Opened in 1915 as a vaudeville and silent film house, the Palace Theatre is one of the few surviving venues from Manchester's early 20th-century entertainment district on Hanover Street. The interior — plaster ornament, gilded balconies, a painted ceiling — was restored in the 1970s after decades of decline, and the theatre now operates as the main venue for Broadway touring productions in southern New Hampshire.
The building's history tracks the neighborhood's: built during the mill boom, declined with the mills, nearly demolished in the urban renewal years, and eventually saved by a community campaign. The programming runs from touring musicals to local companies to comedy acts, and the autumn–spring season is reliably active. Check the schedule before arrival; the theatre is dark between productions and in summer.