Palace Theatre Information

The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theatre, found at 1564 Broadway (at West 47th Street) in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Martin Beck, a vaudeville entrepreneur based in San Francisco, funded the theatre in order to challenge the monopoly of Keith–Albee over the east coast – however, Albee insisted that Beck turned over three-quarters ownership to use acts from the Keith circuit. Beck agreed, and the theater was built, its architechture designed by the Kirchoff & Rose company.

Between 1913 to 1929, the Palace Theatre gained a favourable reputation among vaudeville performers as the flagship of the Keith–Albee organization, and became the most desired venue to be booked at in the country!! To “play the Palace” was considered a prestigious honour, to the extent that some acts even would do so in return for a pay cut!

“Only a vaudevillian who has trod its stage can really tell you about it…” wrote performer Jack Haley; “Only a performer can describe the anxieties, the joys, the anticipation, and the exultation of a week’s engagement at the Palace.”