Palace Theatre

338 Main Street,
Middletown, CT 06457

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Additional Info

Styles: Atmospheric

Previous Names: Grand Theatre, Starr Theatre

Nearby Theaters

1962 photo credit Middlesex County Historical Society, via Charles Benson.

Middletown, Connecticut had two Main Street theatres operating in the 1960’s to early-1970’s (as best I can remember), the Capitol Theatre and the Palace Theatre which were adjacent to each other. Both appeared about the same size (to my young eyes), and similar in decor (again, to a relatively unobservant child at that time). I’d been to both many times as a kid. It was demolished in 1980

Contributed by John Hoyle

Recent comments (view all 10 comments)

Ken Roe
Ken Roe on November 9, 2005 at 7:18 am

In the 1941 and 1943 editions of Film Daily Yearbook, the Palace Theatre is listed with 950 seats and ‘Closed’.

The 1950 edition lists it as open with 1,099 seats.

shoeshoe14
shoeshoe14 on November 9, 2005 at 9:02 pm

Also known as the Starr and the Grand.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on October 26, 2007 at 1:35 pm

The Palace is the only Middletown theater listed as closed/demolished. This photo gives a demolition date of around 1977 for the unnamed theater. Any ideas?
http://tinyurl.com/32aepj

atmos
atmos on November 12, 2007 at 7:50 am

ken mc:that photo is of the Middlesex Theatre formerly known as the Middlesex Opera House.It opened in 1892 and closed in 1961 and was located at 111 College Street,according to cinematour listing.

atmos
atmos on November 12, 2007 at 7:54 am

From information I have found the Palace opened as the Grand Theatre on 24 Nov 1915 and was damaged by a fire on 27 Jul 1980.I don’t recall where I found these details so I am not sure how accurate they are.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on June 22, 2010 at 10:27 am

Item in Boxoffice magazine, September 18, 1948:

Middletown Palace Opens
MIDDLETOWN, CONN. —– Salvatore Adorno has reopened the Palace Theatre here after a ten-year shutdown. He renovated the entire building, including a new marquee and lobby.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on June 23, 2010 at 12:22 pm

The Capitol and the Palace appear almost side-by-side in this photo in Boxoffice magazine from May 28, 1955. Each house was playing a different Davy Crockett film.
View link

rivest266
rivest266 on September 10, 2011 at 12:47 pm

Link’s dead. http://www.boxofficemagazine.com/the_vault/issue_page?issue_id=1955-5-28&page_no=83#page_start

SeventiesGirl
SeventiesGirl on June 2, 2015 at 10:18 pm

I remember the Palace Theater! It was the first theater I went to and the first movie I ever saw- The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams back in 1974. I also remember The Capital Theater next to it. Great memories

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on May 31, 2019 at 9:57 am

Demolished in 1980 per the Historic Buildings of Connecticut website.

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