Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center

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Uploaded on: July 13, 2026

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A rare shot of the projection booth of the Lyric Theatre, 1948. A full Motiograph booth, with Peerless Magnarc Model E lamphouses. Although unseen in the photo, the projector probably would’ve been a Motiograph AA (given the time period), with a Model 7500 soundhead. And this being Lexington, the area Motiograph dealer was Falls City Theatre Equipment in Louisville.

On the wall behind the man at R, you can see the Motiograph preamp and sound changeover box. Behind the man at L, mounted on the floor in the background, is a Robbin-Imperial motor-generator set (to supply the DC power for the arc lamps). This is unusual in that most electrical codes required the generator to be in a separate room. So this would have been a very noisy booth, as well. The only other theatre in Kentucky I can recall that didn’t have a separate generator room was the Mack Theatre in Irvine.

On the wall above the generator, is the rheostat for controlling the generator output (the projectionist’s jacket can be seen hanging on the control knob), and above that are mounted the lamphouse ballasts. Barely visible at the R side of the photo, the back of the second projector can be seen.

On top of the projector pedestal, near the handwheel, you can see two spent carbons. The lamphouses burned carbons to create the projection light in those days.