Comments about Palace Theater in Youngstown, OH

wolfgirl500 on October 28, 2011 at 10:01 am

Wayne, in regards to your comment on Youngstown audiences, they were sticklers for perfection and would not settle for second best, and over the years many performers were booed off the stage.

There is a report that in the dressing room of a Broadway theater someone wrote: “If you think you’re good, try playing Youngstown, Ohio.”

I’ve tried to search out the authenticity of this story and which New York theater this was at, but couldn’t verify it, but hopefully someone can verify it.

wolfgirl500 on October 26, 2011 at 5:11 pm

Here is the link to another article about the ice show.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BENJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DYQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=974%2C1498756

wolfgirl500 on October 26, 2011 at 4:32 pm

Burkesneice, in the photo section for this theater I’ve placed a copy of the ad for you.

Hope that the link and photo help.

wolfgirl500 on October 26, 2011 at 4:25 pm

The ST. Moritz Ice Follies was at the Palace Theater for a four day stay .

Here is a link to the Vindicator article about it along with the ad.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BUNJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DYQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4388%2C1642679

Burkesniece on October 26, 2011 at 11:14 am

wolfgirl500 ~ I am looking for info regarding the St. Moritz Ice Carnival that toured in September 1937 playing at the Palace in Youngstown & in Akron.

Thanks, Burkesneice

wolfgirl500 on September 29, 2011 at 8:54 pm

Its understandable that you would have only gone to the Palace, State, Warner and Paramount since you would have been too young to go to the Park which was a mere shaddow of its former glory and was reduced to being an adults onlt theater, but in its best days it brought in so many great shows both on stage and screen.

WayneS on September 29, 2011 at 3:58 pm

About my senior year in HS I was deeply interested in film technology, so I was very aware of the stereo sound when I saw “Around The World in 80 Days” at the Palace. I had missed the original 70mm Todd-AO release so I was happy to see the 35mm magnetic. The sound was extraordinary. I had to take the bus from Hubbard to see anything at the Palace, the Warners, the State or the Paramount. Didn’t go to any of the other theaters, however.

wolfgirl500 on September 28, 2011 at 9:45 pm

Youngstown was known as a tough theater town where audiences were very demanding.

The theaters that brought in live shows were the Hippodrome, the Park Theatre and the Palace.

The Palace featured Broadway plays, vaudeville and big bands; and movies the Park brought in plays, opera, symphonies, vaudeville, burlesque, movies and ballets; and the Hippodrome brought in vaudeville and movies.

In one of the Broadway theaters dressing room someone wrote on the wall: “If you think you’re good, try playing Youngstown, Ohio.”

WayneS on September 28, 2011 at 8:19 pm

I didn’t see very many films at the Palace, perhaps “Run Silent, Run Deep”. My best memory of it was graffiti near the stage door apparently written by a vaudevillian. It claimed hell was a one way ticket to perform for Youngstown audiences. Must have had a bad day.

wolfgirl500 on July 1, 2011 at 7:55 pm

Someone once asked about Youngstown Drive-In’s.

There were 4 Drive-In’s:

Southside Drive-In – Youngstown
Northside Drive-In – Youngstown
Westside Drive-In – Youngstown
Sky-Hi Drive-In – Youngstown

Unfortunately I have no detais about them except for the fact that they are closed.

The Sky-Hi which was on the city’s East Side is now a church complex.

wolfgirl500 on June 17, 2011 at 7:45 am

I’ve noticed that some folks confuse this Palace with two other Palace Theaters that were in Youngstown. The first theater by this name was on East Federal Street and was long gone by the time the Keith Albee opened, and the other was on Market Street and was not related to the Wick Avenue theater and was a small burlesque/adult films theater that was shut down by the city.

wolfgirl500 on January 24, 2011 at 11:53 pm

The death of the Palace Theater:

Palace Theater Closing

April 10, 1964
View link

View link

May 5, 1964
View link

Nov. 9, 1964
View link

wolfgirl500 on December 31, 2010 at 7:56 pm

My thanks too for the link Mike.

Is there any way that we can save articles from this site?

wolfgirl500 on December 30, 2010 at 9:21 pm

Photos of the restored organ here:

View link

wolfgirl500 on December 30, 2010 at 8:57 pm

Here is the link to the Vindicator article about the Palace Theater organ.

Restored Palace organ returns
View link

January 10, 2010

wolfgirl500 on December 30, 2010 at 8:46 pm

The Palace Theater organ came back to Youngstown and is in private hands.

milanp on December 27, 2010 at 9:34 am

Some corrections to Wolfgirl’s comments about the State Theater:
It was the Paramount (not the State) that played “My Fair Lady.”
And the State remained a first-run theater until their tragic closure in 1970. Among their last films were “Woodstock” and “The Boys in the Band,” both of which played in the summer of ‘70.
The “I am Curious (Yellow)” contremps was, I believe, in the early spring of 1969 (although it might have been '70: movies were platformed back then and would sometimes take an inordinate amount of time to get to Youngstown). I think they may have shown the film once before the cops shut them down. How silly. But the theater reopened with a more “socially acceptable” movie immediately after. It’s days, however, were sadly numbered.

spectrum on December 14, 2010 at 2:09 pm

The Lobby and auditorium look very much like those of the Palace Theatre in Cleveland and the Albee in Cincinnati, except that those lobbies had two identical staircases on either side. But really a beautiful place and unfortunate that it was demolished.