The Rose Blumkin Performing Arts Center or The Rose, also known as the Astro Theater, originally opened as The Riviera.
It is located in
downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
,
Nebraska. Built in 1926 in a combination of both Moorish and Classical styles, the building was rehabilitated in 1986.
History
Noted for lavish stage shows combined with movies, the Riviera was regarded as one of the most elegant entertainment facilities in the
Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
.
John Eberson
John Adolph Emil Eberson (January 2, 1875 – March 5, 1954) was an Austrian-American architect best known for the development and promotion of movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre style. He designed over 500 theatres in his lifetime, e ...
, a nationally notable architect, built the theater as an example of the "atmospheric" theater popular during the 1920s. In a style created by Eberson, these atmospheric theaters simulated romantic outdoor Mediterranean courtyards with a night sky above, including twinkling stars and drifting clouds.
The exterior of the building features a large copper domed tower, flanked by two smaller towers of similar detailing. The diamond-patterned brick facades contain oriel windows, elaborate cornices, glazed terra-cotta tile copings, and a series of free-standing columns which support griffins.
In 1929, experiencing financial losses, the theater's owner sold the building to Paramount Company and the theater was renamed the Paramount Theater.
In 1957, Paramount vacated the lease to Creighton University.
Closed for several years, it was later leased to J.S.B. Amusement, and after renovations, was operated as a bowling alley.
After only a year of operation, the building once again was remodeled to return it to a theater.
It reopened as the Astro theater and continued operations until June 1980.
Now closed and facing possible demolition, the Astro Theater was sold by
Creighton University to
Rose Blumkin
Rose Blumkin ( ''née'' Gorelick; December 3, 1893 – August 9, 1998) was an American businesswoman who founded the Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1937. Businessman Warren Buffett said of her, "One question I always ask myself in appraising a busine ...
of the
Nebraska Furniture Mart
Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) is a home furnishing store in North America that sells furniture, flooring, appliances and electronics. It is the largest of its kind in North America. NFM was founded in 1937 by Belarus-born Rose Blumkin, who was k ...
on June 24, 1981. In the early 1990s it was renovated and transformed into the Rose Blumkin Performing Arts Center; it became the home of the Omaha Theater Company, which began performing there in 1995.
"The History of Our Company".
The Rose Performing Arts.
Retrieved 2015-08-05.
Archived 2015-03-30
at Wayback Machine.
See also
* History of Omaha
* List of theaters in Omaha, Nebraska
* Creighton Orpheum Theater
*Moon Theater
The Moon Theater was a silent movie theater at 1410 Douglas Street in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The 1,600-seat theater was built on the site of Omaha's first movie theater, the Parlor. In later years the theater was renamed the Town Theater and ev ...
* Rialto Theater
*World Theater
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
References
External links
Historic Photo of The Riveria's Interior
Alternate Historic Photo of The Riveria's Interior
Postcard of The Riviera Theater
Historic Photo of The Rivera Theater
Riviera Theater Grand Opening Advertisement
Historic Photo of The Paramount Theater
Paramount Theater Advertisement
Astro Theater Advertisement
{{NRHP Omaha
National Register of Historic Places in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha Landmarks
Theatres completed in 1926
Theatres in Omaha, Nebraska
Cinemas and movie theaters in Nebraska
History of Downtown Omaha, Nebraska
Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska
1926 establishments in Nebraska
John Eberson buildings
Atmospheric theatres