The Palace Theater Timeline
Built in the early 1920’s, the historic Palace Theater was the center of Waterbury, Connecticut’s active cultural scene prior to WWII. Famous New England theater impresario Sylvester Z. Poli opened the venue in 1922, after investing $1 million in its opulent décor.
Construction began on the Poli’s Palace (the Palace Theater’s name at the time) in January 1920. It was designed in Renaissance Revival theme by noted theater architect Thomas W. Lamb of Manhattan, NY. The cost was $1 million, a grand price in the early 1920s.
1920
Poli’s Palace officially opened its doors on Saturday, January 28, 1922 with two presentations of George M. Cohen’s Mary. In the early years, Poli’s Palace presented daily quality vaudeville and augmented picture presentations with the Palace Symphony Orchestra. The theater was quickly received as the city’s finest performance venue.
1922
Harry Houdini brought his magic act to the theater. As part of his act, the crew needed to cut an 8’ wide hole in the stage floor for a trap door. After the show, the stage was patched back up.
1924
In 1928 Sylvester Poli decided to sell all his theaters to William Fox of Fox Theatres. A short time later, Fox came into financial troubles and Poli re-purchased the chain of theaters in 1929.
1928 – 1929
The theater originally used live orchestras and a Wurlitzer organ backstage to accompany the silent movies shown. However, in 1929, “talkies” became popular and the theater needed to be refurbished to present sound movies. The whereabouts of the original organ are unknown.
1929
The Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town. They were parading the animals across the stage when Shirley, an elephant fell through the patched hole from Houdini’s act several years earlier. With no way to remove the elephant, management sadly had to put the animal down.
The elephant is now part of Palace Theater lore as one of the four friendly spirits that haunt the theater.
1930
Sylvester Poli retired from the theater and sold his interest to the Loew’s group. After the sale the theater was known as Loew’s Poli Palace.
1934
Big name performers began to book shows at the theater. Acts included Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Jackie Gleason, Pearl Bailey, Al Jolson, the Glenn Miller orchestra, the Andrew Sisters, and the McGuire Sisters.
1940s – 1950s
Loew’s Poli Palace installed a new movie system in the building called Cinerama to smashing success. Audiences were immediately plunged into the world of a surround movie. Installing this system required removing hundreds of theater seats, dropping capacity from 3719 to 3200.
Loew's Poli was one of a few theaters in the area to show the 1962 film epic, How the West Was Won.
1962
By the mid-1960s, the brass industries started to close and Waterbury was slipping economically. Neighboring theaters were slowly closing and Loew’s Poli Palace was also beginning to show its age and grow shabby as well.
1960s
Domenic Temporale purchased the theater and the adjacent hotel for $175,000 to save the historic building from the wrecking ball. After completing some renovations, he reopened the theater and renamed it the Palace.
1969
During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Palace was a must-stop on the touring rock concert circuit. Musical greats such as Alice Cooper, Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Steve Miller Band, Lynyrd Skynyd, Steely Dan, Boston, Bob Dylan, Kiss, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, J. Geils Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, and many more can all claim to have played on the Palace stage.
1970s – 1980s
On February 27, 1972, the band Yes set the stage curtain on fire!
1972
Jim Koplik & Shelley Finkel cofounded Cable Music and started promoting concerts at the Palace.
1972
Lynyrd Skynyrd performed on September 7, 1974. However, that tour stop is known more so because the parking brake was left off on the band’s tour bus and it crashed through a gas station and into a bank.
1974
Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue rolled into Waterbury on November 11, 1975. The band arrived in Waterbury relatively unannounced to a sold-out crowd and played for over 3 hours.
1975
Queen started their American leg of “A Night at the Opera Tour” at the Palace on January 27, 1976. This was the first time Queen ever played Bohemian Rhapsody live in North America.
1976
Fewer big names played the Palace in the 80s as the theater deteriorated. The City of Waterbury threatened to take the theater by eminent domain and demolish it.
1980s
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the Department of the Interior.
1983
The Palace closed its doors on July 12, 1987 with a final performance by Tony Bennett. After 62 years of wear and tear, fires, and rock-and-roll, the building was falling into disrepair.
1987
A fire in St. Patrick’s Hall adjacent to the theater resulted in significant water damage to the Weather Lobby and Grand Foyer.
1989
The theater was dark for 15 years. Domenic Temporale tried many times to begin a restoration process of the theater but ran into numerous political roadblocks and red tape along the way.
Instead of selling the building to be torn down, Mr. Temporale continued to hold on to the building with the hope that it would eventually be restored and reopened.
1990s
Eminent domain was successfully invoked and Temporale was forced to sell the property to the city. The Naugatuck Valley Development Corporation proposed an ambitious $190 million plan to revitalize East Main Street. That plan included UCONN Waterbury, Waterbury Arts Magnet School & restoring the Palace.
2000
After 15 years of darkness, a $30 million dollar renovation, restoration, and expansion project began. The once shabby and decrepit theater was revived into a 90,000 square foot arena with a 5,000-foot stage, the largest in Connecticut.
In addition to the restoration efforts, a state-of-the-art sound sytem was installed, a new orchestra pit was constructed, and 560 rear orchestra seats were removed, reducing capacity from 3200 to 2640 and making room for a new orchestra bar lobby.
2002
Frank Tavera was hired as the Chief Executive Officer and the latest theater impresario of the Palace Theater.
2002
Before the Palace Theater officially reopened, legendary Broadway director and producer Harold “Hal" Prince teched the 2004 – 2006 touring production of Evita on the theater’s new stage on October 29 & 30, 2004.
2004
On November 12, 2004 Tony Bennett returned to the Palace Theater stage as the opening performer after the restoration.
2004
Former President Bill Clinton visited the Palace Theater for the first time on July 24, 2006 for a primary campaign rally in support of Senator Joseph Lieberman.
2006
The new Palace Theater high-tech glowing marquee is installed and revealed on November 10, 2006.
2006
Ken Burns debuted his seven-part documentary series The War on the Palace Theater stage on September 10, 2007.
2007
Former President Bill Clinton returned to the Palace Theater to campaign for Congressman Chris Murphy’s bid for the United States Senate.
2012
The Palace Theater hosted numerous Broadway stars, Newtown choirs and dance groups for the Sandy Hook benefit concert, From Broadway With Love. All proceeds went to benefit the impacted families.
2013
The Palace Theater was host to the touring production of The Phantom of the Opera for 16 performances over a 2-week period in November 2017. The production boasted exciting set design and special effects including the show’s legendary chandelier that needed to be installed over the lower Orchestra seating.
2017
Bob Dylan returned to the Palace Theater to another sold-out crowd on November 20, 2018.
2018
The Palace Theater closed its doors once again on March 13, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic that was surging around the world.
2020
After 17 months of darkness, the curtain rose again on October 1, 2021 for 2 performances of Chazz Palminteri’s one-man show A Bronx Tale.
2021
The Palace Theater has hosted over two million patrons since 2004 and has been credited with generating a new sense of pride in downtown Waterbury, expanding the arts and cultural scene, and positively impacting area restaurants and businesses.
Today
Photo Credit: Palace Theater Archives; Louis Belloisy Photography; Hartford Courant; Republican-American; Waterbury Observer; Felix Manuel Rodriguez Photography; Marc Viscardi; Creative Commons
