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The Rialto Theater in
Rialto Theater
at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Buildings and structures in Casper, Wyoming Cinemas and movie theaters in Wyoming Theatres completed in 1921 Tourist attractions in Casper, Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Natrona County, Wyoming {{Wyoming-NRHP-stub
Casper, Wyoming
Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nic ...
was built as the New Lyric Theater in 1921. It was constructed with 800 seats by Henry Brennan who had a successful Vaudeville house, on which he based the new cinema. He almost immediately sold the building in 1922 to new owner E.J. Schulte who invested $50,000 in a remodeling project designed by Casper architects William Dubois and Leon Goodrich. The reopening in 1922 featured the William C. deMille
William Churchill deMille (July 25, 1878 – March 5, 1955), also spelled de Mille or De Mille, was an American screenwriter and film director from the silent film era through the early 1930s. He was also a noted playwright prior to moving into ...
movie ''Nice People'', a silent film that was accompanied by the Chicago Netto Ladies Orchestra. In 1928 the Rialto began to show talkies.
The Rialto measures by on a prominent corner site. The brick facade is plain in form but the brickwork is extensively detailed. A tall neon sign marks the corner, replacing the original metal sign and a marquee was added, covering the original leaded glass transoms over the storefronts. A tall parapet adds to the apparent mass of the theater. Storefronts on both frontages house retail shops. On the interior a balcony is reached by two curving stairs on either side of the lobby, replacing a single grand stair from the first design.
The Rialto continues to operate as a cinema. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
References
External links
* at the National Park Service's NRHP database *Rialto Theaterat the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Buildings and structures in Casper, Wyoming Cinemas and movie theaters in Wyoming Theatres completed in 1921 Tourist attractions in Casper, Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Natrona County, Wyoming {{Wyoming-NRHP-stub