Detailed Information

The theatre was built by real estate investor Tom Chamales, who owned other entertainment properties in the area and hoped patrons attending a new theatre would also frequent his other properties.

Chamales originally intended to build the theatre alongside a ten-story hotel, however what was ultimately built was space for eight retail stores at street level and 36 “bachelor” apartments.

The 2,500-seat theatre was designed by Chicago-based architecture firm Rapp and Rapp in their signature French renaissance style. The scale of the project set it apart from many Chicago theatres which had come before.

At the time of building, it was anticipated that the theatre would be managed by the well-established Jones, Linick, & Schaefer vaudeville and movie theatre chain, however by the time the theatre opened in late 1918 it would be managed by Balaban & Katz. As managers of the Riviera, Barney Balaban and Sam Katz refined many of the management techniques that would become trademark features of their theatres during the 1920s.

In 1925, the massive 4,400-seat Uptown Theatre opened half a block north of the Riviera, however the Riviera’s business was not significantly affected.

As happened across the country, vaudeville slowly waned at the Riviera during the late 1920s and early 1930s until all-movie policies were the standard.

In 1975 the Riviera began its transformation to a well-known national concert venue when Jam Productions began promoting pop and rock concerts at the Riviera while the theatre’s owner, Brotman & Sherman, continued to show movies regularly between rock shows.

When movies were last shown at the theatre in 1983, the Riviera featured Hispanic films.

Back of house, the Riviera was originally a hemp house however was refitted with a Peter Clark single purchase counterweight flying system likely in the mid-to-late 1920s.