The Palace Theatre was situated within Blackpool’s huge and lavish seafront Palace Complex, which was next door to the Tower Complex. The Theatre was a redesign of the former Alhambra Theatre by the renowned Theatre Architect Frank Matcham in 1904. The Alhambra had been designed by Wylson & Long and had originally opened in 1899, as part of the former Alhambra Complex which had run into financial difficulties soon after opening and was sold to the Blackpool Tower Company in July 1903. The Tower Company then set about restructuring the building and they reopened the newly redesigned Matcham Theatre as the Palace Theatre on 4 July 1904.
The price structuring at the Palace Complex meant that eventually one could pay for a ticket for the Palace Theatre, or the later addition to the building, the 1911 Palace Picture Theatre, and then go to the Palace Ballroom afterwards with the same ticket, making for a very special and reasonably priced evening’s entertainment all in the same fabulous building. The Palace Theatre presented top twice nightly variety shows 52 weeks a year and was very popular with the locals.
A reopening variety show at the Palace Theatre in March 1950 included acts such as the Zio Trio, dancers; Clifford Henry, comedian; Reino and Assistant, wire walkers; George Bolton with Freda Gardner, ‘the modern gangster’; Boris, ‘the world’s greatest pickpocket’; the Three Aberdonians; Lee Lawrence, from the BBC series ‘Starlight Hour’; and Jackie and Partner, ‘sensational equilibrists’. At the time the Grand Theatre was showing ‘The Late Edwina Black’, whilst the New Opera House had a production from the Carl Rosa Opera. In that same month Don Ross’s Circus would be showing at the Palace Theatre with their lions, bears, dogs, monkeys, and Liberty Ponies, amongst other acts.
Blackpool Palace Cinema advertising the ‘talkies’ in the 1930s.
Text source: Arthur Lloyd’swebsite
