Published: February 13, 2008 02:34 pm      

NORTH TONAWANDA: Renovations revive Riv

North Tonawanda’s historic Riviera Theatre may be more than 80 years old, but recent renovations and planned future additions are breathing life back into the old showplace.

The Riviera is finishing up a round of renovations, and all eyes are focused on larger projects in the future.

“It’s like remodeling a house,” Riviera Theatre Executive Director Frank Cannata said. “Once you get in, you know what you’ve got to do.”

First and foremost among the recent projects was the theater’s Wurlitzer organ, known as “the mighty Wurlitzer.” A crew of four men from Ohio recently spent five weeks in North Tonawanda restoring the organ.

Every one of the organ’s pipes — about 1,200 in all — received work, pipe organ restoration specialist Clark Wilson said. When the organ is played again at a March 5 concert, the old organ will sound new again, Wilson said.

“It will be a sound they’ve not heard in 50 or 60 years,” Wilson said. “The organ is an exemplary instrument. It still shows the fact that it was a demonstration organ.”

The theater’s mural, first painted in 1926, also got a recent touch-up and repainting from artist Steve Rovner.

The ceiling and walls were cleaned, as well as the orchestra pit, which has long been cluttered, according to Cannata.

“So now when we rent the theater, we can have full-scale orchestras to accompany the shows,” he said.

But the theater’s biggest current project is a separate 99-seat black box theater in the building, which has been through the design phase and is entering construction, Cannata said. Black box theaters are rooms, painted black, for smaller shows, Cannata said.

“The black box theaters were designed for a simple production,” Cannata said. “(They) don’t need sound equipment.”

Long-running productions could set up shop in the black box theater, Cannata said. The Riviera is looking for someone to buy naming rights to the theater.

The long-term plans are even more ambitious. The theater hopes to add a new lobby on the other side of the building, and to expand the current dressing rooms and the theater’s cramped restrooms to make them handicap-accessible. Those complete renovations are to cost around $2.5 million, with $900,000 in funding secured thus far, Cannata said.

The expanded dressing rooms will go a long way in getting larger shows to visit the Riviera, Cannata said.

“We already have people calling who are interested in doing their shows here,” Cannata said. “Other promoters in touch with us are anxious to move some shows into our theater.”

There’s a reason the Riviera Theatre is now billing itself as the Riviera Theatre and Performing Arts Center, said David Bondrow, the theater’s artistic director.

“It’s going to live up to that name,” Bondrow said. “It’s our goal to be at the forefront of entertainment in Western New York.”

The theater is even getting a little help from The Boss. The Riviera will feature a Bruce Springsteen concert on a high-definition screen at 8 p.m. Feb. 29. The Riviera is one of the few places in the country where it can be seen.

“Bruce Springsteen is allowing only certain historic theaters to show this concert and keep all of the proceeds,” Cannata said.

Tickets for the event cost $18 or $20. To reach the Riviera box office, call 692-2413.