In a message dated 03/01/2010 02:35:55 GMT Standard Time, bp@bpears.org.uk writes: eyshasfineart4me wrote: > Thanks for reminding me of the name. I went there many many times and loved > the acts. I recall an act, a single man whose name I forget followed by, or > known as, 'The Chocolate Coloured Coon' I too saw him perform at The Palace. It would be in the early 1950s and it must have been in a pantomime. Such acts were often simply inserted into a pantomime, with no reference to the plot at all, just to entertain the parents. Another memory I have of a pantomime at The Palace was being taken along a corridor by my grandmother. I must have demanded to be taken to the toilet and she must have volunteered to take me. She was the naturally inquisitive, lively, type and would have used that trip as an excuse to explore what lay behind the scenes. I remember coming to a sort of window, or viewing point in that corridor from where we could look down on the stage from behind the scenes - and there was a ballerina performing a lovely dance. I even remember that the lighting was a pale mauve! The Palace had a sad ending, being used for sleazy nude shows for several years before its final demise. Then, as I remember, it stood empty for a while before being demolished c1960 and replaced by a row of temporary-looking single story shops which are still there now, though I seem to recall being told recently that they are about to be demolished to make way for something more imposing. Geoff Nicholson