Can the Lyric raise the money needed?
Absolutely, unequivocally it will get there. It’s basically an £18million project and we’ve raised £17million from scratch. We’ll raise every penny of the final million to see that this building goes ahead. The Lyric started with a handful of mostly amateur actors performing works in [Lyric founder] Mary O’Malley’s drawing room. What do you think she would make of this multimillion pound project? I’m certain she would approve, and I’ll tell you why I say that: Mary O’Malley had the most remarkable plans drawn up for a fantastic theatre but couldn’t raise the money. So they took those plans and lobbed huge bits off – rehearsal rooms, second spaces etc. When the old building was built in the late 1960s it was very much a pared back version of what they had wanted. After changes were made to the Ulster Hall and the Grand Opera House, the Lyric – with its leaky roof – was beginning to look like a very poor cousin. This change is vital and necessary and will be marvellous for the city when
