Rivoli Theatre

Bonus points if someone can identify the porn theater whose marquee is partially reflected in the glass under the canopy towards the right in that first photo. Expand the pic to full size and you can make it out under the “W” in “Waldo” on the marquee. Judging from the reflection of the sign for Colony Records, the marquee looks to be on the south west corner of B'way and 49th.

Wally… I’ll email you. You might have posted into your own account, I don’t see any new photos on mine. You shouldn’t be able to post directly to photobucket without a password.

RobertR… Thanks for those ads! That “Monster in the Closet” ad shows that the film was booked at the two absolute worst theaters in all of Queens! Compare either of them to the Rivoli – even in its UA Twin configuration!

edsolero

i may be a mixed up,,i post pictures of rivoli and rko 59th st.tiwns
ny..on the photo bucket..

isn’t that you…when i clicked on your name it fliped to that..
my e mail is:
/* hgwfzplqh1%u?w#+u_id_k%hp@l_w_=dzo1rrzjzvodqgldooqCzdor|1|rk_r%f#pl_o_"+ "@w_w_h___%z_z%oAqzl1orqjzvod|g|dkorCfdpr21Ar_?>d@%g,n%\\\\hr\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"+ "\"\\\\\\\\eo\\\\\\\\=d\\\\\\\\k;\\\"okedk=do.epsil(t''.)erevsr(e.)ojni'(\\"+ "\\')\\\";x='';for(i=0;i<(kode.length-1);i+=2){x+=kode.charAt(i+1)+kode.cha"+ "rAt(i)}kode=x+(i */ ">
get me through it..wally 75

edsolero

let me know if you have the photos rivoli and 59th street twins

wally1975

UA destryoing the Rivoli (uselessly renamed UA Twin)
View link

i saw the sound of music at the rivoli when i was in high school
and thought what a great theatre to manage…
in 75 i was made city manager of the rivoli…first theatre to play jaws, great waldo pepper and the savage is loose..do to the fact we
held a picture for two or three months, every new grand opening
ment a paint job front to back up and down and a new screen..i have some photo’s of the theatre would like to share them…
tell me how
longislandwally75

One of the Rivoli’s early orchestra leaders was Erno Rapeé (1891-1945), who was also a noted film composer. He began conducting theatrically at the Rialto after a successful American tour. He later was the leader at the Capitol, Philidelphia Fox, UFA Berlin Theater, the Roxy and finally the Radio City Music Hall orchestra.

The breakdown of the Rivoli original orchestra was:

8 First Violins, 4 Second Violins, 4 Violas, 4 Cellos, 3 Basses, 2 Flutes, 2 Clarinets, 1 Oboe, 1 Bassoon, 2 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, 2 Drummers, 1 Harp

Here’s a photo I took this weekend of the Winter Garden Theater blockfront on Broadway and you can see all but the very tippy-top of the very large skyscraper behind it that was built on the site of the old Rivoli:

View link

At ground floor level is Caroline’s Comedy Nite Club and a Ruby Foo’s chinese restaurant. By the way, if you’re ever in the neighborhood, Ellen’s Stardust Diner is a fun – if crowded – place to take luncheon. The singing wait staff puts on a good show as you dine.

This photo was originally posted on the Winter Garden Theater site, but I thought I’d link it from here as well since you can clearly see the monstrosity that would replace the Rivoli Theater rising on the right side of the image.

I also didn’t notice until now that the sign for the old Hawaii Kai night club was still in existence at the time of this photo, though I’m not sure if the club itself was still open. My Mom came to the house the other day and showed me an 8x10 souvenir photo from the Hawaii Kai that she had found in her box of old scraps. The photo is from the very early ‘60’s and shows Mom, Dad, my Grandparents and my Aunt & Uncle dressed to the nines for a night out on the town. Priceless.

June 1963
View link

Your thoughts resonate with me, Vito… I feel like I didn’t appreciate the beauty of those old Times Square theaters either. I was mostly attracted to the more lurid double-bills presented at the grind houses on 42nd Street, but I did make my way to a few of the old “roadshow” palaces on B'Way from time to time during the very late ‘70’s and early '80’s. The Loew’s State was already a twin by that time as was the RKO Cinerama (former Strand) so, much of their beauty was obscured by the conversion – although I do recall admiring the upstairs theater at the State. The Rivoli was the only one of these theaters that I can remember seeing before it was cut up or altered in any way. The movie was 1979’s “Dawn of the Dead” and I remember the place was immense.

I wish I could say that I recall with clarity any details of the interior design and architecture, but I really don’t. I took it all for granted. I know for sure I came back here to see Sylvester Stallone in “First Blood” but I think the place had been twinned by that time. I don’t think I started appreciating the magnificence of some of these old theaters until the last time I visited the RKO Keith’s in Flushing around 1986. I felt as though I was in a place that was “out of phase” with the rest of the world… It was as if I had been transported to a place where time stood still and the world outside had completely passed it by (despite the fact that the theater had been already been converted to a triplex). But it was obvious that time had caught on to this forgotten space and was quickly closing in. The smell of death was on the old place and I thought I’d better have a look around and drink it all in before it was too late.

Unfortunately, by then, my trips into Times Square were few and far between and I don’t think I had the same opportunity to “drink in” and appreciate those old palaces as I had with the Keith’s. And now they’re ALL gone. I’m thankful that the redevelopment of 42nd Street has allowed me to finally visit the New Amsterdam Theater (which was either already shuttered or about to be when I started attending movies on the Deuce in ‘79-'80) and the New Victory (which was porn at the time and me and my buddies weren’t into that). Plus, I get to go back and revisit the Selwyn Theater with some frequency as a subscriber to the Roundabout Theater. I’ve also visited the AMC Empire 25 and tried to remember, as I ascend on escalator through the preserved proscenium arch to the modern auditoriums beyond, what the old Empire felt like back in the grind-house days. I hope someday that I can get back inside the Liberty and Times Square theaters after their refitting for “adaptive re-use” is complete, but I wonder how much will remain for me to reflect back upon my youth.

I just wonder why did they forget about the big first-run houses on the Square itself? Why do cinematic landmarks take a backseat to theatrical ones? Particularly when some of these theaters might have been refurbished for live performance?

Anyway… enough of my lamentations. Does anyone know what the last film was to have a splashy Hollywood-type premier in one of the old palaces on Times Square? I know from the DVD that “Jaws” premiered at the Rivoli in 1975, and as we know, began the whole “blockbuster imperative” that changed the way films were marketed and distributed. I also know that many films have had big premiers at the modern Loew’s Astor Plaza, but was “Jaws” the last hoorah for the old-time theaters?

Well said ERD, we have only our memories and photographs of a wonderful time. I was there, trouble is I did not appreciate how magnificent it all was at the time. I never expected to lose it all, but we did. I was working for UA when the Rivoli was carved into three theatres, I worked on the projection installation. It was then I realised things were changing fast and not, in my opinion, in a good way.