Palace Theatre Nh Tickets

Palace Theatre nh
Palace Theatre NH is a stage production venue in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. It provides a broad range of live, high quality, professional and community performances, as well as educational opportunities for performers and audiences of all ages.

Being a non-profit performing arts center, Palace Theatre hosts its own professional company, youth and teen program and presenting acts. The Palace Theatre also hosts several New Hampshire high schools' annual musicals, talent shows and other events as a service to the Manchester community.

A Greek immigrant named Victor Charas is strongly connected to the history and being of the Palace Theatre NH today. Victor immigrated to America at the age of 24, and soon he realized that his future held something better for him.

In June of 1914, with the help of general contractor Henry Macropol and architect Leon Lempert & Son, Victor began construction on an impressive and grand theatre. It was intended and shaped like its larger cousin theatre, having the same name, situated in New York City.

The construction of the building took less than a year approximately, and the theatre boasted superb construction, a stunning decor, and an interior that was cooled by fans blowing air over great blocks of ice under the stage. Thus, it became the only first-class theatre in New Hampshire that was fireproof and air-conditioned.

Palace Theatre celebrated its opening night on April 9th, 1915, with great fanfare. Local press billed the evening as the grandest social occasion of the century and the musical comedy Modern Eve played to a full house.

The theater"s prime time had stared since its opening and it lasted till 1930. The Palace was a station for many touring vaudeville companies where performers such as Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope, Harry Houdini, The Marx Brothers, and Red Skelton entertained audiences.

In addition, stock companies presented up to 12 performances a week. Due to the changing nature of entertainment, the Palace Theatre became a movie-house in 1930 until the early 1960's, when it no longer had any connection to its artistic beginnings.

The theatre was now being used as classroom space for New Hampshire College. When the school moved to their new campus, the Palace became surplus and fell into disrepair. The seats were removed, the stage equipment was left to deteriorate and the building was used as a warehouse.

In 1974, the prominent Manchester lawyer John McLane and Mayor Sylvio S. Dupuis spearheaded a campaign to restore the Palace to its original glory. Financial assistance was gained from the Norwin S. and Elizabeth N. Bean Foundation for this project. Once the renovations were over, new orchestra seating was installed, and on November 2nd, 1974, the Palace Theatre once again celebrated its opening night.

Today, the Palace Theatre is a fully restored professional performing arts center which can seat up to 870 people. The Palace is the only one of its kind in the area.

The historic Palace is now the only surviving member of The Great White Way, in the area that once boasted 22 theatres. According to the Ghost Quest"s investigation, the Palace is also haunted by a few spirits.

Whatever the rumors may claim, the Palace Theatre NH is surely a state-of-the-art facility that must be visited, in order to truly understand its experience.