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Hello And Welcome!
Part of the revitalization of our Downtown, the Lynn Veteran's Memorial Auditorium is once again becoming one of the premier entertainment venues in the state! Please check out our event listings and come downtown to a show at the Lynn Auditorium!
Mayor "Chip" Clancy
Recent Press:
Lynn Item Article: (PDF Format)
Auditorium My Space Page:
http://www.myspace.com/lynnauditorium |
Thanks For A Great First Season!
The Staff at the Lynn Auditorium would like to thank you for making our first season a huge success! Recapping our first seasons major events...
Keith Lockhart & The Boston Pops (Grand Opening)
Little Anthony & The Imperials
Peter Paul & Mary
Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin
Northeast Youth Ballet’s Nutcracker
Broadways, I Love You, You're Prefect,
Now Change
Lloyd Polite
Heb Cox and the Cleftones
The Doodlebops!
Raphael De Espana
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Thanks To Our Lynn Auditorium Volunteers!
Our sincerest appreciation to the Lynn Auditorium Volunteers for all of their assistance making things run smoothly:
Ann Marie Leonard, House Manager; Joanna Mills, Box Office; Mary Wright, Capt.; Debbie Ginivan, Capt.; Judy Branconnier, Norma Hayes, Barry Mills, Mary Jane Smalley, Denise Surette, Jim Ward, Maureen Ward, Bill Hunt, Geri Shea, Nancy Brothers, Marie Bourgeois, Barbara Cahill, Lorraine Gallo, Eileen Spencer, Joan Sullivan, Jennie Grassa, Gina Donovan, Amanda Stevens, Geri McManus, Art McManus, Bob Mathias, Linda Goodwin, Beverly Davies, Marie DeJoie, Kevin Farnsworth, Kelly Farnsworth, Larry Donovan.
If you would like to be a volunteer for Lynn Auditorium shows, please email events@cityoflynn.net or call 781-586-6856.
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Massachusetts Oldest Yet Newest Premier Entertainment Venue
Opened in 1948, the City of Lynn’s Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium was built as a state of the art entertainment facility. The venue has hosted acts such as The Beach Boys, Billy Preston, Delaney & Bonnie, Roy Orbison, Fats Domino, Victor Borge, The Coasters, The Drifters, Frank Sinatra Jr, the New Kids on the Block, Jay Leno and the Boston Ballet.
Unfortunately in the mid to late 1970’s the venue saw less and less use and was eventually only used for sporadic graduations and dance recitals. However, in 2002 under the leadership of Mayor Edward Clancy, the groundbreaking of the rehabilitation of this grand venue began. In three short years, the auditorium was totally refurbished and renovated. From state of the art lighting and sound systems, to new curtains, seats, rigging, loading docks and lifts, the auditorium has jumped back onto the scene as the oldest yet newest premier entertainment venue on the North Shore of Massachusetts.
Kicking off the restoration, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops played a blue ribbon cutting performance on October 1, 2006. This event was followed by performances by Peter Paul & Mary, Jeff Cowrin of Animal Planet and many others. City leaders are hopeful to be on par with other Boston based venues within a few years as the Lynn Auditorium gains more and more momentum. Check our events listings often as we will be adding more shows every month!
BOX OFFICE / CITY HALL HOURS: City Hall Hours are as follows: M, W, Th 8:30 - 4:00, Tues from 8:30 - 8:00 and Fri from 8:30 - 12:30. The box office will be staffed from 10:00 - 2:30 M-Th and 10:00 - 12:30 on Fridays. Tickets will be available in the office OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT during all normal city hall hours.
Here are some recent press releases and news coverage:
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Amid pageantry, a cultural lesson for participants |
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By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | October 6, 2008
Ethnic beauty contests teach about heritage
She swept onto the stage in a glittering silver gown and beehive hairdo, the picture of poise in spike heels. The crowd in Lynn Memorial Auditorium went wild.There she was - Miss El Salvador Massachusetts.
For one glamorous evening, Marisela López was catapulted from college freshman to tiara-wearing queen as she competed in the pageant last month, one of a growing number of ethnic beauty pageants that have sprung up around Boston and the nation.Organizers from Colombia, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, and other countries are pushing the pageants across the United States as a way to teach contestants about their heritage, inspire them to go to college by awarding scholarships, and pay homage to their immigrant parents, who often work as factory workers, housecleaners, and laborers.Although critics decry pageants as sexist and superficial, promoters say the ethnic contests offer immigrants a positive outlet amid the contentious national debate over immigration.
Locally, other groups, from Miss Colombia New England to the Southeast Asian Water Festival in Lowell, have organized pageants as well."It helps them discover what they didn't know about the culture," said Isabel López, a Winthrop-based fashion designer who launched Miss Colombia New England six years ago. "You have to be proud of where you come from."Marisela López who is not related to Isabel, said she competed for more personal reasons. The US citizen is the daughter of a Salvadoran man who died on his way to cross the border illegally three years ago.
The only time she visited El Salvador was for his funeral."I know that if he would have been here, he would have been so happy and proud," said López, who said she felt her father's presence when she won the crown. "I knew that he was there looking at me, like, 'That's my daughter.' "The Salvadoran pageant, which has been held off and on for about a decade, requires that contestants study the Central American nation, said pageant organizer Karla Trigueros. At least one parent must be from El Salvador for contestants to qualify. The pageant typically has a contestant for each of El Salvador's 14 departments, or states, plus Boston.On Sept. 20, as spotlights blinked and music boomed, more than 300 people craned their necks for a first look at the contestants. When the curtain parted and they appeared on stage, people shouted, whistled, and some waved signs such as "Miss Sonsonate #1.""This is not just about beauty," a ponytailed emcee in a rose-colored sheath later told the crowd. "We're very intelligent and hard-working. We try to succeed wherever we are."In the audience, immigrants nodded.
Their daughters - the contestants - fit in more easily in the United States, since most were born and raised here. But they, too, straddle two cultures.They speak English with their friends and Spanish to their parents. Their favorite foods are pizza and pupusas, a thick Salvadoran tortilla stuffed with cheese or meat. They dance to salsa music, and read Shakespeare.During the competition, each answered questions in Spanish, saying that if they were queen, they would urge students to stay in school, stay off drugs, and work hard for their future.Miss Sonsonate, Viviana Umaña, told the judges that beauty was not the important thing.Some critics of the events say pageants treat women as sexual objects, with swimsuit competitions and the emphasis on looks.
At the Miss El Salvador pageant, which is for 15- to 23-year-olds, organizers pointed out that most contestants wore skirts for the swimsuit competition to make girls of all sizes feel comfortable. Still, men whistled from the audience and one prize was given out for "best legs.""They really do have to be careful because there is such a problem today with girls and young women being pressed into early sexuality and early focus on weight and looks," said Carol Hardy-Fanta, director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.López decided to compete after Trigueros spotted her in an East Boston restaurant and complimented her on her makeup. At first, López balked. She is most comfortable in jeans, sneakers, and a ponytail as she shuttles between class at UMass-Boston and her part-time job at Logan Airport.But this was a chance to remember her father.López had been raised mostly by her mother, a US citizen from Puerto Rico. Her Salvadoran father had come to the United States to work and send money home.He was in López's life sporadically, but he loved her, and she loved him. Three years ago, he went back to El Salvador to attend her half-sister's high school graduation. Then, like millions of other immigrants, he set off on his journey back into the United States.López isn't sure how or where he died. When she went to his funeral in Chalatenango, his home state, she saw the house was filled with her photographs.As queen, she won a $500 scholarship for college. In the pageant, her talent was salsa dancing. She hopes to study nursing.When she won, her first thoughts were of her father."He was always proud of me," she said later.
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com. |
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Press Release: July 2006 |
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Major Acts Announced At Lynn Veterans Memorial Auditorium
LYNN – The City of Lynn and Mill City Management Presents, Inc are holding an open house at the Lynn Veterans Memorial Auditorium on Tuesday, July 18 at 5:30 p.m. The open house will include tours of the newly-renovated auditorium as well as the announcement of a nationally recognized A list act that will play at the official grand re-opening of the facility on October 1.
The auditorium, located in Lynn City Hall, recently completed two years worth of major renovations to the lighting, rigging, and sound systems in addition to new seating and stage upgrades. At the open house, tours will be given that will highlight all of the exciting changes that were made to the venue. In addition to the October 1 show, four other acts will be announced that are coming to Lynn during the upcoming season.
Built in 1943, the Lynn Veterans Memorial Auditorium is the centerpiece of Lynn City Hall. The auditorium seats 2,078 with an orchestra pit, full stage and wings, full fly space, theater-style projection and screen capabilities, and 15 dressing rooms. In past years, the auditorium has played host to a variety of plays, productions and theater, including: Jay Leno, Arthur Fiedler, Roy Orbison, The Beach Boys, Victor Borge and many others.
With help from both our state and federal representatives, the auditorium has undergone more than $500,000 with of renovations. It stands today with 20 sets of new rigging, a new house sound system, cinema-style projection equipment and state-of-the-art lighting systems.
The Lynn Veterans Memorial Auditorium is located at 3 City Hall Square in Lynn. Directions to the venue are available at: http://www.ci.lynn.ma.us/Public_Documents/LynnMA_Mayor/DirectionsAud.
Heather Shea, Marketing Manager for Mill City Management Presents, Inc., will have publicity materials (photos, biographies, press releases, etc) for the press at the open house.
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The Boston Pops And Who Else?
City Of Lynn Has High Hopes For Auditorium
By Kathy McCabe | July 16, 2006
A rising star on the condo scene, Lynn now hopes to shine as a center of art and culture, with City Hall cast in a leading role.
On Tuesday , Lynn will announce a lineup of concerts and musicals, starting with the Boston Pops on Oct. 1, to be held at the newly renovated Veterans Memorial Auditorium at City Hall. An open house will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., to give business and community leaders a sneak peek.
``We've given everything a good buff," said James M. Marsh , chief of staff to Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. ``We hope to book at least one show a month here, once we get going."
Mill City Management Presents, a booking agency in Lowell, has been hired to market the 2,078 -seat auditorium. The company also manages Lowell Memorial Auditorium, which has hosted both Big Bird and Bruce Springsteen.
The Boston Pops is the first of five acts booked so far for the auditorium. The other four acts will be announced during Tuesday's open house.
``They'll be family-friendly shows," he said. ``We want this to be a venue that people think of in the same light as North Shore Music Theatre, ``among other local arts venues. Mill City will hire local people to work as ushers, ticket takers, and other jobs, he said.
The auditorium has had a $500,000 renovation, paid for mostly with federal and state money. New lights, sound, rigging and movie projectors were installed. The orchestra pit and dressing rooms had a makeover.
The renovation is the second act for the auditorium that opened in 1943. The Beach Boys, Arthur Fiedler, and Roy Orbison all performed there. So did a young Jay Leno.
Over time, bookings were limited to dance recitals, school concerts, and the occasional ``Nutcracker" performance, Marsh said.
The newly rehabbed auditorium debuts as Lynn goes through a bit of a renaissance. A condo boom has revived Central Square. Coffee shops, restaurants, and shops have since opened. LynnArts Inc., a nonprofit, operates a gallery and studio space there, too.
``Our downtown is greatly improved," Marsh said. ``And we think businesses will benefit from 2,000 people coming to Lynn for a show at City Hall."
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Thanks For Visiting! 
