Palace Theatre offers veterans and family members free performance

CHUBBUCK — A community theatre is offering a free performance of its Christmas show for veterans and their families.

The Palace Theatre will perform “Holiday Inn” on Dec. 9 as a veterans matinee. This free show filled up at noon on Dec. 3.

“We wanted to be able to give back to our community,” said Jenna Davies, the owner of the Palace Theatre. “Our community gives back to us all the time and we’re so thankful for their support.”

“Holiday Inn” is a musical from 1942 about a man who leaves show business for a quiet farmhouse, but soon discovers life isn’t the same without song and dance.

Davies said offering this matinee performance had personal significance for her as she has multiple family members who have served or are serving in the military. She said that she’s always grown up around military service members and their example inspires her.

“It’s really cool to be able to look up to all of my older brothers and brother-in-laws and grandfather and see the awesome service that they’ve done,” Davies said.

Many of the patrons of the Palace Theatre are veterans, some of them coming for every single show. Davies said that the director, Kelsey Rain, and the cast and crew behind the musical are excited to offer this performance for the veterans.

“They get to bring their family members and have a nice afternoon on us and enjoy a beautiful musical,” Davies said.

Davies said that some of the cast members have been in many shows and some of them are performing for the first time. She spoke to how talented the cast and crew of the production is, and how excited she is for the veterans and their families to view this performance.

“We are so incredibly lucky that our community has so much talent,” Davies said. “Every time we have auditions, it’s so fun to see new faces come out every single time.”

With how fast the show filled up, Davies said that they realized that they should offer shows like this more often. They intend to turn a performance like this into an annual tradition.

While the show on Saturday is filled up, people who want to see the musical at the Palace Theatre can go to its website to find shows that they can attend. The show started on Dec. 6 and it will run until Dec. 23.