally designed for vaudeville but shifted quickly and effortlessly to film as "talkies" became the rage. The Flynn then operated as a movie theatre for nearly 50 years. With the Flynn’s movie business in decline as more modern movie theatres and suburban multiplexes began to take hold in the 1970s, Burlington's community theater group, Lyric Theatre, rediscovered our historic theatre’s live performance capacity. Lyric members subsequently helped spearhead a group of interested citizens who raised money to purchase and begin restoring the Flynn. The theatre reopened in 1981 as the Flynn Theatre for the Performing Arts.