The Riviera Theatre and Performing Arts Center in North Tonawanda has a rich history; in fact, you can read all about it on the theatre’s website thanks to Bob Sieben.
I learned the Yellen family built the theatre in 1926, and they installed a Wurlitzer pipe organ in the same year. The theatre’s organ, nicknamed The Mighty Worlitzer, began with 11 pipes and has since expanded to 20, requiring constant attention and tuning according to Sieben.
The North Tonawanda History Museum’s website states that the theatre, which seats 1,200 people, first showed silent movies accompanied by Wurlitzer organ music. It goes on to explain that the theatre fell into disrepair for a time after television replaced movies.
In 1980, the Riviera Theatre was placed on the Register of Historic Landmarks by the US Department of the Interior. In 1988, the Riviera Theatre and its organ were put up for sale, and the Niagara Frontier Theatre Organ Society (NFTOS) set out to purchase the theatre through the help of a fundraising drive in the Tonawandas and Western New York.
Now the NFTOS and Western New York aim to preserve and share the heritage of the historic “movie palaces and their original ‘Mighty Pipe Organs’ ” through the restoration and upkeep of the Riviera Theatre, in Sieben’s words.
You can go to see this nostalgic theatre and organ for yourself; it remains active to this day, still presenting movies, live theatre, concerts and other special events. Coming up on Friday and Saturday February 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday February 3 at 2 p.m. is a performance of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s Broadway show I Do, I Do.
The pair are best known for The Fantasticks, the world’s longest-running musical. Riviera Theater’s website describes I Do, I Do as the touching story of a couple’s journey through 50 years of marriage, eventually re-discovering how much they need one another.
Adult tickets for the production are $20, and they can be purchased online through the Riviera Theater’s official website. If you are a history buff or a theatre enthusiast, consider making the trip to North Tonawanda for this or one of the theatre’s later events.