Overview

The 2,776-seat Riviera Theatre was built by A.H. (Abraham Harry) Blank, the “cornbelt movie king”, and opened in late March 1927 with a screening of the movie Evening Clothes (1927)  starring Adolphe Menjou.

The theatre’s organ was a 4-manual, 15-rank Wurlitzer Style 260 Special (opus 1571), and at the time of installation was the only 4-manual theatre organ in the state of Nebraska.

The theatre was distinctive for its unusual Atmospheric style featuring Moorish and Italian Renaissance architecture, a combination seldom seen in the U.S. Midwest. The courtyard interior was characterized as being Hispano-Italian by the theatre’s architect John Eberson.

In May 1927, representatives of Australia’s Union Theatres – including managing director Stuart F. Doyle and architect Henry White – were toured around the theatre by John Eberson. White would go on to adapt Eberson’s plans for the Capitol Theatre in Sydney which was taken over and converted into a movie palace in 1927 by Union Theatres.

In March 1929 the theatre was sold to the Paramount-Famous-Lasky Corporation, part of a deal for the 25 Nebraska theatres in the A.H. Blank Theater Corporation to be sold to Paramount. It closed for renovation and redecoration on 2nd May 1929, reopening on 10th May as the Paramount, operated by the Publix theatre chain, with Coquette (1929)  starring Mary Pickford. Allegedly a miniature golf course was installed in the lower lobby to attract new customers.

From 1952 the theatre was mostly dark with only a few stage shows being presented. In 1960 Creighton University  purchased the theatre, removed the seats from the auditorium, and converted the theatre into the home for the Omaha Packers, a professional bowling team.

In 1962 the theatre was leaded to the Dubinsky Brothers theatre chain. Following a renovation that hid or removed much of the theatre’s original decoration, it reopened in mid-June 1962 with a reduced seating capacity of 1,465 as the Astro Theatre (in honor of astronaut John Glenn’s historic flight) with James Stewart in Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) . It had a 70ft wide screen and was equipped with 70mm projectors. The theatre’s organ was removed in the mid-1960s. The Astro subsequently closed in 1979.

Following the theatre’s closure Creighton University sought bids for the building however none came. In 1981 Rose Blumkin (“Mrs. B.”), founder of Nebraska Furniture Mart , heard about the theatre and instructed her daughter to purchase it. The building was later deeded to the Omaha Theater Company for Young People with a gift of $1 million to start a renovation fund.

Redevelopment into a performing arts center and restoration of the theatre took place in the 1990s, in a project that ultimately cost $9.3 million. Restorations, designed by Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture  and carried out by the Kiewit Construction Company , were consistent with the intent and spirit of John Eberson’s original design. The building was renamed the Rose Blumkin Performing Arts Center as a tribute to Mrs. B’s generosity, and the main theatre is called the Rose Theater.

The theatre reopened on Sunday 19th November 1995 with a gala performance featuring Omaha native Peter Buffet, Shawnee Nation Chief Hawk Pope, and an 18-piece orchestra.

The theatre has a 3-manual, 21-rank Wurlitzer theatre organ that is maintained by the River City Theatre Organ Society .