I was a stripper at the Palace Theatre in West Warwick, RI in the late l970’s. John Tavone, 36, native Rhode Islander bought the theatre in l971 planning on turning it into a commercial movie theatre, but after a year of losing money and faced with the prospect of selling out, John made the jump into adult entertainment.
As the owner of a nearby adult bookstore, it was admittedly a small leap. John managed the place I think until it burned in 1980. The admission of five dollars included a full length porno movie and live dancers/strippers on the stage. There were two shows a day; one at noon and one at 8pm.
I have the pictures from an article in The New Paper, April 4-11, 1979, titled “Palace Theatre Warms Up Artic”. I would love to read the full article if anyone has a copy.
John told me the Palace was once billed as the biggest, brightest and best burlesque theatre in New England. Back in the vaudeville era the Palace was in its glory. One thousand patrons would sit in the velvet maroon seats to be entertained by magic acts, comedy teams, acrobatic groups, singers, dancers and strippers who shared the stage to create a show. When vaudeville died the Palace went on to other uses.
If anyone was ever in the audience in the 1970’s when it was a strip theatre, or if they knew people who were, I would be interested in communicating with them. I am now in the process of writing a book about my career as a stripper and the Palace was the first place I ever worked in my short career until going on the finish my degree and then getting a Master’s Degree in Expressive Therapy from Lesley
University, Cambridge, MA.. I have worked for the past 20 years as a Controller at a Boston, MA architectural firm.
I welcome any comments and hope that my story does not contribute to making the Palace Theatre a sad place. It was only a small portion of what the Palace Theatre really was; and certainly not the most admirable.
I was a stripper at the Palace Theatre in West Warwick, RI in the late l970’s. John Tavone, 36, native Rhode Islander bought the theatre in l971 planning on turning it into a commercial movie theatre, but after a year of losing money and faced with the prospect of selling out, John made the jump into adult entertainment.
As the owner of a nearby adult bookstore, it was admittedly a small leap. John managed the place I think until it burned in 1980. The admission of five dollars included a full length porno movie and live dancers/strippers on the stage. There were two shows a day; one at noon and one at 8pm.
I have the pictures from an article in The New Paper, April 4-11, 1979, titled “Palace Theatre Warms Up Artic”. I would love to read the full article if anyone has a copy.
John told me the Palace was once billed as the biggest, brightest and best burlesque theatre in New England. Back in the vaudeville era the Palace was in its glory. One thousand patrons would sit in the velvet maroon seats to be entertained by magic acts, comedy teams, acrobatic groups, singers, dancers and strippers who shared the stage to create a show. When vaudeville died the Palace went on to other uses.
If anyone was ever in the audience in the 1970’s when it was a strip theatre, or if they knew people who were, I would be interested in communicating with them. I am now in the process of writing a book about my career as a stripper and the Palace was the first place I ever worked in my short career until going on the finish my degree and then getting a Master’s Degree in Expressive Therapy from Lesley
University, Cambridge, MA.. I have worked for the past 20 years as a Controller at a Boston, MA architectural firm.
I welcome any comments and hope that my story does not contribute to making the Palace Theatre a sad place. It was only a small portion of what the Palace Theatre really was; and certainly not the most admirable.