New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (2024)

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New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (1)

Visuals by Amir Hamja

Text by Michael Paulson

May 22, 2024

The Palace Theater, among the oldest and largest of Broadway’s houses, is a lavishly baroque jewel, built in 1913 for vaudeville but later transformed into a movie house and, since 1966, a presenter of plays and musicals. Seen on its stage over the years: Sarah Bernhardt and Judy Garland, “La Cage aux Folles” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

For six years, the theater has been closed for an unusual reason: A developer hoisted the 14-million-pound structure 30 feet, making room for retail below and replacing the hotel above. The developer also paid for an $80 million renovation of the theater, and now the Palace is reopening.

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (2)

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (3)

The Palace already has its initial bookings. In October, performances will begin for “Tammy Faye,” a musical about the televangelist, with songs by Elton John and Jake Shears.

But first, on May 28, Ben Platt kicks off an 18-performance concert residency to promote his new album.

“People are going to be coming in wanting to take in the theater, and we want to give them space and a moment to take in where they are,” Platt said. “You can feel the positive ghostliness of everything that’s come before.”

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (4)

The theater interior in 1913.

via Harry Ransom Center

How important is the Palace?

Here’s what the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission said in 1987: “If one theater in New York’s Broadway theater district were to be named the most famous, the privilege would fall virtually uncontested to the Palace.”

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (5)

The Palace has always been part of something bigger. It opened in 1913 as part of an 11-story office tower. By the early 1990s, a 43-story hotel had replaced the office tower. And now, for $2.5 billion, that tower has been replaced with TSX Broadway, a 46-story mixed-use development.

Because the theater interior is landmarked, preserving it was a top priority. The project was painstaking — it took nearly four months to lift the theater 30 feet, with careful vibration monitoring.

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (6)

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (7)

The Palace was designed by the architectural firm Kirchhoff & Rose of Milwaukee. In 1913, The New York Times reported that “the theatre embraces all the most modern ideas in stage construction,” that smoking was restricted to the balcony, and that “there is also an animal room, in which anything from a trained monkey to an acting lion can be accommodated.”

Architects used historical images to recreate lost elements. Missing plaster faces were replaced using molds of those that survived. “The goal was to make it seem as if the building hadn’t been touched,” said Lesa Rozmarek, a project architect, “so you’re stepping back in time.”

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (8)

By the 1930s, the Palace had to supplement vaudeville with film screenings. One side effect: a projection booth was constructed at the rear of the balcony. Later, that was expanded for theatrical lighting.

The project architects, PBDW Architects, found a way to remove the booth, restoring the visual integrity of the balcony, by relocating spotlights into an unused attic space behind decorative grilles. They even installed an elevator and a bathroom for the follow-spot operators.

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (9)New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (10)

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (11)

The list of performers who have played the Palace is quite long — Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Josephine Baker and Diana Ross. But no artist is more closely associated with the theater than Garland, who had extended runs there in 1951, 1956 and 1967.

The upper lobby now features a display of Garland memorabilia as well as other historic Palace artifacts.

Platt said he expects to pay homage to Garland and to her daughter Liza Minnelli (who also played the Palace) during his concerts.

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (12)

Bettmann/Getty Images

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (13)

Bettmann/Getty Images

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (14)

The challenge is this: Hundreds of people seek relief during a brief intermission. And it’s been hard to address because many of the theaters are landmarked and boxed in by other buildings.

The Palace was able to double its restroom capacity by using non-landmarked areas to add 29 stalls, 21 sinks and 2 urinals.

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (15)

When the Palace originally opened, The New York Times described a brightly decorated dome with “a chandelier of old ivory bronze fourteen feet across.”

Sometime over the last 111 years, that chandelier disappeared.

In fashioning a central lighting fixture for the building’s new life, the architects combined the shape of the original with the Art Moderne and Art Deco styles favored in subsequent renovations. They also made sure the new chandelier was contoured so as not to obstruct the relocated spotlights.

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (16)

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (17)

The Palace Theater, circa 1920, is on the right, facing what is now Father Duffy Square.

Alpha Stock/Alamy

The Palace, owned by James L. Nederlander and Stewart F. Lane, sits at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street — a prime location in Times Square but also a congested one. Entering had become an obstacle course. So the theater’s owners ceded their Broadway-facing entryway as part of the development deal.

“The Palace actually, for as stunning as it is, never had the entranceway it deserved — it was basically just a hallway to the street,” said Nick Scandalios, chief operating officer at the Nederlander Organization. He said the move has resulted in “a grander and more gracious entrance.”

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (18)

The Palace now has 1,648 seats, down from 1,740 in 2018 and 1,800 in 1913. The seats are wider, and there is more legroom. The Palace is also more accessible, with additional wheelchair locations, and an elevator to all floors.

The theater added 10,000 square feet to its front-of-house and backstage areas; improvements include new rigging for lighting and lifts for the orchestra and set pieces.

“Walking in there, I have the same feeling I had when I was 7 and 8 years old,” Nederlander said. “No pun intended, but it’s like I just walked into a palace, and it goes all the way back to vaudeville.”

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (19)

New York’s Palace Theater Gets an $80 Million Refresh (and 30 Feet Higher) (2024)

FAQs

Why is the Palace theater being raised? ›

What is unique about this project is that a historic landmark, the 1,700-seat Palace Theatre, has been raised 30 feet to make room for commercial space below. The goal of the project was to preserve the historic theater box, which was built in 1913, and raise it to its new home on the third floor of TSX Broadway.

Who owns the Palace Theatre in NYC? ›

The Palace is co-owned by Jimmy Nederlander of the Nederlander Organization and Broadway producer Stewart Lane. "This has been in the planning stages for 10 years now," Lane said.

How many seats are in the United Palace theater NYC? ›

How big is the Palace Theatre Columbus? ›

Designed in the spirit of France's Palais de Versailles, the 2,695-seat Palace Theatre is located at the base of the LeVeque-Lincoln Tower.

How was a 7000 ton Broadway theater hoisted 30 feet? ›

Thanks to a complex mechanism involving hydraulic jacks, a new truss and a concrete ring built around the edge of the theater, the entire structure was disconnected from its foundation and is now being raised on a platform.

What happened at Palace Theatre? ›

Theatre-goers tweeted to say the show at the city's Palace Theatre was stopped 10 minutes before the end because of people "singing over the lead during the final song". Two people were removed from the venue, Greater Manchester Police said.

How many seats does the Palace Theatre have? ›

With a capacity of 1,400 seats spread across four levels, including the Stalls, Dress Circle, Grand Circle and Balcony, the Palace Theatre is one of the larger venues on the West End.

Who owns Broadway NYC? ›

The majority of Broadway theatres are owned or managed by three organizations: the Shubert Organization, a for-profit arm of the non-profit Shubert Foundation, which owns seventeen theatres; the Nederlander Organization, which controls nine theatres; and Jujamcyn, which owns five Broadway houses.

Is tsx times square real? ›

TSX Broadway is an under-construction 46-story mixed-use building on Times Square, at the southeastern corner of Broadway and 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.

What is the largest theater in NYC? ›

About the Theater

Built in 1972, The Gershwin is one of the newer theaters on Broadway, the Gershwin—with approximately 1,900 seats—is also the largest.

Why were the tonys uptown? ›

Fitelson is excited for the neighborhood's Latino community to get some time in the spotlight. “To bring the Tonys to this community makes a huge statement that they're interested in opening their doors to a wider audience,” Fitelson said.

Which Broadway theater has the biggest seats? ›

The largest of the Broadway theaters is the 1,933-seat Gershwin Theatre, while the smallest is the 597-seat Hayes Theater.

Does Palace Theatre have a dress code? ›

There is no specific dress code at the Palace Theatre, with most people just wearing their everyday clothes.

What are the best seats at the Palace Theatre in Columbus, Ohio? ›

Which Seats Offer the Best View? Given its size, Palace Theater has a lot of great seating options. The best view can be had from the middle seats in first couple of rows (AA-B) of the orchestra section. The seats in this section are closest to the stage and offer an unobstructed view with pitch perfect sound.

What are the largest theaters in the world? ›

List of Biggest Theatres In The World
TheatreCountrySeat Capacity
Sydney Opera HouseUSA5738
Radio City Music HallUSA5,960
Kinepolis-Madrid Ciudad de la ImagenSpain9200
Hollywood BowlCalifornia17500
6 more rows
Mar 27, 2024

What is one of the main reasons for the rise of movie palaces? ›

The movie palace was developed as the step beyond the small theaters of the 1900s and 1910s. As motion pictures developed as an art form, theatre infrastructure needed to change. Storefront theatres and nickelodeons catered to the busy work lives and limited budgets of the lower and middle classes.

What theater was lifted above Times Square? ›

L&L Holding Company today announced the completion of the lift of the historic Palace Theatre to 30-feet above Times Square.

Why was Shakespeare's theater closed down? ›

The theatre was closed for a few years because of The Bubonic Plague (Black Death). 12. Queen Elizabeth I was the Queen of England when Shakespeare was born. 13.

What did the Palace Theatre used to be? ›

The Palace Theatre opened on September 2, 1926, as the Manos Theatre, the crown jewel in a string of the Manos family's vaudeville-movie houses in the region. Built at the then-extravagant sum of $750,000, the Manos was considered the area's finest theatre.

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