Mr. Temporale has not been forgotten. A bronze plaque has been installed in the Grand Lobby in his honor. As you exit the lobby for the inner orchestra lobby, its located on the right hand wall. Its a large plaque, done in fine taste, as a tribute to a gentleman who had a dream for the Palace.
Hello Luis, the three Poli theaters opened almost within months of each other. If my memory serves me, the Waterbury Poli had the biggest capacity, that of 3719 seats. The Boston and Bridgeport theaters were just a little less.
One of our stage hands was in the Bridgeport theater a few months ago and took many photos, which i have not seen yet. He claims that its a carbon copy of the Waterbury theater. Its in sad shape, it would take a big effort to restore it. In these time, I would venture to say, never.
Poli and his architect, Thomas Lamb had a cookie cutter design for his theaters. They are all similar in many ways. Our theater has a large Wagon Wheel chandelier in the balcony. Its not the original, since the original weighed 1800 pounds they could not safely put it back. Ours is a replica of the original and made out of fiberglass and weighs only about 130 pounds. Ours is one tier and the theater in Bridgeport has three tiers. I would love to see the inside of the theater.
In defense of Waterbury, at one time, it was the brass center of the world. Waterbury was the hub of commerce and industry in Connecticut and possibly all of New England. Such famous companies such as Scoville, Chase, Brass and Copper, Anaconda Brass, Mattatuck manufacturing, were among the numerous manufacturing companies that worked non stop during WW I and II
Sylvester Zefferino Poli loved Waterbury, so much so, that at one time, in the early 1920’s he had not only the Poli Palace theater on East Main Street, but four other vaudeville/movie houses all within a radius of one half mile. S.Z.Poli was born in Lucca, Italy in December of 1858. He opened his first theater in Waterbury in late 1897, when he was 39 years old.
There is no other City, Town, Hamlet, Burg, Village that can lay claim to have had 5 robust theaters all operating at the same time and all owned by the Impresario, S.Z. Poli.
On East Main Street, was the Poli Palace, about 1000 feet diagonally across the street was his original theater, called just plain “Poliâ€, across the street to the other side was the Strand Theater, down the street about 1500 feet was the Plaza, aka, Garden, aka, Rialto.
Across the street and up a side street was the famous Burlesque house, called Jacques.
At the time he was building his masterpiece in Waterbury, he was building two other sister theaters, one in Boston, since torn down and one in Bridgeport. The Bridgeport theater still stands, a shell of its former grand self.
Yes we are showing a couple of films on Sunday the 14th of December. first is the classic “A Christmas Story” and the second will be “It's
A Wonderful Life”.
shows start at 1 PM. we have a wonderful digital projection system and the show will be wonderful. Do bring the family and enjoy the films the way they used to be presented.
Hello Snydek, thanks for the wonderful link to the 0ld bands that played the palace. with your permission, i would like to use the list of bands on our palace web site, with credit to you, of course.
In my ongoing search for information on the Palace theater, I came across a copy of the Waterbury Republican, dated January 28, 1922. On the front page and throughout the paper they talked about the Poli Palace that was to open that evening. I have copied the entire story and you can read it here. Note the different wording that they used so long ago.
Good Evening, Mr. Lamb. My name is Louis Belloisy and I am the house photographer and historian for the wonderfully restored Palace Theater in Waterbury, Connecticut. Our grand theater was designed by your Great Grandfather and opened in January of 1922.
I was thrilled to come across your post in Cinema Treasure about Thomas Lamb.
I am constantly doing research on our theater and would like to know more about your G.G and Salvatore Z. Poli who commissioned Mr. Lamb to design our theater.
Please take a few minutes to peruse my web site on the Palace Theater. There are many photos of the newly restored theater. We were closed down and empty for 18 years and recently re-opened in November of 2004.
Thanks Ex, thats a wonderful photo. i wish i could find more like it. I would like to get together a list of the performers that were at the Palace during the 70’s and early 80’s.
I had a chance to talk to ‘'Weird Al’‘ Yankovic at the Palace a few nights ago. He wanted to know if “The Who” performed at the theater. I could not answer. He was very interested in the past rock groups that were here. IF you know the names of the rock performers that were here, please list them.
The site at Shutterfreaks is closed for additional photos. You can see more of the Palace Theater on a new web site that I have built especially to show the beauty of the theater and of the performers that are now gracing the huge stage.
Please visit this site to see current performers, enjoy a virtual tour and see the construction photos of the new marquee.
The marquee structure has undergone a stress test where they placed 20,000 pounds of water on it for 24 hours, it passed and the next step is the actual maquee itself. i understand its being built in bridgeport, conn and will be installed by september 15th. i will provide a link to some of the photos i took of the process.
I am told the new marquee will be up by early summer. I am the house photographer for the Palace and i also do the tours. the palace was my first job when i was a mere child. my knowledge of the theater has not dimmed over the years. i highly recommend the tours. if you are interested, contact the office.
also i invite you to view some of the photos of the Palace:
The State was torn down and a parking lot was pup into its place. I attended the show where Rosalind Russell was awarded the key to the city only to have the city torn in two with a disastrous flood of 1955.
Having worked for the Palace, oh so many years ago in so many different capacities, it does my heart good to see that the grand old lady will once again shine in all her splendor. i know every inch of that theater and know what she looked like in her prime. i look forward to once again walking up the grand staircase. i plan on volunteering some of my time for the cause, if they would let me.
Mr. Temporale has not been forgotten. A bronze plaque has been installed in the Grand Lobby in his honor. As you exit the lobby for the inner orchestra lobby, its located on the right hand wall. Its a large plaque, done in fine taste, as a tribute to a gentleman who had a dream for the Palace.
Louis
Hello Luis, the three Poli theaters opened almost within months of each other. If my memory serves me, the Waterbury Poli had the biggest capacity, that of 3719 seats. The Boston and Bridgeport theaters were just a little less.
One of our stage hands was in the Bridgeport theater a few months ago and took many photos, which i have not seen yet. He claims that its a carbon copy of the Waterbury theater. Its in sad shape, it would take a big effort to restore it. In these time, I would venture to say, never.
Poli and his architect, Thomas Lamb had a cookie cutter design for his theaters. They are all similar in many ways. Our theater has a large Wagon Wheel chandelier in the balcony. Its not the original, since the original weighed 1800 pounds they could not safely put it back. Ours is a replica of the original and made out of fiberglass and weighs only about 130 pounds. Ours is one tier and the theater in Bridgeport has three tiers. I would love to see the inside of the theater.
Louis
Hi Luis,
In defense of Waterbury, at one time, it was the brass center of the world. Waterbury was the hub of commerce and industry in Connecticut and possibly all of New England. Such famous companies such as Scoville, Chase, Brass and Copper, Anaconda Brass, Mattatuck manufacturing, were among the numerous manufacturing companies that worked non stop during WW I and II
Sylvester Zefferino Poli loved Waterbury, so much so, that at one time, in the early 1920’s he had not only the Poli Palace theater on East Main Street, but four other vaudeville/movie houses all within a radius of one half mile. S.Z.Poli was born in Lucca, Italy in December of 1858. He opened his first theater in Waterbury in late 1897, when he was 39 years old.
There is no other City, Town, Hamlet, Burg, Village that can lay claim to have had 5 robust theaters all operating at the same time and all owned by the Impresario, S.Z. Poli.
On East Main Street, was the Poli Palace, about 1000 feet diagonally across the street was his original theater, called just plain “Poliâ€, across the street to the other side was the Strand Theater, down the street about 1500 feet was the Plaza, aka, Garden, aka, Rialto.
Across the street and up a side street was the famous Burlesque house, called Jacques.
At the time he was building his masterpiece in Waterbury, he was building two other sister theaters, one in Boston, since torn down and one in Bridgeport. The Bridgeport theater still stands, a shell of its former grand self.
Louis
Yes we are showing a couple of films on Sunday the 14th of December. first is the classic “A Christmas Story” and the second will be “It's
A Wonderful Life”.
shows start at 1 PM. we have a wonderful digital projection system and the show will be wonderful. Do bring the family and enjoy the films the way they used to be presented.
Louis
Hello Snydek, thanks for the wonderful link to the 0ld bands that played the palace. with your permission, i would like to use the list of bands on our palace web site, with credit to you, of course.
great collection.
thank you
louis
In my ongoing search for information on the Palace theater, I came across a copy of the Waterbury Republican, dated January 28, 1922. On the front page and throughout the paper they talked about the Poli Palace that was to open that evening. I have copied the entire story and you can read it here. Note the different wording that they used so long ago.
Louis
View link
Hello, Here are some recent photos that I took of the wonderfully restored Warner Theater in Torrington, Connecticut. Check out the virtual tours.
louis belloisy
http://www.imagesct.com/web/warner/
Good Evening, Mr. Lamb. My name is Louis Belloisy and I am the house photographer and historian for the wonderfully restored Palace Theater in Waterbury, Connecticut. Our grand theater was designed by your Great Grandfather and opened in January of 1922.
I was thrilled to come across your post in Cinema Treasure about Thomas Lamb.
I am constantly doing research on our theater and would like to know more about your G.G and Salvatore Z. Poli who commissioned Mr. Lamb to design our theater.
Please take a few minutes to peruse my web site on the Palace Theater. There are many photos of the newly restored theater. We were closed down and empty for 18 years and recently re-opened in November of 2004.
my web site is: www.palacewaterbury.com
and the web site for the actual theater is: http://www.palacetheaterct.org/
Please respond,
thank you,
Louis Belloisy
Thanks Ex, thats a wonderful photo. i wish i could find more like it. I would like to get together a list of the performers that were at the Palace during the 70’s and early 80’s.
I had a chance to talk to ‘'Weird Al’‘ Yankovic at the Palace a few nights ago. He wanted to know if “The Who” performed at the theater. I could not answer. He was very interested in the past rock groups that were here. IF you know the names of the rock performers that were here, please list them.
thanks,
lou belloisy
Hello Ex Waterbury person :)
The site at Shutterfreaks is closed for additional photos. You can see more of the Palace Theater on a new web site that I have built especially to show the beauty of the theater and of the performers that are now gracing the huge stage.
Please visit this site to see current performers, enjoy a virtual tour and see the construction photos of the new marquee.
see here….. www.palacewaterbury.com
lou belloisy
I have an up to date marquee photo, how do i get it posted here.
lou belloisy
The marquee structure has undergone a stress test where they placed 20,000 pounds of water on it for 24 hours, it passed and the next step is the actual maquee itself. i understand its being built in bridgeport, conn and will be installed by september 15th. i will provide a link to some of the photos i took of the process.
louis belloisy, Palace Photographer
I am told the new marquee will be up by early summer. I am the house photographer for the Palace and i also do the tours. the palace was my first job when i was a mere child. my knowledge of the theater has not dimmed over the years. i highly recommend the tours. if you are interested, contact the office.
also i invite you to view some of the photos of the Palace:
http://www.imagesct.com/palace/index.htm
lou
I am quite familiar with the old State Theater and its, then, wonderful manageress, Miss Julia Smith. Julia was a retired opera singer and every weekend before the first matinée she would play the house organ for one half hour and sing along with it. She lived in an apartment up over the theater with her assistant manager/husband. His name slips me at this time. At the time it was a badge of honor to have been fired by Miss Smith. I also had worked across the street in the Lowe’s Poli before i came to the State theater. The State was the Warner Bros theater and the Lowe’s Poli was the MGM theater. There was wonderful competition between both theaters.
The State was torn down and a parking lot was pup into its place. I attended the show where Rosalind Russell was awarded the key to the city only to have the city torn in two with a disastrous flood of 1955.
Louis Belloisy
Having worked for the Palace, oh so many years ago in so many different capacities, it does my heart good to see that the grand old lady will once again shine in all her splendor. i know every inch of that theater and know what she looked like in her prime. i look forward to once again walking up the grand staircase. i plan on volunteering some of my time for the cause, if they would let me.
louis belloisy, formerly of Waterbury, Conn.