Palace Theater
100 East Main Street,
Waterbury,
CT
6702
100 East Main Street,
Waterbury,
CT
6702
11 people
favorited this theater
Built in 1922 by renowned architect Thomas W. Lamb, the Palace Theater, nationally recognized as the flagship theater of the Loew’s Poli chain, is an exquisite example of one of the last great move palaces which flourished during the golden age of cinema.
Registered as a National Historic treasure, the Palace’s elegant lobbies, crystal chandeliers, gold detailing, almost 3,500 seat capacity auditorium, along with its Broadway-sized stage, make this the largest seating capacity theater of its kind in all of New England.
The theater has undergone a massive restoration and renovation project that expanded the theater’s stage and reduced seating capacity to 2900. The Palace Theater reopened in November of 2004.
Contributed by
Greg Lontkowski
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 104 comments)
@Mike S:
Kiss most certainly did not set fire to the curtains. I was there on December 18, 1975. My friend’s dad drove us to the show in his Ford Galaxy 500, since us kids were only 15.
What did happen was that when people held up their lit cigarette lighters, the theater manager came out and told everyone that if they don’t put away the lighters, the band will not perform an encore. Eventually the band played their encore. It was a great show. :)
A 1950 Loew’s Poli ad in the Bridgeport Sunday Herald
Poli’s Palace Theatre marquee sometime in the 1920s.
The Palace Theater marquee in October 2009.
There’s a vintage postcard exhibit of Waterbury life at the nearby Mattatuck Museum until May 30. It’s only $5 for admission. I plan to go when I’m next in town, which is April 10, to see if there’s any old theatre pix.
Click here for a photograph of Poli’s Palace taken in 1929.
Nice vintage photo Brad.
View link
Learned of this theatre when seeing that the Fireball Run (missing children) visited Waterbury CT today and toured the theatre. They posted a photo of the awesome lobby on their FB link.
Do wish though that this theatre still had its original marquee.