SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The lobby of the Landmark Theatre looks like move-in day after summer break. In a sense, it is. The theatre is getting ready for the premiere of the first show of the Broadway in Syracuse season, “Mean Girls.” The Broadway hit was adapted by Tina Fey from her film comedy. The new national tour is essentially being built in Syracuse.
They’re doing lights and sound and the sets and the costumes and they’re bringing them all in and they put them together here for their first time before they hit the road.
Outside of the Covid hiatus, the Landmark has launched one or two tours every year since 2015. It’s estimated that “The Lion King” alone brought Central New York more than 14 million dollars.
It’s going to have a huge impact on the community. About 12 hundred hotel room nights, and obviously they’re going out two or three meals a day, so it’s great for the community. They really get to know the neighborhood.
It’s the first of a powerhouse six-show schedule for Famous Artists this season, to be followed by Disney’s “Aladdin.” That line-up has season subscription levels up significantly over previous years.
And the Landmark is ready. Over the summer, crews worked to refurbish the nearly century-old movie palace, repairing plaster and paint damage in the ornate lobby, relamping lobby chandeliers, and putting a new roof over the auditorium.
But with all the work done in the Landmark over the summer, the most exciting news lies behind the doors of the Theatre.
Crews pushed past the existing theatre’s walls, expanding the first-floor women’s restroom into their former office space along Salina Street. The expansion brings nine new stalls, including handicap-accessible stalls.
Those new stalls will make a real difference for theatre-goers attending the nearly twenty events scheduled at the Landmark through the end of the year… starting with Mean Girls, which opens September 26.
