'Palm Royale' transports viewers to 1960s Palm Beach

A wannabe pageant queen. A fading socialite. A queen of Palm Beach trapped in a coma, but whose annual end-of-season gala holds a trove of secrets.

These are the ladies of "Palm Royale," the new star-studded series from Apple TV+ that premieres March 20 and is set in Palm Beach.

More: Palm Royale: 5 locations Palm Beach locals will recognize in new Apple TV+ series

The series is loosely based on the novel "Mr. and Mrs. American Pie" by Juliet McDaniel. "Palm Royale" stars Kristen Wiig as Maxine Simmons, an outsider desperate to break into Palm Beach society in 1969. Her first goal: to join the elite Palm Royale club, an amalgamation of Palm Beach clubs of the era. While an opening aerial shot shows The Bath & Tennis Club on South Ocean Boulevard, architecture used in closer exterior and interior shots is reminiscent of the Mediterranean style of The Everglades Club on Worth Avenue.

The show was originally titled "Mrs. American Pie." The cast includes Wiig, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Carol Burnett, Josh Lucas, Laura Dern, Leslie Bibb, Amber Chardae Robinson and Kaia Gerber.

The town known for its exclusivity is notoriously stingy on handing out permits to film commercial motion pictures. Most of this Palm Beach-set series, with the exception of a few aerial shots of key locations including The Bath & Tennis Club and The Breakers Palm Beach Resort, was not filmed on the island.

The filming location on the movie database IMDb's page for "Palm Royale" simply says, "Florida, USA."

More: Palm Beach locals will recognize these famous names in new 'Palm Royale' TV series

"Our story is set in Palm Beach, where the elite go to live in a fantasy world," executive producer Abe Sylvia said in a two-minute preview of the show released by Apple TV+.

"To them, the most important thing is to be at the top of society," actor Allison Janney said in the preview. Janney's character, Evelyn Rollins, is the queen bee of Palm Beach and nemesis to Wiig's Maxine.

The website Sceen It, which documents filming locations of TV shows and films, identified a few of the locations used in the show as being in the Los Angeles area.

A scene featuring a lavish Havana Nights-themed gala is set at the historic Breakers Palm Beach Resort but was filmed in the Crystal Ballroom of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, the website found. Photos of the ballroom from the hotel's website appear to confirm that it is the location where the gala scenes were shot.

A closer view of the outside of the Palm Royale club's entrance was filmed at the Bel-Air Bay Club in Los Angeles' Pacific Palisades, the site said. Again, production photos and photos from the club's website confirm that report.

Palm Beach has long enforced strict rules about filming in the town.

More: Palm Beach Daily News chronicles 125 years of town's history

Productions must file a commercial motion picture filming permit application with the Town Clerk, pay a $1,500 permit fee with an additional fee of $1,000 per day, according to the town website.

On the permit application, the production must include planned filming dates, times and locations, along with a summary of "specific filming activities" for each location if on public property. Applicants also must share the number of people who will be present for filming, the number and types of vehicles, and which equipment will be used.

More: 'Apples Never Fall,' set but not filmed in Palm Beach, premieres on Peacock TV

"Palm Royale" did not submit a permit application to Palm Beach, according to a records request submitted to the town by the Palm Beach Daily News.

The production also did not receive a permit from the Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission, commissioner Michelle Hillery confirmed, though, she added, the "Palm Royale" team did scout the area in 2022.

Locations and costumes transport viewers

While actors may not have performed in Palm Beach, the locations, costumes and sets manage to transport viewers to the island community in 1969.

From intricate wallpaper patterns reminiscent of the De Gournay hand-painted mural wallpaper in The Colony Hotel's Living Room to green- and pink-striped poolside umbrellas, to towering hedges that separate oceanfront estates, the atmosphere is distinctly Palm Beach.

Lighting and sound design also play a key role in setting the atmosphere.

In one scene where Maxine confronts her husband Douglas (Lucas), a shaft of golden light shines into the room in such a way that perfectly illuminates the potted palms and olive green walls that for decades have been popular in Palm Beach interior design.

In another scene set outside in the early evening hours, the hum of nearby insects and stillness of the surrounding flora replicate a quiet Palm Beach evening during the season.

When it comes to costumes, you can't go a minute without seeing vintage or vintage-inspired duds. The designer outfits are plentiful, and fans of Lilly Pulitzer will be able to pick out several of the Palm Beach designer's pieces.

Palm Beach Daily News plays a key role

Within the first three minutes of the first episode of "Palm Royale," Maxine makes it clear just how important the Shiny Sheet is to her. Upon first meeting the four leading ladies of Palm Beach — Evelyn, Dinah (Bibb), Mary (Julia Duffy) and Raquel (Claudia Ferri) — Maxine says they are like her family, because she sees them in the Shiny Sheet every day.

"Like the rising of the morning sun, nothing in Palm Beach has quite the same sparkle of potential and promise as the daily delivery of the Shiny Sheet," Maxine says at the opening of the third episode. Her voice is laid over shots of a girl on roller skates tossing papers onto the lawns and front steps of mansions. "The rise and fall of social stocks, the cementing and undoing of legacies, which backs were lashed and which pas were fauxed," Maxine continues. "So much promise, so much peril."

For Maxine, the sun seems to rise and set by what's reported in each day's Palm Beach Daily News. Later in the series, she admits that she has idolized the paper's subjects since she was a girl.

It's no surprise that when Maxine meets Ann Holiday, the Shiny Sheet's new society editor — played by Mindy Cohn, known for her hilarious portrayal of Frenchie on "The Facts of Life" — Maxine tries at first to impress her new friend, before finally opening up to her. Once Ann learns the truth about Maxine's past, she declares that it's simply too boring to write about.

Ann and her nose for a story prove pivotal to the show's plot.

But so does the Shiny Sheet. It's an article on the paper's front page that catapults Maxine into prominence on the island.

"I feel like I'm gonna throw up. Or maybe I'm gonna doo-doo," an overwhelmed Maxine says. "No, I think I'm gonna throw up. Or I might do a little bit of both."

And viewers can't help but cheer for Maxine as she continues to fight the odds and claw her way to Palm Beach prominence.

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: 'Palm Royale' transports viewers to 1960s Palm Beach