Palace Theatre

Here's a photo of the Palace Theatre in its current incarnation as a church.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y60/italiangerry/Cinemas/PalaceCranstonRI-nowachurch.jpg

The 1925 Providence Journal Almanac gave the seating capacity as 980 and listed Peter E. Murphy as the then manager.

Error noted: this theatre was NOT in Cranston but in Providence, just on the Providence side of the city line with Cranston. The PJ Almanac lists it under Providence and 1526 Broad Street comes out as Providence when you map it. So the city should be changed to Providence.

Gladys W. Brayton wrote of the origins of the Palace Theatre on the website of the Cranston Historical Society, even though the theatre is geographically just over the border in Providence:
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In 1916 Abraham A. Spitz, a veteran theater man and owner of a number of theaters in Providence and elsewhere, opened the Palace Theater at 1520 Broad Street. His manager for twenty-two years was Charles H. Steadman who had supervised the building of the theater. It has a seating capacity of 1000. His license was but $25 at the time, but by the end of year was changed to $1 for each performance. The price of the seats went up a bit, too. Reserved seats in the balcony were fifteen cents.

The Edgewood Library Civic Club gave a play there soon after it was
opened. Occasionally concerts and entertainments took place there. On Saturday mornings a children's program was offered with three chaperones in attendance. The popular "Wizard of Oz" was featured at one of these sessions.

In 1920 the Palace offered its patrons a special feature, a midnight who at which the elections returns were given, for there were no televisions in those days to keep up to date on the news.

The former Palace Theatre is now known as God's Family Church. Next to the church is a cemetery which abuts Providence's lovely multi-laked Roger Williams Park. A peek into the interior reveals a well-maintained building. The original seats have been replaced by pews, while retaining the rake of the floor. The projection booth structure over the entrance remains intact as seen in this furtive photo taken through a side door.

Did you know that Bruce Springsteen began his "Born to Run" tour at the Palace in the summer of 1975? The band had just finished recording the album in New York City-- way behind schedule-- and they jumped into the van for the drive to Providence for that night's concert. An amazing moment in rock & roll history-- right in Providence!

Rev Jeff S,
You got it wrong! It was not at this Palace Theatre! That was at what is now PPAC and what was for decades Loew's State. That theatre was known as the Palace for a while in the 1970s. You can find it HERE. Perhaps you might want to re-post there.

Ah! Thank you for the correction. I was just reading about the Lowe's State-- another beautiful theater, wonderfully restored. (My wife and I went to see Chicago, the band, there in September-- and both the concert and the surroundings were lovely!) Thanks again for the correct information.

There is a photo on this rather comprehensive website:
http://tinyurl.com/y8qncu

ERROR CORRECTED : Some contributors seem to think that the Palace was located in Providence. It was not. The city line runs down the center of Montgomery Avenue, and the theater is located SOUTH of the line, i.e. it's in Cranston !! I know because I live on Montgomery Avenue. I also attended many Saturday Matinees at the Palace when I was a child growing up in the neighborhood.