Entry No. 43 — the Buffalo file — filed under: movie-palace
Riviera Theatre
The 'Showplace of the Tonawandas' opened December 30, 1926 with silent films, vaudeville, and congratulatory telegrams from Governor Al Smith and Cecil B. DeMille. Its Mighty Wurlitzer, Opus 1524, was one of the company's two demonstrator organs and traveled all of four miles from the Wurlitzer factory down the road — it was restored to nearly original voice in 2008 and is the reason the nonprofit that saved the building is called the Riviera Theatre & Organ Preservation Society. The 1,140-seat house now runs tribute acts, national tours, and a free summer family film series under a 10-foot chandelier salvaged from Buffalo's Genesee Theatre in 1974. Volunteers and staff have long told of a resident ghost called Mary, a story local TV has covered; the theatre itself sticks to programming and lets the lore circulate on its own.
→ Three more haunted places & dark-history spots in Buffalo — never the same twice
The story
The Riviera opened on December 30, 1926 as the Twin Cities Riviera, built by the Yellen family to a design by Leon H. Lempart and Son — Italian Renaissance, with the interior artwork painted by Ferdinand Kebely. Advance reservations for opening night cost a dollar. The mayors of both Tonawandas turned up, telegrams arrived from Governor Alfred E. Smith and Cecil B. DeMille, and the bill was Norma Shearer in the silent Upstage plus a Technicolor short, with Fred Meyer at the organ.
That organ is why the building survived. Opus 1524, a Model 235 Special, shipped on November 19, 1926 from the Wurlitzer plant on the other side of town — one of only two demonstrator instruments the company built. Talkies made it redundant and it went quiet for decades. In the 1970s the Niagara Frontier Theatre Organ Society bought the Wurlitzer to keep it from leaving the room it was built for, then bought the whole theatre at the end of the 1980s and renamed itself the Riviera Theatre & Organ Preservation Society. The organ was re-voiced close to its original speech in 2008; the building went on the National Register in 1980.
What you walk into now is 1,140 seats under a chandelier that isn't even original to the place: ten feet across, fourteen feet tall, fifteen thousand French crystals, pulled out of Buffalo's Genesee Theatre when it closed and hung here in 1974. Backstage, thirteen hemp-and-sandbag lines have become forty-one counterweighted ones, which is why national tours can load in at all. The marquee was rebuilt in 2014 in its original colors with new neon, projection went digital in 2015, and the main lobby is new enough to have a full bar. Volunteers still do much of the work, and they are the ones who tell you about Mary, the house ghost the theatre never puts on a poster.
What it's like
Webster Street is two walkable blocks of bars and storefronts, and the marquee is the brightest thing on it, so you will not miss the door. Doors open an hour before live events and thirty minutes before movies; the original lobby window only opens at showtime, so anything you need sorted in advance is a weekday phone call. There is a full bar in the main lobby and a smaller one on the balcony mezzanine and you can carry both to your seat — nothing you brought yourself, though. This is a 1926 movie palace run by a volunteer preservation society rather than a chain venue, so expect someone at the door who would rather talk about the building than scan your ticket, an audience that looks up at the chandelier on the way in, and a crowd back out on Webster Street ten minutes after the encore.
The move: Grab tickets to whatever's on at the Riv this week, get there early for seats near the pit in case the Wurlitzer plays, and walk Webster Street's bars afterward debating whether that backstage draft was Mary.
📍 Before you go Box office is weekdays only, 10am–4pm (716-692-2413); buy online otherwise. About 25 minutes from downtown Buffalo; street parking on and around Webster St. The free Summer Family Film Series runs weekday matinees in August. The ghost story is volunteer lore, not a ticketed attraction — there's no regular ghost tour, so the play is a show night.
- 📍 North Tonawanda
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 67 Webster St, North Tonawanda, NY 14120
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum — Half a mile from the Riviera's door, in the original Allan Herschell works — the same small city that built the theatre's Wurlitzer also built carousels, and the museum still has the Wurlitzer Music Roll Department to prove the two industries shared a town.
- The Old Chapel Antique & Artisan Market — Six-tenths of a mile away in an 1894 church the diocese closed, open daily 10am–6pm, which makes it the obvious way to fill the afternoon before an evening curtain a few blocks south.
More weird in Buffalo
Good to know
How do I get tickets, and what do they cost?
Buy online at rivieratheatre.org, or through the box office weekdays 10am–4pm at 716-692-2413. Most of the tribute acts that fill the calendar run $20–$39; bigger touring bills go $59–$79. The Summer Family Film Series matinees are free — Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory screens August 26 at 1pm.
How far is it from Buffalo, and where do I park?
About 25 minutes north of downtown, in North Tonawanda. Street parking on and around Webster Street is the norm. There is a drop-off lane at the entrance, but marked accessible parking is extremely limited, so plan for it rather than assume it.
Is the theatre accessible?
There are four wheelchair spaces in the house with companion seating alongside. There is no elevator; if stairs are a problem, ring the doorbell at the entrance and staff will come help. The balcony and its mezzanine bar are stairs-only.
Will I actually hear the Mighty Wurlitzer?
Not on every night. Opus 1524 is still in the pit and still played, but it is tied to specific organ programming and film screenings rather than to whichever tribute band is booked. Ask at the box office when you buy if hearing it is the point of the trip.
Is the ghost story something you can book?
No. There is no ghost tour and no overnight investigation here. Mary is volunteer lore, told in the lobby and backstage and covered by local TV, but the theatre sells show tickets and leaves it at that. A show night is the only way in.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia
last checked: 2026-08-25