The Performing Arts Are Alive and Well in Greater Marion, Ohio

Chip Gregory
Nov 21
3 min read

The performing arts are alive and well at the Marion Palace Theatre — and if you’ve stepped inside that building lately, you already know it.

For nearly a century, the Palace has been Marion’s cultural heartbeat. Since opening in 1928, this Spanish-Courtyard-style “atmospheric theatre” has welcomed generations into its twinkling star-ceilinged auditorium — a landmark most towns our size can only dream of calling their own. Built by legendary theatre architect John Eberson, this palace wasn’t designed to be ordinary. It was designed to transport you.

And somehow, all these years later, it still does.

The Magic Behind the Curtain

A small and dedicated Palace staff work tirelessly — often doing the jobs of three people — to keep this place operating at the level Marion deserves. Add in the producers, directors, music directors, choreographers, lighting techs, sound engineers, set builders, costumers, stagehands, box office staff, and volunteers who show up season after season, and you get the real story:

This theatre doesn’t run on nostalgia.

It runs on people.

People who rehearse long after the building has emptied out

.People who haul lumber up staircases for sets.

People who climb ladders to focus lights.

People who coax unbelievable performances out of kids and adults alike.

People who believe that Marion deserves world-class theatre — and then go out and make it happen.

A Stage That Almost Went Dark

In the 1970s, the Palace nearly disappeared. Attendance dipped. Maintenance piled up. One potential buyer even wanted to bulldoze it for a gas station.

A gas station.

Instead, a group of locals stepped in, formed the Palace Guard, raised money, and revived the building piece by piece. Their work laid the foundation for what would become the Palace Cultural Arts Association — the organization still keeping the lights on today.

It’s because of them — and everyone who came after — that this theatre still stands, still shines, and still fills with applause.

A Full Season of Life

Today, the Palace is anything but sleepy. The annual season brings:

Broadway-style summer musicals Produced and Directed My Marion's own Clare Cooke and her amazing production team.
Comedy shows
Touring concerts
Family productions
Film nights
Community theater
Educational programming
Holiday traditions like Christmas at the Palace, the theatre’s annual community-wide celebration of music, dance, and seasonal performances
Events inside the May Pavilion, the Palace’s multi-use expansion that hosts everything from weddings to plays

There’s always something happening. Always.

A Community That Shows Up

Marion doesn’t just watch from the sidelines — it shows up. Families fill the seats for kids’ productions. Theatre lovers support the summer musicals. Locals bring visiting friends just to show off the Palace’s architecture. Out-of-towners are stunned that a venue like this exists here at all.

The Palace proves something important:

Marion isn’t a town stuck in the past — it’s a town investing in the present.

Why It Matters

Live performing arts are more than entertainment. They build confidence, community, pride, and connection. They give young performers their first taste of the stage. They give adults an outlet to create again. They give the audience a break from the world outside the doors.

And in a county where “nothing happens here” gets tossed around way too casually, the Palace stands as undeniable proof that something is happening — something beautiful, ambitious, and alive.

A Thank-You to the Palace Team

To the staff who keep the wheels turning, to the volunteers who give their time and energy, to the crews who work long hours in the dark, to the performers who give this stage its light —

Thank you.

Marion is lucky to have a historic venue this gorgeous.

But we’re even luckier to have the people who bring it to life.