 | The Palace Theatre (see photo circa 1920) is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan. Designed by architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theatre, built by California vaudeville entrepreneur and Broadway impresario Martin Beck, experienced a number of problems before it opened. The theatre finally opened on March 24, 1913 with headliner Ed Wynn. To "play the Palace" meant that an entertainer had reached the pinnacle of his career, and it became a popular venue with performers like Sarah Bernhardt, Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, George Jessel, and Jack Benny. |
| In the 1950s, the RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) chain tried to revive vaudeville with shows by such names as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Jerry Lewis, Danny Kaye, Betty Hutton, and Harry Belafonte. While the shows were successful, they did not lead to a revival of the genre. On January 29, 1966, the Palace reopened as a legitimate theatre with the original production of the musical Sweet Charity, although for a period of time it showed films and presented concert performances by Bette Midler, Josephine Baker, Eddie Fisher, Shirley MacLaine, Diana Ross, and the like between theatrical engagements. In the 1980s, a towering hotel was built above the theater, cantilevered over the auditorium; today, the theater is practically invisible behind an enormous wall of billboards and under the skyscraper, and only the marquee is visible. The Palace Theatre is currently owned and operated by The Nederlander Organization and Stewart F. Lane. Notable productions 1967: Henry, Sweet Henry | |
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