Rialto Theatre, Omaha, NB in 1924

I was the last person inside of the Rialto Theater, and probably the only person of my generation (b. 1973) that can actually say I “knew it.” One day as demolition had already started I waited till the wreckers took a break, and walked up a back stairway into the auditorium. And just sat there taking it in. The Rialto was much more restrained than other “grand theaters” of the time. Decorated in soft colors, some pastels. The decoration on the plaster in the ceiling was images of fruit and cornucopias… very pastoral. Unfortunately, the Rialto was designed very poorly if someone had wanted to renovate it as a performing arts center. The auditorium was cock-eyed, and the stage sat in a corner. The stage was quite small, as the main attraction at the Rialto was motion pictures. The proscenium was large enough and the stage was large enough that plays could have been produced there. But there were very little in terms of dressing room facilities. In order to have made it into a performing arts center they would have had to have used the space in the parking lot next door (where the Cooper Theater once sat) to building an extra building on the back for dressing rooms. It was a beautiful theater that had logistical problems.