I remember the elegance of the Riviera. I attended Saturday matinees there in the late 1950’s cartoon, serial or comedy and full lengeth feature for 25 cents, fresh popcorn 25 cents. The theatre lobby and auditorium were cavernous and noisy thus the manager and ushers yelled at the kids to be quiet. The Riviera hosted broadway musicals, Damn Yankees, Flower Drum Song, Fiorello, The King & I, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte and Miss Judy Garland “live on stage”. The stage shows ran late Sept – May then movies for the summer. The orchestra seats and balcony entrances were blocked to keep us “angels” in check I guess. The Fisher Theatre became the broadway house in 1961. My older relatives told me the Grand Riviera had a mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ in the pit circa 1928 through WW2.
I remember the elegance of the Riviera. I attended Saturday matinees there in the late 1950’s cartoon, serial or comedy and full lengeth feature for 25 cents, fresh popcorn 25 cents. The theatre lobby and auditorium were cavernous and noisy thus the manager and ushers yelled at the kids to be quiet. The Riviera hosted broadway musicals, Damn Yankees, Flower Drum Song, Fiorello, The King & I, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte and Miss Judy Garland “live on stage”. The stage shows ran late Sept – May then movies for the summer. The orchestra seats and balcony entrances were blocked to keep us “angels” in check I guess. The Fisher Theatre became the broadway house in 1961. My older relatives told me the Grand Riviera had a mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ in the pit circa 1928 through WW2.