Modeled after New York's Music Box Theatre, the W. L. Lyons Brown Theatre opened as the Brown Theatre on October 5, 1925. It opened on October 5, 1925, and today seats approximately 1,400 patrons. The space, modeled after New York's famous Music Box Theatre, still hides a generous 40' x 40' stage.
It was named for James Graham Brown, an Indiana native and longtime Louisville resident. With the onset of the Great Depression the Brown was leased to the Fourth Avenue Amusement Company in the 1930s and became a movie theater for a time. By 1962 it was renovated to bring back live performances; another renovation followed in 1971, after which it was sold to the Louisville Board of Education and operated under contract to the Louisville Theatrical Association, briefly rechristened The Macauley Theatre.
In 1982 the Broadway-Brown Partnership purchased the theatre and the adjoining hotel to help rejuvenate the southern end of Louisville's downtown business district. Louisville's Fund for the Arts acquired the building in 1997, undertaking to finance the remainder. It is now one of three venues owned by Kentucky Performing Arts.
Notice the façade, then follow the block toward the southern end of Louisville's downtown business district.