Booking or Renting the Historic 1929 Lyric Theater
Special Considerations
The Lyric is not like other venues. It is neither a commercial operation, nor one operated by a municipality—nor extensively funded by any outside agency. Instead,it is owned and operated by a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization for the sake of promoting 
the Arts in our area. Because of this, not every possible use of such a space will be approved; every booking or rental must be viewed as part of the overall program of the Ozark Arts Council and subject to our Board’s view of its impact on the primary uses of our historic facility.
The cultural value of a booking, as well as the funding impact and time/space constraints of our programming in relation to a booking or rental, are the beginning of our considerations. The principles of the Ozark Arts Council and the strictures of being a federally recognized not-for-profit are also controlling factors in our decision making, as is the maintenance of our historic theater, part of which is subject to the control of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.
Finally, all bookings and rentals will be clearly one or the other. Bookings will be considered presentations by the Ozark Arts Council (in cooperation with any representation employed by the artist) and so marked on all signage, etc., and will have the usual publicity done by the OAC by default. Rentals will be the presentation of the renter and any publicity done by the OAC will require additional consideration from the renter.
Book Your Act at the Lyric
The Lyric is greatly loved by musicians, actors, and educators for its “live” acoustics and intimate seating. From Eric Bibb to opera and classical chorus to rock bands to the Glenn Miller Orchestra, musicians of every genre have enjoyed playing the Lyric and look forward to return engagements. Because it is an intimate venue and because our location is one in which charging $50 or more for a ticket will not attract an audience unless an act is exceptionally well-known and beloved, we do not usually accept bookings with large guarantees to the artist. Our general policy is that an artist will receive 60% of the gate and 100% of the artist’s merchandise sales; the OAC will receive 40% of the gate and 100% of concessions. Please email us at
Bo*****@Th******.org
or call 870.391.3504.
Rent the Lyric
The Lyric Theater is sometimes available for weddings, parties, and business functions, at the discretion of the OAC Board and the director and production manager of any play in rehearsals. The minimum cost for a federally-recognized not-for-profit organization for an event for which no admission is charged is $250 plus cleaning deposit/fees; the minimum charge in other cases for events in which admission is not charged is $500 plus cleaning deposit/fees. If admission is charged, 40% of the gate is payable to the OAC, with the aforementioned rental fees as a guaranteed minimum, unless otherwise agreed upon. Sound or light engineers are an additional charge. Please email us at
in**@oz**************.org
or call 870.391.3504.