The Chance Theater, an entertainment complex in downtown Poughkeepsie that has played host to some of the most iconic performers in the music industry, will be hosting its final show on Oct. 29.
The 17,000-square-foot property at 6 Crannell St. opened in 1912 as the Dutchess Theatre and offered a mix of vaudeville shows and silent movies. The theater changed owners and names over the years until it closed in 1945 and was converted into a storage facility. It came back as a performing arts venue in 1970 by music-focused entrepreneur Larry Plover, who christened the space Frivolous Sal’s Last Chance Saloon and booked music legends including Muddy Rivers, Charlie Mingus and Pete Seeger along with then-unknown bands including The Police who played in a now-legendary show on Oct. 23, 1978, attended by five paying customers and some staff members.
Plover closed the venue in 1977 and it was acquired at auction in 1980, when it reopened as The Chance. Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Ted Nugent, Duran Duran, Rob Zombie, Fall Out Boy, Third Eye Blind, Queensryche, Bret Michaels, Hollywood Undead and Gavin DeGraw were among the acts to play The Chance. The theater was acquired by Frank Pallett in 1994 and later expanded to include three adjacent spaces: the smaller performance spaces The Loft and The Platinum Lounge, and the Nuddy Bar & Grill.
The Chance was listed for sale in December 2020 after Pallett and his wife Carolyn passed away from Covid-19. The venue was sold last August to Chai Developers, who have yet to publicly announce their plans for the property.
The final show at The Chance will feature the New Haven-based metalcore band Hatebreed – and tickets for the show are already sold out.
