Rivoli Theatre (South Fallsburg, New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Rivoli Theatre
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West elevation and north profile of front block, 2008
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | South Fallsburg, NY |
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| Nearest city | Middletown |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1923 |
| Architect | Emil Motel |
| Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals |
| NRHP reference No. | 00001691 |
| Added to NRHP | January 26, 2001 |
The Rivoli Theatre is a historic building in South Fallsburg, New York. It stands at the corner of NY 42 and Laurel Avenue. Built in 1923, the theater was updated in the late 1930s. It still looks much like it did back then.
This theater was a very important place for fun and entertainment in the area. It showed both live shows and movies. This was especially true during the summer when many Jewish families visited the Catskills. Today, a community theater group still puts on plays there every summer. In 2001, the Rivoli Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Since July 6, 2012, the theater has also been showing movies again. The first movie shown was Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.
Contents
Exploring the Rivoli Theatre Building
The Rivoli Theatre building has two main parts. There is a front section with the entrance and lobby. Then there is a larger, one-story area for the audience, called the auditorium. The building is made of concrete blocks. It is covered with light brown bricks and has red lines and decorations. The sides and back are covered with a special plaster, and brick pillars divide the sections.
The Bright Marquee Sign
The front of the theater has a cool, three-sided marquee sign. This sign uses neon lights and hangs from chains. There is also a tall neon sign on the front. The very first marquee in 1923 was a simple metal roof with fancy decorations. It had glass tiles that you couldn't see through. In 1937, a new square neon sign was added. The sign you see today is from the 1950s. All these signs have been held up by metal chains, and the ones there now might even be the original ones!
Inside the Lobby and Foyer
The lobby and foyer are the first areas you enter. They are still the same size and shape as they were originally. However, they have been updated with newer materials. The entrance area also shows changes from different times. The first ticket booth was a rectangle made of wood. It had opaque glass tiles. The entrance doors were made of glass with many small panes. The walls had panels, some of which were used to display movie posters. The foyer from 1937, which is still there today, has a tiled floor. It also has shiny enameled and chrome decorations.
The Grand Auditorium
The main part of the theater, the auditorium, was built in two steps. The first part was about 124 feet long. We don't know how it was decorated back then. In 1937, a 36-foot section was added to the back. This made room for six more rows of seats and a stage. At the same time, the whole auditorium was redecorated in the Art Deco style. This 1937 Art Deco look is still completely preserved today.
The auditorium is about 160-foot (49 m) long. Its flat ceiling and curved walls are covered with special panels. These panels have different geometric shapes. A large, original light fixture is in the middle of each wall panel. A new automatic movie screen was put in place in June 2012.
Upstairs: Second Floor Areas
The second floor of the Rivoli Theatre is used for different purposes. It holds props for plays and costumes. There is also a special room for the movie projector. Other parts of the second floor are being fixed up. These areas will be used as rehearsal rooms for actors. Most of the original finishes on this floor are still there.
A Look at Rivoli Theatre History
Around the early 1900s, many Jewish immigrants came to South Fallsburg. Many had visited local resorts in the summer and decided to live there year-round. They opened or ran resorts for other Jewish families. By the early 1920s, most people in the town were Jewish. The local South Fallsburg Hebrew Association Synagogue grew quickly, adding new members every week.
The very first building on the Rivoli site was built in 1910. The foundation of this old building is still under the front-right corner of the current Rivoli.
Israel Kaplan and his son Arch opened the Rivoli in 1923. They wanted to provide fun for summer visitors. They are said to be the designers. However, the Rivoli looks a lot like Emil Motel's Rialto Theatre in nearby Monticello. This suggests that Motel, who later redesigned the Rivoli, might have been the original architect too.
The Rivoli was very successful. It showed both movies and live stage shows. In 1937, the Kaplans expanded the theater to hold 600 people. They also redecorated it in the popular Art Deco style. Motl was in charge of this expansion. The theater stayed popular throughout the time of the Catskill resorts. This area, known as the Borscht Belt, helped many future stars get their start. People who used to go there remember long lines around the block.
In late 1997, Alice Rosenshein Manzi, a descendant of the Kaplans, closed the theater. She had been renting it out as a fruit stand to earn money. The Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop, a local community theater group, was looking for a new home. They bought the Rivoli for $55,000. They fixed it up to use as a theater again. The next year, the inside was repainted. A new heating and cooling system was also added. The group puts on movies and plays every summer. A local music promoter also stages shows there. In 2011, the group started raising money to match a state grant. This money was for restoring the marquee sign.
Before forming the band KISS, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley played at the Rivoli. This was in the early 1970s with their band Wicked Lester/Rainbow.
The Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop bought the Rivoli in 1998. They removed some seats to make the stage bigger. New heating and cooling systems were put in. In recent years, a sound and lighting booth was built. Dressing rooms and more restrooms were also added.
On July 6, 2012, the Rivoli Theatre started showing movies again. The Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop, which owns the theater, used a special 35-mm projector. This continued the tradition of showing films. The first movie they showed was "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted".
See also
