Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 10/07/2026 04:03:00

Edward F. Albee spent an estimated 2 to 3.5 million dollars constructing the Palace Theatre, the last and most expensive of the four main theatres in Cleveland's historic Playhouse Square. Designed by the firm Rapp and Rapp in an Imperial France architectural style, it opened on November 6, 1922, as a flagship of the Keith-Albee Orpheum vaudeville chain with an original capacity of 3,680 across orchestra, balcony, and box seating. The theatre later transitioned to film and in the 1950s became a Cinerama installation, a renovation that required the removal of 1,800 seats. Competition from suburban cinemas took its toll, and the Palace closed on July 20, 1969, with Maximilian Schell in Krakatoa, East of Java. In 1970, the Playhouse Square Association formed to save the Palace and its neighbouring theatres, launching one of the largest performing-arts-centre restoration projects in the United States. An 8.25-million-dollar restoration brought the Palace back to life on April 30, 1988, as a live theatre and performing arts venue with 2,714 seats. A 3-manual, 13-rank Kimball organ, originally installed in the Liberty Theatre in Pittsburgh, was added during the restoration. In 2014, the theatre was renamed the Connor Palace in honour of the Connor Family of Huntington, West Virginia, following a 9-million-dollar donation to the Advance the Square campaign, the largest philanthropic gift in Playhouse Square Foundation history. Today the Connor Palace is owned by the Playhouse Square Foundation and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located at 1615 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, and continues to host touring Broadway productions, concerts, and special events as part of one of the largest performing-arts complexes in the country.