HippoPress -- The Hippo -- Guide to Manchester NH

Back In Black

by Michelle Saturley

Future looks bright for the Palace Theatre

The turn of the 20th century was a high point in Manchester’s art and cultural history — one that has yet to be equaled. In the early 1900s, downtown was adorned with spectacular theaters, 22 in all, including The Music Hall, The Rex, The Crown, The Park, The Globe and The Eagle. The theaters were concentrated within a mile of one another, creating New Hampshire’s version of the Great White Way. Some of the era’s greatest performers played to packed houses, and people traveled from all over New England to be part of the audience. It was proof that Manchester’s residents cared about more than textiles and industry.

Enter a 24-year-old Greek immigrant named Victor Charas. He’d dabbled with a theater and a restaurant, but Charas had bigger ideas — big enough to catch the attention of local general contractor Henry Macropol and New York-based architect Leon Lempert. Charas wanted to make his mark in his adopted city — and make a few bucks in the process. With the help of Macropol and the Lemperts, he set out to build a state-of-the-art theater, modeled after one of the most famous theaters in New York City — The Palace. In June of 1914, the men broke ground at 80 Hanover St., known as the Athens block, near the Post Office and Parr’s Drug Store. Their plan was to build the jewel of the city — one that would outshine all the other theaters downtown. In 1915, their plan became a reality, and The Palace Theatre’s marquis lit up for the very first time.

He didn’t know it at the time, but Charas would get his wish. Not only would The Palace Theatre outshine all the others; it would outlive them, too. Today, the theater is almost as vibrant as it was in its heyday, boasting a diverse season of music, theatrical productions and community events — a feat that seemed nearly impossible a mere five years ago. Through the work of its staff, volunteers and hundreds of thousands of local arts patrons, The Palace has carved out its place in Manchester’s history, present and future — despite more than one trip to the brink of destruction. In more ways than one, the story of the theater at 80 Hanover St. is the story of Manchester itself. It’s a physical connection to the Manchester of old, as well as an icon of the rejuvenated city of today.

Thirty years ago, The Palace Theatre was in the throes of a seemingly irreparable death spiral. The building had been through ups and downs before, but never this severe. Almost every other theater from the early 1900s had already met with the wrecking ball, and it appeared that the gem of Hanover Street was about to follow suit — until a small group of concerned citizens and city leaders intervened.

After years of decay, the newly improved Palace raised its curtain again in 1974. By the late ’80s, with local actor and producer Bob Shea serving as executive and artistic director, The Palace, operated by the New Hampshire Performing Arts Center, seemed to by flying high. To the untrained eye, it looked as though the theater’s troubles were over.

“Following the renovations in 1974, there were two separate nonprofit organizations who managed the affairs of The Palace,” said Sylvio Dupuis, mayor from 1972-1975. “There was The Palace Trust, who owned the building, and there was another organization that ran the theater. That organization went through several iterations; the most recent was the New Hampshire Performing Arts Center.”

According to Dupuis, this arrangement ultimately led to serious problems behind the scenes.

“Back in the ’70s and early ’80s, this arrangement made sense, because we wanted to protect the theater — the building itself — if something went wrong,” Dupuis said. “But what ended up happening was, the two organizations were overlapping each other to the point that they were competing for funding in the community. Before we knew what was happening, the theater was in bad financial straits by the late ’80s.”

Year after year, the money seemed to be trickling in smaller and smaller amounts, until, in 1997, the situation reached a crisis point. Then-executive director Paul Kerry blamed the situation on competition from the Boston theater scene, but the problems ran much deeper.

“My opinion was, we lost touch with our audience,” Dupuis said. “We took too many chances on obscure, risky shows that didn’t bring people in. We brought in musical acts that had limited appeal. We lost focus of our mission.”

Once again, Dupuis, who was now chairman of the board of The Palace Trust, looked for a solution. This time, he enlisted the help of theater administrator Peter Ramsey, who was brought in as a consultant at first.

“The doors were locked. The theater was dark,” Ramsey said. “That first day, I didn’t even know how to turn the lights on.”

It didn’t stop there. Ramsey learned that the NH Performing Arts Center had accumulated $300,000 of debt and only had about $15,000 in the bank. Even worse, the theater had a reputation as a deadbeat organization.

“The bills hadn’t been paid,” Ramsey said. “Nobody believed in the place anymore.”

At his very first meeting with the board of trustees, Ramsey unveiled his plan.

“My first suggestion was to get rid of the business model in place,” Ramsey said. “That meant uniting the two separate entities into one stronger financial and operational body. Also, they had to restore the trust of the surrounding community again. And that meant urging the people who live and work in Manchester to take ownership of the place.”

Ramsey’s answers so impressed the Board, Dupuis called him shortly after and offered him the executive director position. Ramsey jumped at the chance to turn the situation around — but he knew it wouldn’t be easy.

“That first season, we had a small budget — about $200,000, so we were mainly a rental house only,” Ramsey said. “Part of that decision was because the theater had taken the bulk of its debt by trying to produce shows that weren’t successful. But the theater had also taken losses because of people who had rented the place and didn’t pay their balance. We had to be more militant about that aspect. No business can run for free.”

Ramsey’s remedy was a new business model for The Palace; one that raised a few eyebrows — and burned a few bridges.

“The first thing I do is educate any potential act about the way we do business,” he said. “We’re a nonprofit. We have to pay our bills. We require that any act that performs here be insured. We ask for a deposit prior to the event, and the money from the ticket sales is held in escrow, which they receive when we get our final payment. Some companies don’t like it. I’ve even had artists try to have me dismissed over the policy.”

Disgruntled actors aside, Ramsey’s outreach programs and cautious business plan have paid off. In 2004, about 125,000 people attended events at The Palace, as opposed to 15,000 during Ramsey’s first year there.

“When you take into consideration that we only have 860 seats, that’s huge,” he said.

In the last two years, the theater has also grown physically. They acquired the space next door, adjacent to the Stage Door Cafe, and turned it into a lounge, complete with a bar and seating area. They’ve also acquired the old Senior Smiles Center on the other side of the building and transformed it into meeting and rehearsal space. Then, there’s the major project for 2005. The board approved the purchase of the space directly upstairs over the lounge area, which has been slotted for office space, not only for theater staff, but possibly for other arts organizations in the city.

“At first, we bought it because the space was in disrepair, and it was leaking into our newly renovated lounge area,” Ramsey said. “But now we have a plan for the space. We’re calling it the United Arts Center at the moment, but I’m not sure what it will be when the renovations are complete. The concept is that other, smaller arts organizations in the city will be able to lease space at a reasonable price, and form a sort of collaborative energy with our staff.”

But Ramsey and his staff aren’t ready to sit back and congratulate themselves anytime soon.

“Is The Palace a success? It depends on how you define success,” he said. “I think that we are in certain ways. We have a great Board of Trustees. We have a staff and volunteer network that are dedicated and passionate about the work they do. We have a loyal base of community supporters who come back year after year. The Palace is truly an icon of Manchester. It’s the only one of its kind. It’s part of the fabric of the city, without a doubt.”

But, Ramsey says, resting on laurels has no place in a nonprofit theater.

“We can’t sit back and say, ‘The Palace will never close again,’ because all it takes is one bad season, and we could be there again,” he said. “We still rely far too much on revenue from ticket sales to make me believe that we’re out of the woods forever.”

Dupuis says the board has some major goals set for the next few years.

“Our first priority is to continue and complete the renovations we’ve started,” he said. “That includes the new space we’ve acquired, as well as renovations to the existing structure as well. The lobby needs new carpets. We need a reliable air-conditioning system. The dressing rooms need to be updated. The upstairs bathrooms need upgrades.”

Once the theater has received its total facelift, the next goal is to be more financially secure.

“Our goal is to procure an endowment,” Dupuis said. “Very few nonprofits ever reach that goal, but the ones that do have a much easier time sticking around.”

With a large endowment — the theater’s goal is $1 or 2 million — a nonprofit organization can earn up to 10 percent interest per year, meaning they can depend less on ticket revenue to stay afloat.

Dupuis says another more short-term goal is to renew relationships with the New Hampshire Symphony and Opera League of NH, both of whom have whittled away their performance schedule at The Palace over the last year to establish themselves in other communities.

“The Symphony and the Opera belong here,” Dupuis said. “I understand why they had to go to Concord and Derry, but it’s time for them to be here in Manchester, all season long. This is their home.”

— Michelle Saturley

2005 HippoPress LLC | Manchester, NH