So I know that we’re in contemporary drama, so our articles should be about things related to what’s happening currently in theatre, but I found this article about a local historical theatre from my home town and I thought, after reading all these plays about how important the past is to theatre today, an article about the past might be appropriate. I also just found it interesting, because I never really looked into anything about our local theatre.
A little background, the Palace Theatre opened in 1925, after four years of construction. It cost $300,000 to build! It was one of the first of its kind in Western New York and is located in Lockport, NY (about 20 minutes east of Niagara Falls). The first film it showed was a silent black and white film called ‘The Ten Commandments’. It also hosted the First Vaudeville Company, the Famous Players, during its first year.
Over the past 85 years, the Palace Theatre has shown films, vaudeville, Broadway, plays, and hosted local dance schools, choruses, and theatre productions. This summer, the Palace will be putting on ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Seussical the Musical’, with a local cast.
As I read this article, the thing that really struck me is how much has changed regarding movie and play going. When the Palace opened, there was a maid attending the woman’s room and there were places for children to play, as well as a smoking room for the men. People went dressed in their best, rather than jeans and a t-shirt. Each program during the early years consisted of a news reel, a cartoon, the main feature, which was often a silent picture accompanied by an organist, and closed with a live vaudeville act. It cost 25 cents for everyone over 12 and there wasn’t a concession stand until the 70’s! The idea was that theatres such as the Palace were meant to be for everyone, not just the rich and social elite. Without places like the Palace, we never would have seen a growth of other small, local theatres accessible to the public; theatre would have remained in the opera houses for the cultured and film probably would have died out over time.
The last thing I wanted to say was that I found out Lucille Ball had her very own box seat at the Palace. How freaking cool is that?! Unfortunately you can’t sit in the box seats anymore (the floors are too dangerous) but it’s still really cool. Lucille Ball is actually from the next town over from me, which I just googled.
If you’re interested in learning more and seeing pictures, here’s the link:
