Thomas MacMillan Photo
Aldermen Gabe Santiago and Brenda Jones-Barnes talk pulleys and counterweights with Fisher.
As aldermen took in a show on the Shubert stage, followed by an all-access tour behind the scenes, one lawmaker had a question about another venue in town: What happened to the long lost Palace?
Hill Alderwoman Jackie James voiced that query from a seat on the stage of the Shubert theater on College Street, where she was wined and dined by theater management, which from time to time has invited local lawmakers in the hopes of preserving city funding.
The occasion was an aldermanic briefing Monday night on and about New Haven’s venerable Shubert stage. James had another theater on her mind: The old Palace, directly across College Street. It’s been closed for years. James wanted to know the latest on the building.
John Fisher, the Shubert’s executive director, said his outfit had looked into buying the Palace several years ago, but it didn’t work out. Then the pipes burst in the Palace, mold has taken over, and rehabbing the space would now require over $20 million. That doesn’t mean the Shubert won’t try to take the project on in the future, Fisher said. It’s just a matter of money and timing.
David Nyberg, a local developer who owns the Palace jointly with a Philadelphia real estate company, said, “I would love to see it opened again.”
He referred further questions to his Philadelphia partner, Ron Caplan, who was unavailable to comment.
While the Palace remains shuttered, the Shubert opened its doors Monday night to members of the Board of Aldermen. Lawmakers arrived at 7:30 p.m. and were greeted by general manager Sheri Caplan onstage, where they helped themselves to a spread of wine and soda, fruit, cheese, crackers, and cannoli.
Caplan called the evening “an opportunity for face time” with the aldermen, who should know about the workings of the Shubert, since it is a city-owned building.
“You own the Shubert,” Fisher said at the outset of his and Caplan’s PowerPoint presentation to the aldermen. The city has owned the building for about the last 15 years, the latest chapter in the buildings venerable history.
The theater was built in 1914 by the Shubert brothers, who helped establish the Broadway theater district in New York. New Haven’s Shubert was for years a test stage, a proving ground, for future Broadway musicals.
“Virtually all” Rogers and Hammerstein musicals debuted there, Fisher said. The stage held the debuts of “The King and I,” “Carousel,” and “Oklahoma,” when it was called “Away We Go.” Marlon Brando performed at the Shubert in the world premiere of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
The Shubert eventually fell on hard times and closed in 1976 until it was re-opened in 1985. The city now gives the theater an annual contribution — $250,000 in the current fiscal year’s budget.
In return, the theater brings in thousands of people who spend money in New Haven’s stores and restaurants, Fisher said.
The theater also works closely with the Board of Ed, managing theater facilities at Co-Op High and running mentorship and summer educational programs, Caplan said.
In response to James’ question about the boarded-up Palace, Fisher said the Shubert has looked at buying the space several times, and had even gone so far as to hire an architect several years ago. The sale got “bogged down” in legal problems, Fisher said. “Since that time, the pipes all burst and flooded the place.”
The estimated rehab cost before flooding and mold was $12 million, he said. Now it’s probably twice that.
Fisher said the Palace has a smaller stage but more seats: 2,000 to the Shubert’s 1,600.
What else might the space be used for? James asked.
“Yale has interest,” Fisher said. It could be turned into offices. People have mentioned the possibility of opening a nightclub, “which we kind of cringe at,” Fisher said.
“Anything that would encourage investment in the neighborhood, we’re all for it,” said Caplan.
Backstage Pass
Alderwoman James.
After his presentation, Fisher led a handful of theater-curious aldermen on a tour of the building, starting with the 68-foot-high rigging system over the stage.
Fisher assured the pro-labor aldermen that all shows are staged by “all union” crews.
They descended to the “trap room” where the original 1914 trusses still support the stage. “The floor has a lot of bounce,” which is good for dancers, Fisher said.
Fair Haven Alderman Ernie Santiago checked out the orchestra pit.
The walls of the trap room and surrounding corridors are covered with “graffiti walls”: hand-painted reminders of shows from the past 30 years, complete with yearbook-style signatures of the cast. The one for “Dial M For Murder” incorporates the remnants of an old pay phone.
Jerry Lewis’ signature is featured prominently in the graffiti wall from a “Damn Yankees” show.
Santiago checked out the wardrobe room.
“Check out the dressing rooms,” Santiago said. “Five minutes to show!” he announced to an empty room of mirrors.
The tour continued upstairs and through the star-studded lobby, which was built in 1984.
Aldermen took the elevator to the fifth floor to admire the vertiginous balcony.
On the stage below, Alderwoman James sang a couple lines of “Somewhere” from West Side Story, to the approval of the aldermen above.
The tour concluded back on the stage, where aldermen shook Fisher’s hand before stepping outside, where the Palace theater still sat dormant across the street.