The auditorium contains ornately designed plasterwork, boxes on the side walls, and two balcony levels that slope downward toward the stage.

The Palace Theatre is at 1568 Broadway, at the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States.

[9][10] The original building's site was assembled from ten land lots at 1564–1566 Broadway and 156–170 West 47th Street, which were arranged in an "L" shape.

[20][21][26] The hotel leased the unused air rights above the Palace Theatre to achieve a greater height than would normally be allowed under zoning regulations.

[28][29] The hotel rooms were supported by four steel-and-concrete "super columns",[21][29] which each measured 145 feet (44 m) tall and were placed to the west and east of the auditorium.

[24][31] The Palace Theatre's original facade on 47th Street, consisting of rusticated limestone blocks at the first floor and brick on the upper stories, still remained but was not protected as a New York City landmark.

[33] During the late 2010s and early 2020s, the DoubleTree/Palace site was redeveloped as part of TSX Broadway, a $2 billion mixed-use structure with a 669-room hotel, which was built around, above, and below the Palace's auditorium.

The foyer and lobby were designed with plaster decorations in high relief, which alluded to the vaudeville presented at the Palace, while the stage itself was originally sloped.

[3][54] Each niche's box contains a doorway with pilasters on either side, which are topped by console brackets that support a curved pediment with a tympanum.

Its East Coast complement was the Keith–Albee circuit, composed of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Albee, who operated venues both by themselves and through their United Booking Office.

[67] Due to the truce between Orpheum and Keith–Albee, Edward Albee initially said any vaudeville act that played the Palace would not be allowed on the Keith–Albee circuit.

[76] The Palace's programming was still unknown to the public until February 1913, when The New York Times announced the theater would be "something along the lines of English music halls", with events such as ballets, rather than "strict vaudeville".

The screenwriter Marian Spitzer wrote of opening day: "The theatre itself, living up to advance publicity, was spacious, handsome and lavishly decorated in crimson and gold.

[83] The Variety article noted that, while the Victoria had played to capacity two days in a row, the Palace had to give out free coupons to half the guests and still struggled to fill the balcony seats.

[15] Many bills were held at the Palace for several consecutive weeks due to their popularity, which turned away subscription holders who wished for more variety; furthermore, many acts demanded increased salaries.

[150] The last vaudeville accompaniment took place on November 12, 1932,[151] with Nick Lucas and Hal Le Roy appearing on the closing bill.

[154] Theatrical historian Louis Botto said that "from the 1930s on, it was a constant struggle for survival" for the Palace, which frequently flipped between film-only, vaudeville/film, and live performance formats.

[159] In preparation for the 1939 New York World's Fair, RKO began to erect a 40-by-25-foot (12.2 by 7.6 m) marquee in front of the office wing in April 1939.

[168] The Palace also attracted acts including Lauritz Melchior,[170][171] José Greco,[170][172] Betty Hutton,[173][174] Danny Kaye,[175][176] Dick Shawn,[177] and Phil Spitalny.

[189] The last film to play the RKO Palace was Harlow in August 1965,[177] and the Nederlanders formally acquired the theater the same month.

The auditorium was outfitted with red decorations and gold-and-cream walls, while the basement was renovated to include a dressing room for the primary performer.

[208][209] During the 1970s, the Palace hosted live performances from Josephine Baker,[201][210] Bette Midler,[211][212] Vikki Carr,[204] Shirley MacLaine,[201][213] and Diana Ross.

Such a development was contingent on his ability to acquire a Bowery Savings Bank branch at the corner of 47th Street and Seventh Avenue, surrounded by the original Palace Theatre building.

[21] Even after acquiring that site, he had to wait until after the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) reviewed the theater for city-landmark status in 1987.

[245] The theater also staged Legally Blonde: The Musical from 2007 to 2008;[246][247] West Side Story from 2009 to 2011;[248][249] Priscilla, Queen of the Desert from 2011 to 2012;[250][251] and Annie from 2012 to 2014.

[252][253] As part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in 2014, the Nederlanders agreed to improve disabled access at their nine Broadway theaters, including the Palace.

[271] The musical SpongeBob SquarePants was the last show to play at the theater prior to the renovation, running from December 2017[272][273] to September 2018.

[278] Work was only interrupted for three weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, as the TSX Broadway project had hotel rooms and was thus classified as an "essential jobsite".

[280][281] The theater also underwent a renovation, which involved restoring the plasterwork and original chandelier, adding sound insulation, and erecting a new box office and new restrooms.

[296][297] Bossalina, who was a member of the acrobatic act the Four Casting Pearls, was injured when he fell 18 feet (5.5 m) during a performance on August 28, 1935, before 800 theatergoers.