Detailed Information

The theatre, reportedly built at a cost of $2 million, opened with the film Excess Baggage (1928)  starring William Haines and Josephine Dunn. Additional attractions on opening night included newsreels courtesy of Fox Movietone News and a comedy short “The Old Gray Horse”. Jan Garber and his band entertained between screenings, with H. Haden Read playing the 3-manual, 13-rank Wurlitzer organ (opus 1869).

The Palace was the first Atmospheric theatre in the state of Kentucky, and indeed in the wider region, and so the theatre was the main attraction at its opening. Master architect John Eberson designed the auditorium in a predominantly Spanish Churrigueresque style, with his signature blue sky featuring twinkling stars and drifting clouds.

The theatre’s long inner lobby features 139 faces on its semicircular ceiling. While there are a number of repeating famous faces such as composers, writers, and philosophers, there are a few unique faces such as the theatre’s architect John Eberson and its future restorer, John Siegel.

In 1963 the auditorium was twinned, with the 900-seat balcony being walled-off from the main auditorium to form the Penthouse Theatre. An escalator was installed in the outer lobby alongside the existing stairs to the upper level, and a large concessions counter occupied the central area of the outer lobby.

In the 1970s the Palace theatre building closed entirely due to other movie theatres, and ultimately multiplexes, opening in the area.

In the early 1990s, Louisville entrepreneur John Siegel, aged just 28 at the time, purchased the theatre for $4.4 million with the intent of restoring it to its original glory. Siegel succeeded in restoring the theatre however could not work out a plan to keep up with the constant costs of maintaining such a building. Siegel eventually declared bankruptcy however his face was added to the inner lobby ceiling (the work was done by EverGreene Architectural Arts), alongside original architect John Eberson, which serves to preserve his place in the history of the Louisville Palace. Siegel passed away in 2022 aged 72 after a long and valiant fight with cancer.

In 2005 Live Nation Entertainment  purchased the theatre, and it has been operated as a popular live events venue since then. Seating capacity is now roughly 2,650. Although changes have been made since the opening in 1928, the venue still operates the historic ticket booth, marquee sign, and keeps the ornate architecture true to its original glory.