Palace Theatre

Joe Vogel on May 28, 2013 at 12:52 pm

Here is an interesting bit of atmosphere from the heyday of the Palace Theatre. Williamson’s Beale Street Frolic Orchestra was the pit band at the Palace in the 1920s. The band made some recordings for Victor records, and two takes of each of four of their original songs, recorded in 1927, can be heard at Red Hot Jazz (requires RealPlayer.)

Joe Vogel on December 3, 2009 at 3:27 am

The modern facade on the Palace in the 1950s photos was the work of local architect Robert Thomas Martin who designed the renovation of the house that took place in 1949. The third floor of the Palace building was removed as part of the project.

An interesting revelation in the July 9, 1949, Boxoffice item about the renovation was this:

“Midnight rambles were held on Thursday nights for whites at the Beale Street Palace for 21 years. Whites were seated in the balcony and Negro patrons downstairs. They were discontinued in 1941 because of the war, but will be resumed when the remodeling program is completed.”

I don’t know that the midnight rambles for whites ever were brought back after the renovation, as the African-American movie industry that made the films presented at such shows was already on its last legs in 1949.

kencmcintyre on November 20, 2008 at 7:14 pm

Here is a 1944 photo from the new Life Magazine collection on Google:
http://tinyurl.com/6jq6hy

kencmcintyre on January 31, 2008 at 10:15 am

The first photo was taken in 1940. You can also see the New Daisy to the right. The second photo is circa 1960s:
http://tinyurl.com/3apy6u
http://tinyurl.com/3xjg32