Palace Theatre (New York City) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Palace Theatre

The SpongeBob Musical, 2017
Address	1564 Broadway Manhattan, New York City United States
Coordinates	40°45′32″N 73°59′05″W / 40.758842°N 73.984728°W / 40.758842; -73.984728
Owner	Nederlander Organization and Stewart F. Lane
Operator	Nederlander Organization
Type	Broadway theatre
Capacity	1,743
Current use	Closed for renovation
Construction
Opened	March 24, 1913 (vaudeville) January 29, 1966 (Broadway theater)
Rebuilt	1987–1991, 2018–2022
Years active	1913–1932 (vaudeville) 1932–1965 (movie palace) 1966–present (Broadway)
Architect	Kirchhoff & Rose
New York City Landmark
Designated	July 14, 1987
Reference no.	1367
Designated entity	Auditorium interior

The Palace Theatre is a famous Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in New York City. It faces Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan area. The theater was designed by architects Kirchhoff & Rose and opened in 1913.

For many years, from its opening until about 1929, the Palace Theatre was known as the most important place for vaudeville performers. Vaudeville was a popular type of entertainment with many different acts, like singers, dancers, comedians, and acrobats. The theater has 1,743 seats, spread across three levels.

Today, the Palace Theatre's main part is its three-level auditorium on 47th Street. This part of the theater is a special New York City designated landmark. The auditorium has beautiful decorations, special boxes on the sides, and two balcony levels that slope down towards the stage. When it first opened, the theater also had an 11 or 12-story office building facing Broadway.

The Palace was most successful as a vaudeville theater in the 1910s and 1920s. In the 1930s, it became a movie palace called the RKO Palace Theatre, showing films. However, it still had some vaudeville shows in the 1950s. The Nederlander Organization bought the Palace in 1965 and reopened it as a Broadway theater the next year.

The theater has been closed for major renovations several times. From 1987 to 1991, the original building was partly taken down and replaced by the DoubleTree Suites Times Square Hotel. The theater reopened inside this new hotel in 1991. Then, in 2019, the DoubleTree Hotel was mostly taken down for a new project called TSX Broadway. As part of this big project, the Palace closed again in 2018 and was actually lifted 30 feet (9.1 m) higher in early 2022! The latest renovation finished in May 2024.

The Palace Theatre's Buildings

The Palace Theatre is located at 1568 Broadway. It's at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street. This area is part of the Theater District in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The theater faces Duffy Square, which is at the northern end of Times Square.

The Palace Theatre was designed by architects Kirchhoff & Rose and finished in 1913. A vaudeville businessman named Martin Beck paid for the theater. The theater has been part of three different buildings over the years. Even though the inside of the theater still has its 1913 design, the original building was partly taken down in 1988. The theater space was then rebuilt inside the DoubleTree Suites Times Square Hotel between 1990 and 1991. The DoubleTree Hotel itself was taken down in 2019 to make way for the new TSX Broadway building.

Original Building Design

The Palace Theatre first had an office building along Times Square. It also had the theater part on 47th Street, which held the main auditorium. The original building was built on several land lots that formed an "L" shape. The office building was 11 or 12 stories tall and served as the main entrance to the theater. This entrance had a large sign called a marquee in later years.

The office building had a fancy marble front. Inside, the theater entrance was 40 feet (12 m) wide. It had an outer lobby with beautiful marble and an inner lobby with more fancy marble. Two sets of stained-glass doors led into these lobbies. Stairs in the inner lobby went to the upper floors. After the lobbies, there was a foyer that led right into the auditorium.

The theater part of the building was 88 by 125 feet (27 by 38 m). It had a brick or terracotta front on 47th Street. The inside was decorated in a French style. The auditorium first had 1,820 seats. It had two balcony levels and 20 special boxes arranged in rows. The colors inside were ivory and bronze. There were also 32 or 36 dressing rooms for the performers.

DoubleTree Suites Hotel

The front of the DoubleTree Suites, with the Palace Theatre entrance on the right

Between 1987 and 1991, an Embassy Suites hotel (which later became a DoubleTree Suites) was built on the site. This hotel, designed by Fox & Fowle, replaced the old office building on Broadway. The hotel was 43 stories tall and had 460 rooms. The theater's front was mostly hidden behind huge billboards, as required by rules for buildings in Times Square.

The hotel was built above and around the theater's original auditorium and stage. The hotel rooms were held up by four huge steel and concrete "super columns." These columns were 145 feet (44 m) tall and placed on either side of the auditorium. On top of the columns were two large steel structures that supported the hotel's weight.

The theater's lobby, along with the hotel's entrance and some shops, were on the ground floor. The theater entrance was in about the same spot as before, and the lobby from the old office building was kept. The theater lobby led into a foyer. Above that was a five-story open space with some of the hotel's public areas. The Palace Theatre's original brick and stone front on 47th Street remained, but it was not protected as a landmark.

TSX Broadway Development

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the DoubleTree/Palace site was redeveloped as part of TSX Broadway. This is a huge new building project that includes a 669-room hotel. The new building was constructed around, above, and even below the Palace's auditorium. The lowest 16 stories of the DoubleTree building were kept.

The area where the old lobby was is now retail space, going three levels underground. This meant the auditorium had to be lifted up by about 30 feet (9.1 m)! The auditorium is now supported by columns that go deep into the ground.

About 10,000 square feet (930 m²) of new backstage space was created for the theater. The main entrance was also moved to 47th Street. This new entrance has a raised front and a large marquee sign. Escalators on 47th Street connect the new entrance to a new lobby at the orchestra level, next to the raised auditorium. In total, the theater grew from 40,000 to 80,000 square feet (3,700 to 7,400 m²).

Auditorium

Auditorium, looking towards the stage

The auditorium is the only part of the original theater that still exists. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has protected it as a city landmark. It is built in a strong structure that is separate from the buildings around it. The auditorium has special boxes, two balconies above the main orchestra level, and a large stage behind a big arch called a proscenium arch.

The auditorium's width is a little more than its depth. The foyer and lobby were decorated with fancy plaster designs. The stage itself was originally sloped, meaning it tilted down towards the audience. Even though the auditorium's orchestra level was originally on the ground floor, it was raised to the third floor when the TSX Broadway project was built.

Seating Areas

Before it closed in 2018, the auditorium had 1,743 seats. The orchestra level has a floor that slopes down towards the stage. Both balcony levels are curved and hang over the orchestra section, also sloping down towards the stage. All three levels have walkways with decorative ceilings. Stairs behind each walkway connect the three seating levels.

The first balcony goes about halfway back over the orchestra. Its front has decorative designs with classical masks. The underside of this balcony has plaster designs that look like ropes. The second balcony also has rope designs on its underside, forming a rectangular pattern. The front edge of the second balcony has more decorative designs. The side walls of the second balcony have decorative columns that support a border. There are also exit doors with curved tops.

Original floor plan from 1913

The orchestra level has special boxes on each side, separated by marble barriers. On either side of the stage arch, there are arched spaces with a doorway at the orchestra level and a box at the first balcony level. Each box has a doorway with columns on each side, topped by decorative supports. These spaces are topped by a curved, shell-like design. Originally, there were 20 boxes at the orchestra level, 23 at the first balcony, and 12 at the second balcony.

Other Design Features

Curved supports at each corner of the auditorium hold up a wide, curved ceiling. This ceiling is divided into panels with different scroll and flower designs. The front of the curved ceiling, near the stage, has a decorative shield with small angel figures. There is a flat ceiling area with curved triangular panels, and a dome with decorative blocks and flower designs. A large, old-ivory bronze chandelier hangs from the ceiling. It measures 14 feet (4.3 m) across.

The proscenium arch, which frames the stage, is 44 feet (13 m) wide. It has many decorative moldings, like small balls, egg-and-dart patterns, and acanthus-leaf designs. The top of the arch has a special stone called a keystone with a child's head carved into it. Above the arch is a sounding board with leaf patterns. In the center of the sounding board, above the stage, is a round panel showing a lyre, a musical instrument. The orchestra pit is in front of the orchestra seating, in front of the stage arch. It was added during a 1965 renovation. The stage is behind the proscenium arch and orchestra pit. The stage used to have a Wurlitzer organ.

History of the Palace Theatre

The Palace Theatre was built by Martin Beck, a vaudeville businessman. His company, the Orpheum Circuit, was very popular on the West Coast. On the East Coast, the Keith–Albee circuit, run by Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Albee, was also very big. In 1907, these two companies agreed to divide the country: Orpheum would handle vaudeville west of Chicago, and Keith–Albee would handle it east of Chicago, including New York City.

Building the Theater

In December 1911, Beck announced he had leased the land to build the Palace Theatre. At first, his team said the Palace would not be for vaudeville. But Beck soon changed his mind, saying it would be a vaudeville theater. In February 1912, the architects filed plans for the new theater building.

Because of the agreement between Orpheum and Keith–Albee, Edward Albee at first said that any vaudeville act performing at the Palace would not be allowed to perform on his circuit. Albee demanded that Beck give him most of the ownership of the Palace to use acts from the Keith–Albee circuit, and Beck agreed. The Palace's plans were kept secret until February 1913, when The New York Times announced it would be "something along the lines of English music halls" with ballets, not just "strict vaudeville."

Vaudeville Era

The Palace Theatre, around 1920

The theater finally opened on March 24, 1913. The first star was Ed Wynn. Tickets cost $1.50 for afternoon shows and $2.00 for evening shows. A writer named Marian Spitzer said that on opening day, "nothing happened that afternoon to suggest the birth of a great theatrical tradition." People thought the $2 ticket price was too expensive. The media even made fun of the opening shows. Four days after it opened, Variety magazine wrote an article called "Palace $2 Vaudeville a Joke." Another problem was the nearby Victoria Theatre, which was a much more successful vaudeville place.

The Palace's first real success came six weeks after it opened, with a short play called Miss Civilization starring Ethel Barrymore. But it was after the famous French actress Sarah Bernhardt performed on May 5, 1913, that the Palace truly became popular. Except for a short time in 1913, the Palace had shows every day for the next 20 years. By December 1914, Variety called the Palace "the greatest vaudeville theater in America, if not the world." When Willie Hammerstein, who ran the Victoria Theatre, died that same year, the Victoria closed, which helped the Palace become even more popular.

To "play the Palace" meant that entertainers had reached the very top of their vaudeville careers. The theater itself was nicknamed the "Valhalla of Vaudeville," which means a place of honor for heroes. Performer Jack Haley wrote that performing there was like getting a "show business diploma." He said it was a "dream fulfilled" and the "pinnacle of Variety success."

A typical show would have nine acts, performing twice a day. The shows changed every Monday. The Monday afternoon show was very important, with the toughest audience. If an act didn't do well, it might be cut from the evening shows. Because acts changed so often, Variety noted in 1914 that the theater was "using up headliners at an alarming rate." At its best, the Palace made $500,000 profit each year. The average show was paid $12,000.

Famous Vaudeville Performers

Many famous performers appeared at the Palace during its vaudeville years. These included:

Other performers who appeared at the Palace included:

Decline of Vaudeville

In 1925, the vaudeville circuit became Keith-Albee-Orpheum. The company also started buying film companies. With the start of the Great Depression, movies and radio became much more popular, and vaudeville began to decline. New movie theaters like the Paramount Theatre (1926) and Roxy Theatre (1927) were big competitors to the Palace.

Many shows at the Palace stayed for several weeks because they were so popular. This made regular visitors, who liked variety, stop coming. Also, many acts started asking for more money. After Keith–Albee–Orpheum merged with other companies to form RKO Pictures in 1928, their vaudeville theaters started showing movies.

To attract people, the Palace added an electric piano in the lobby and colored lights in the auditorium in the late 1920s. Vaudeville was still popular in 1931, when Kate Smith performed for ten weeks. But in May 1932, the Palace started having four shows a day and lowered its ticket prices. A fifth show was added later, but it didn't bring in more people.

After Vaudeville

As a Movie Palace

The original lobby before its renovation in 1939

The last week of only vaudeville shows at the Palace ended on July 9, 1932. After that, the Palace started showing a mix of vaudeville acts before a feature film. The very last vaudeville act happened on November 12, 1932. After this, the Palace became a movie palace, showing only films under RKO Pictures.

At first, showing only films wasn't very successful. Many big movie studios already had their own theaters in Times Square. Theater historian Louis Botto said that from the 1930s on, the Palace "struggled to survive." It often switched between showing only films, a mix of vaudeville and film, and live performances.

The Palace went back to a vaudeville-before-film policy on January 7, 1933. For the next two years, it kept switching between these two formats. For 14 years starting in 1935, the Palace showed movies almost all the time. One famous film shown at the RKO Palace was Citizen Kane, which had its world premiere there in 1941.

In 1939, RKO started building a large new sign (marquee) in front of the office building. The next month, RKO announced the Palace would be renovated. The changes included updating the lobbies with new marble walls and installing new doors. These renovations finished in August 1939. More changes happened in the early 1940s, when some of the theater boxes were removed because they didn't have a good view of the movie screen.

Trying to Bring Vaudeville Back

The RKO Palace closed for a $60,000 renovation in early 1949. It got new seats, carpets, better sound, and a new ticket booth. Starting in May 1949, the RKO Palace tried to bring vaudeville back. They showed eight live acts before a feature film. Within two months, the theater said that people were coming in "very encouraging" numbers.

The Palace closed for another two-week renovation in October 1951. After it reopened, Judy Garland performed there for 19 weeks. This was the first time in almost 18 years that the Palace had two vaudeville shows a day. The Palace also attracted other famous acts like Lauritz Melchior, José Greco, Betty Hutton, and Danny Kaye. Garland returned for another successful run in 1956.

Publicity shot of RKO Palace marquee, still advertising "vaudeville", around 1955

Even though these shows were popular, they didn't bring back the vaudeville format for good. According to historian Ken Bloom, the Palace "limped along into the fifties." The popularity of television made vaudeville less profitable. Performances by Jerry Lewis and Liberace in 1957 didn't attract enough people. Because of this, the Palace stopped its vaudeville policy in July 1957. It started showing only films again. The Palace did host one more vaudeville performance by Harry Belafonte in December 1959.

Becoming a Broadway Theater

Nederlander Takes Over

By March 1965, the RKO Palace was no longer making money as a movie theater. In July, the Nederlander Organization agreed to buy the Palace from RKO for about $1.4 million or $1.6 million. The Nederlanders officially bought the theater in August 1965. They wanted to keep the Palace Theatre open even when there wasn't a play. For a while, the Palace showed films and had concerts between theater shows.

The Nederlanders spent $500,000 to renovate the theater into a legitimate theater (a place for live plays). Many of the decorations added after the theater first opened were removed, showing the original design. They found old ironwork, marble railings, and the decorated ceiling of the lobby. In the basement, workers found a gold vault filled with paint cans and crystal chandeliers. The auditorium was decorated with red, gold, and cream colors. The basement was also renovated to include a dressing room for the main performer. Two bars were added, one in the lobby and one in the basement. The renovations made the Palace the only Broadway theater actually located on Broadway. With 1,732 seats, it was the largest Broadway theater.

On January 29, 1966, the Palace opened as a Broadway venue with the musical Sweet Charity. This show ran at the Palace for 608 performances. In July 1967, Judy Garland performed there, and her show was recorded for a live album. Later in 1967, the musical Henry, Sweet Henry had a short run. More successful was George M!, which opened in 1968 and ran for over 400 performances.

During the 1970s, the Palace hosted live performances from stars like Josephine Baker, Bette Midler, Shirley MacLaine, and Diana Ross. The Palace also hosted the 25th Tony Awards in 1971. During this time, the theater showed the musical Applause, which ran for 896 performances over two years. Another hit was the musical Lorelei, which opened in 1974 and lasted ten months. The musical Man of La Mancha ran for three months in 1977. In 1979, the musical Oklahoma! had 301 performances. Another musical, Woman of the Year, opened in 1981 and stayed for two years. The Palace's most successful show in its first 20 years as a Broadway theater was La Cage aux Folles, which opened in 1983 and ran for more than four years.

Renovations from the 1980s to 2010s

A developer named Larry Silverstein wanted to build a tall skyscraper on the Palace Theater's site in the mid-1980s. This plan depended on him buying a bank building nearby. He also had to wait for the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to decide if the theater should be a city landmark in 1987. If it became a landmark, Silverstein would have to build around the theater. In the end, only the inside of the theater was made a landmark; the outside was not. In late 1987, the theater closed after the last performance of La Cage aux Folles.

The New York City Board approved the landmark status in March 1988. Theater owners tried to fight the landmark rules in court, saying they limited how much the theaters could be changed. But these rules were upheld in 1992. Meanwhile, the old office building was taken down (except for the lobby), and two stories above the auditorium were also removed. Silverstein built a 43-story Embassy Suites hotel on the site. The theater itself got a $1.5 million renovation as part of the $150 million hotel project. The hotel was finished in September 1990.

The Will Rogers Follies opened in the newly renovated theater on May 1, 1991, and ran until 1993. The Palace then showed Beauty and the Beast from 1994 to 1999. Aida, which ran from 2000 to 2004, had 1,852 performances. The theater also staged Legally Blonde: The Musical (2007–2008), West Side Story (2009–2011), Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (2011–2012), and Annie (2012–2014).

In 2014, the Nederlanders agreed to make their theaters, including the Palace, more accessible for people with disabilities. Also in early 2014, the orchestra seating was changed as part of a $200,000 renovation before the musical Holler If Ya Hear Me opened in June 2014. An American in Paris, a stage show based on the 1951 film, opened in April 2015 for an 18-month run.

2010s and 2020s Renovation

Auditorium interior as seen in 2011

In 2015, the Nederlander Organization announced another renovation as part of the TSX Broadway development. This project would include a new lobby and entrance on 47th Street, as well as new dressing rooms and other facilities for visitors. The landmark interior of the theater would be raised 30 feet (9.1 m) to make space for shops on the ground floor. The LPC approved this plan in November 2015, even though some people who wanted to preserve old buildings were worried. The New York City Council approved the plan in June 2018, allowing the project to move forward. The musical SpongeBob SquarePants was the last show to play at the theater before the renovation, running from December 2017 to September 2018. The demolition of the old building began in late 2019.

The reconstruction was first expected to keep the Palace closed until 2021. The renovation was delayed in 2019 because contractors needed to check a building next door, but they didn't get permission for over a year. The old 1568 Broadway building was being taken down by early 2020. Work was only stopped for three weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. This was because the TSX Broadway project included hotel rooms, so it was considered an "essential jobsite."

The theater also had a $50 million renovation. This included restoring the plasterwork and the original chandelier. They also added sound insulation and built a new box office and new restrooms.

The auditorium started to be lifted in January 2022. During the lift, the bottom of the auditorium was protected by a 5-foot-thick (1.5 m) layer of concrete. The lift used 34 hydraulic posts, which moved the auditorium by only 0.25 inches (6.4 mm) an hour. After the theater had been raised 16 or 17 feet (4.9 or 5.2 m), the lifting stopped temporarily in March 2022. This allowed the new support structure to be installed. The lifting process finished on April 5, 2022. After that, the permanent supports under the auditorium were put in place.

In March 2024, the Nederlander Organization announced that the theater would reopen on May 28, 2024. The first show will be a three-week concert series by Ben Platt. This will be followed by the musical Tammy Faye, which is set to open in November 2024.

Alleged Haunting

Some people say the ghost of an acrobat named Louis Bossalina haunts the theater. Observers have described seeing a white-clothed figure swinging in the air. Then, it lets out a "blood-curdling scream" and falls. Bossalina was part of an acrobatic act called the Four Casting Pearls. He was hurt when he fell 18 feet (5.5 m) during a performance on August 28, 1935, in front of 800 people. Bossalina died in 1963. According to one TV channel, sightings of Bossalina only happened until the 1980s. However, another source mentioned a sighting in the 1990s during a showing of Beauty and the Beast.

Notable Productions

This list includes Broadway shows that first performed at the Palace Theatre. It does not include vaudeville shows or films.

Images for kids

• 

  Original foyer

• 

  The original lobby prior to its renovation in 1939

• 

  The Palace Theatre, circa 1920

• 

  Publicity shot of RKO Palace marquee, still advertising "vaudeville", circa 1955

See also

• List of buildings and structures on Broadway in Manhattan
• List of Broadway theaters
• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets