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Health & Fitness

Stamford Center for the Arts Palace Theatre Turns 85

Stamford Center for the Arts Palace Theater is celebrating its 85th Anniversary!

Stamford's premiere entertainment destination, Stamford Center for the Arts Palace Theatre (SCA) is celebrating 85-years in business with top caliber talent and gala events, including a cocktail reception to toast and honor the founders and Mary Vuono the owner. This event will be held prior to the Earth, Wind & Fire concert on September 20. The party gets underway at 6:30 p.m. in the theater's upper lobby with champagne, dessert and beverages.

The celebration rolls on with the city's first-ever event, City’s Stamford Lights which continues through the weekend. It features multiple neighborhood events including Arts and Crafts on Bedford, annually produced by the Stamford Downtown Special Services District, (DSSD). Downtown Stamford will shine with its colorful lights and displays, including the many wonderful restaurants that you can visit throughout the evening before or after the show.

The theater has a wonderful history. Its owner, Mary Vuono purchased the 1580-seat theater in 1920 with a vision of providing vaudeville entertainment to residents of downtown Stamford. World-renowned theatre designer Thomas Lamb was engaged to design what became the Palace Theatre, which opened in 1927.  Mrs. Vuono made it her mission to bring the most renowned vaudeville acts from around the world to Stamford audiences. It was restored and re-opened in 1983 for live theatre, opera, dance and concerts plus art exhibitions in the Sackler Gallery. The multi-phase Palace Improvement Project has already provided the Palace Theatre with a deeper (larger than Broadway-size) stage, new dressing rooms, wardrobe and costume maintenance facilities as well as other technical-support facilities and improved services. Since then, the Palace Theatre has been the cultural presence and driving force of the performing arts in the area. Today, this charming 85-year-old theater is home to a wide-array of entertainment including, comedy, rock 'n' roll, and everything in-between.

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This 85th anniversary season is a bit of a tribute to that spirit of vaudeville, where you can find something for everyone: music (Earth, Wind & Fire, rising Country star Jerrod Niemann, The Temptations & The Four Tops, The Midtown Men), theater (Shatner’s World), and comedy (Kathleen Madigan, Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood, Ron White, Bill Cosby). 

“We intend to raise the curtain of this magnificent season with a cocktail reception before the Earth, Wind & Fire concert, honoring everyone who has helped made this achievement possible,” said Elissa Getto, executive director for the Stamford Center for the Arts. But we are not planning to stop there! We’ll be adding more captivating acts through out the season, as we intend to maintain the Palace Theatre the premier entertainment venue in Stamford.”

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Come and join the fun! A multitude of activities await you!

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the SCA website.

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