Rives Theatre
215 E. Church Street,
Martinsville,
VA
24112
215 E. Church Street,
Martinsville,
VA
24112
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The Rives Theatre opened in 1935. It was closed in 1984 to duplex the house. Martin Theatre Management (MTM) relaunched in time for the venue’s 50th Anniversary now as the Rives Cinema 1 & 2. The theatre rebranded to the Rives Theatre in the 21st Century playing movies until closing in 2009. It became a live theatre thereafter.
The Rives Theatre opened in 1935.
The Rives Theatre was destroyed by a fire on September 8, 2019. I’ve found conflicting opening dates for the house. Some sources say it was built in 1928, and others says it opened in 1932. To my eye, this photo of the Rives on the theater’s Facebook page looks more like 1932, but I can’t rule out 1928.
Theatre was formerly owned and operated by Rives Brown Realty. The original layout also utilized an upstairs enclosed CRY ROOM.
I was involved in twining this theatre in the early 80’s. Front/Back disection acommplished by adding an inside enclosed tunnel leading from the lobby to the auditorium in the back. Coresponding tunnel upstairs leads to new projection booth. “Tivoli” style lighting was just coming into vogue at this time creating interesting time tunnel effects and light chasing.