TSX Broadway and the Palace Theatre

1568 Broadway | also 160 West 47th Street, 1566 Broadway, 1562 Broadway | Times Square | built 1913

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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1912

    Martin Beck builds the Palace but loses control of it to E. F. Albee

    The Orpheum circuit's Martin Beck decided in 1912 to build a New York theater meant to be the greatest vaudeville center in America. Through a series of double-crosses it was lost to his rival E. F. Albee of the Keith circuit. Willie Hammerstein, in financial trouble, sold the exclusive United Booking Office franchise back to Albee, who used it to take power. Beck kept 25 percent control and could book acts only on Albee's terms.

    “Hammerstein, however, was in financial straits and sold the franchise back to Albee who in turn used it to usurp power from Beck.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1913

    May 5

    Sarah Bernhardt's appearance turns the struggling Palace into a success

    The Palace opened in March 1913 and was considered a flop: tickets topped out at $2, acts ran long, the nearby Victoria Theater was a fierce rival, and the press was bad. Sarah Bernhardt's appearance on its stage on May 5, 1913 changed that. The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission later marked that appearance as the moment the Palace Era began.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1920

    Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan play the Palace for two weeks

    In 1920 Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan took the Palace stage for a two-week engagement. Performers at the theater over the years included Houdini, Mae West, the Marx Brothers, W. C. Fields and Will Rogers. Almost the only performer to skip the Palace was Al Jolson, kept away by his contract with the rival Shuberts.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1951

    October 16

    Judy Garland opens a record-breaking 19-week run that revives live acts at the Palace

    In 1951 the Palace dropped its straight film policy for a mixed program of films and variety. The new 'A Night With...' format began on October 16, 1951, combining vaudeville with a featured star, and Judy Garland inaugurated it with a record-breaking nineteen-week engagement. Betty Hutton, Liberace, Danny Kaye, Jerry Lewis and, in 1959, Harry Belafonte followed before the theater went back to straight films.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 1965

    The Nederlanders strip away plastic and plywood and uncover the Palace's baroque interior

    After buying the Palace in 1965, the Nederlander Organization spent half a million dollars refurbishing it in 1965-66. Workers tore out the plastic and plywood that had covered the walls in the name of modernity and found ornate ironwork and marble balustrades. Under a plaster overlay they uncovered the original sculpted lobby ceiling, and in the basement they found a cache of crystal chandeliers that the Landmarks Commission's report says now hang in the lobby.

    “They ripped out the plastic and plywood that had been applied to the walls for the sake of modernity, only to uncover a theater of baroque lavishness.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  6. 1987

    July 14

    The city designates the Palace's auditorium an interior landmark after 80 witnesses speak in favor

    On July 14, 1987, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Palace Theater's auditorium, stage and balcony levels as an interior landmark. Hearings in June and October 1982 had drawn eighty witnesses in favor and two opposed, and the owner said he had not formed an opinion. The designation report argued that if one Broadway theater had to be called the most famous, it would be the Palace, though it was built as a vaudeville house.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  7. 2015

    November 24

    The Landmarks Commission approves lifting the Palace Theatre 29 feet

    On November 24, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission gave permission for a project to jack up the 1913 theater by 29 feet, making room for a new lobby, dressing rooms, elevators and restrooms, plus retail space along Seventh Avenue. A new entrance would go on 47th Street beneath a 75-foot marquee, and the landmarked interior would be preserved. The project was part of a $2 billion redevelopment led by Maefield Development.

    Source: mobile.playbill.com

  8. 2022

    April 5

    The Palace Theatre's auditorium is lifted 30 feet on hydraulic posts

    Starting in January 2022, the Palace's landmarked auditorium was raised to make room for ground-floor retail beneath it. It rose on 34 hydraulically controlled steel posts and paused in March, after 16 or 17 feet, while a new structural frame was installed. The lift was completed on April 5, 2022, and a formal celebration followed the next month.

    Source: Wikipedia

  9. 2023

    January

    The tower's LED screen lights up and sells 15-second ad slots for $40 each

    In January 2023 the LED screen on the building's facade was lit for the first time. Members of the public could buy 15-second advertising slots on it for $40 each. The screen soon attracted VTubers and social-media users in China and elsewhere, who snapped up slots.

    “Members of the public were allowed to buy 15-second advertisement slots on the screen for $40 each. The screen quickly attracted attention from VTubers and social-media users in China…”

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 91 buildings with stories in Times Square