Ritz Theatre

Ritz Theatre or Ritz Theater is the name of several facilities in the United States:

See also

Ritz (Austin, Texas)

The Ritz is a historic theater in the 6th Street district in Austin, Texas. The building's history includes use as a movie theater, music hall, club, and comedy house. It reopened after renovations in fall 2007 as the new downtown location for the Alamo Drafthouse.

History

The Ritz was built in 1929 by J.J. Hegman, who owned several movie theaters in Austin, Texas. It was the first theater in Austin to be built specifically for the talkies. The architect was Hugo Kuehne, the founding dean of the University of Texas School of Architecture, who also designed the Austin History Center (originally the Austin Public Library). The Ritz was originally a long narrow space, and was segregated like most movie theaters in Texas and other southern states at that time; there was a separate entrance leading to a balcony reserved for people of color.

The theater opened on 6th Street on October 13, 1929. It showed primarily first-run westerns with a lower ticket price than any other theater in town and frequently brought in stars like Wild Bill Elliott and Dub Taylor, along with country music acts who performed before the movies.

Ritz Theater (Newburgh, New York)

The Ritz Theater is located in the city of Newburgh, New York. The theater is the last remaining historic theater in the city. The legendary building has a rich history of notable performances, and is being restored by a local nonprofit organization.

History

The original structure that would become the home of the Ritz Theater was constructed in 1883 at 107 Broadway in Newburgh, New York. “The address had been the site of other ventures that offered some of life’s small luxuries: George Barnes’ plumbing business ... a cigar factory ... and even a champagne factory.”

1900s

In 1913, the intended manufacturing building was purchased by George Cohen, “a Poughkeepsie entrepreneur,” and was named Cohen’s Opera House. The opera house opened on February 4, 1913. The opera house welcomed performers of all arts: jugglers, singers, dance troupes, theater companies, etc.

The East-West Theater Company became a part of the theater and changed the theater’s name from Cohen’s Opera House to the State Theater in 1926. The State Theater was a major participant in the vaudeville theatrical genre that was extremely popular at the time.