Center for Creativity at Rialto Theatre

markp on March 23, 2009 at 10:45 pm

The theatre is currently undergoing a complete renovation. All new seats, new carpets, new concession area, and 2 digital projectors. The 2 theatres in the old balcony have been given new floor plan so there are less seats, but more leg room. Scheduled to re-open on Friday March 27.

designer on March 9, 2007 at 11:18 am

Does anybody know who the architect was who did the renovation of the Rialto?

moviesmovies on July 13, 2005 at 3:18 pm

also' The Romantic Englishwomen' with Glenda Jackson.

teecee on July 8, 2005 at 5:20 am

Was a Fabian theater in 1967:

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Courtesy of Bill Huelbig’s post on #4309

teecee on June 13, 2005 at 11:48 am

Extracted from this article:

The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Feb 28, 1997 p018
Theater goes the neighborhood; As movie multiplexes become megaplexes, it’s nice to know the Bijou is just around the corner. (TICKET)

United Artists Rialto Theater 250 E. Broad St. Westfield (908) 232-1288

By Jenifer Braun

Westfield, although very close to several of New Jersey’s major metropolises, is a town that maintains more than a little of its Rockwell-esque charm. It has an active downtown where people can be seen strolling about even after dark, and a “50s-style neon sign still lights up the Westfield Drug Store.

There’s a little park and a white-spired church, and despite rumors to the contrary, Westfield still boasts a small movie theater, the Rialto.

The Rialto was almost closed down this winter, when United Artists attempted to sell the three-screen theater as retail space. Thanks in part to the outrage of Westfield residents, who formed a “Save the Rialto” committee and threatened to boycott any store that took the theater’s place, the movie house is now just going to change hands rather than close.

It will be renovated, but for right now the theater is open as its old self.

The Rialto has stood in this spot since 1922, although it has been renovated since then. The most notable reminder of its former, one-screen glory is the upstairs screening room, which used to be the balcony. Between the seats and the screen there’s a long, shallow depression, the “ceiling” of the two theaters below that connects the balcony seats to the back wall. It’s painted black, and with the lights out the effect is something like peering at a movie screen over the edge of a bottomless pit.

Aside from that incongruity, the Rialto reeks of neighborhoodliness. If you find a trip to the regional multiplex as traumatizing as a whirl through JFK Airport, the Rialto should be balm to your soul. It is never loud and crowded with troupes of teens, nor does it boast the sophistication and cappuccino counters of an art- house theater. Just Junior Mints, and young couples snuggling throughout “The English Patient,” thank you very much.

The actual screening rooms have the feel of a basement rec room, the rubbery smell of industrial-strength carpet mingling with the popcorn. The seats are just seats – none of those rocking-chair, attached-cup-holder models.

All of this is likely to change with the renovations slated for this spring, but at least the theater will remain. Westfield will keep its idyllic little downtown intact, and we can all go there and visit whenever we get attacks of future shock.

teecee on February 28, 2005 at 11:01 pm

Recent photo at this link:
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