The Spirit of a pianist who died here, isn’t ready to go just yet.

Other spirits who are attached to the theatre may reside also or just visit.

DESCRIPTION

The Rialto is a 1919 restored vaudeville/play/movie house that is now a live music and arts venue for both national bands and performers from the artistic community.

The theatre offers something for everyone including a “stage for theater, concert, comedy and children/family events, in addition to hosting other functions.”

It hosts two hundred events annually, enjoying a huge patron participation, numbering over 100,000 people every year, living up to the dreams of its former owners.

Its 1,400 seat interior has remnants of its Art Nouveau style, once showcased in its faux 18th century decor, that was popular in the 1920s. The restoration of its wow factor is ongoing, with the dream of eventually restoring it completely, way down the road.

The theatre has a variety of seating, sure to please everyone’s budget. The auditorium has a Gold section located right in front of the stage. Behind it, is a Front Orchestra section, left and right, a Rear Orchestra section, left and right, and lower and upper balconies.

Surrounding it is the Rialto Commercial building, with businesses on the first floor and apartments on the second. Despite all of its historical hardships and incidents of near destruction, it has risen to be the jewel of Tucson’s theatre community.

HISTORY

“The Most elegant and luxurious playhouse west of the Mississippi.” (Paul Bear)

The Rialto Theatre’s existence began as part of a plan to stimulate growth on the east end of Congress Street, because it was near the railroad station. Tourists and new arrivals would need an upscale place to stay, establish businesses, and be entertained on a grander scale.

In 1919, a group of prominent merchants and developers hired a Los Angeles Architect firm, William Curlett and Son, to design the Congress Hotel and a multi-use complex that would offer a spectacular, one of a kind theatre, commercial spaces for businesses and shops, and residential apartments as well. They believed in the old saying, “Think big or go home.”

Critics said that the presence of the Art Deco Fox Theatre on West Congress Street made building the Rialto Theatre on East Congress Street as fool-hardy. They were proven to be wrong because of the planning that went into the Rialto, for the entertainment of all classes of people, covering all the bases!

William’s son, Architect Alexander Curlett, came to Tucson to design and build both buildings. He created a magnificent interior and made the stage a whopping thirty-two feet wide, with a full fly-loft and stage drop to accommodate many forms of entertainment, including: films, vaudeville, plays, operas, and concerts.

According to the Rialto Theatre website, the theatre in 1920 showed its first full length silent film, The Toll Gate, using its majestic Killeen Pipe Organ, costing $7,500 ($118,000 in today’s dollars), to provide the appropriate mood music in a grand style.

The theatre’s first ten years in the nineteen twenties went far beyond vaudeville, offering top-level entertainment.

On its stage, audiences were treated to”World-renowned performers, under the leadership of Ben Goldsmith, and Emanuel and Roy Drachman. The Sistine Choir, a young Ginger Rodgers, the Hungarian National Chorus, the Boris Goudinoff Opera, the Junior Orpheum Vaudeville circuit groups on Wednesdays, were among other noteworthy acts.” (NRHP website)

In the late twenties, the entertainment business underwent a transformation from vaudeville and silent films to talkies, that meant installing expensive sound equipment. Big movie companies such as Fox, Paramount/Publix and RKO began pressuring independent theaters to be bought out by them. Overnight, all the theaters here were sold over night in 1929.

The Rialto was sold to Paramount-Publix. Original owner Roy Drachman and his brother continued working for the new owners until 1933. The organ was moved out, and a small orchestra pit was added for stage performances.

In 1930, Paramount-Publix poured a lot of improvements into the theatre, giving the Rialto a facelift. Besides receiving the newest sound equipment, “air conditioning (swamp cooling), new plush seats, draperies, carpet and a new interior paint job that mostly painted over the gaudy murals” gave the interior an advantage.

Both sound movies and stage performances continued. Eventually, the Rialto just showed films, becoming a premiere movie house. It enjoyed much success, despite the competition down the street.

The fortunes of the theatre changed in 1948, when its name became the Paramount, and more competition appeared. A Supreme Court ruling stopped film production companies from owning theaters, breaking up their monopoly on movie houses.

Besides the neighboring Fox Theatre, Paramount pictures built the Catalina Theatre, just outside the central business district.

Eventually, the Rialto Theatre building suffered a drop in prestige, becoming a second-run film theatre, which was the beginning of its struggles. Its first second-run film was “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.”

By the 1960s, the downtown business district had suffered a huge decline, because of businesses and people moving to the sprawling suburbs.

Crime was an everyday occurrence. A theatre manager, Charles E. Laughlin, suffered a bullet wound in his leg during a robbery of the theatre in 1962, that resulted in the loss of fourteen hundred dollars.

On June 18th, 1963, it closed and was put on the real estate market. The owners of the Rialto business building and second floor apartments, Mr. John F. Mitchell and his partner, Mrs. Fay Ward, bought the theatre to complete their ownership of the entire property.

Though Mitchell had planned eventually to restore the theatre, he used the auditorium to store furniture. Unfortunately, he died on March 11th, 1969 before he could give the theatre a new life of service.

In 1971, a glimmer of hope for the theatre became apparent when businessman Edward Jacobs bought it, and reopened this old dame as a Spanish film house, El Cine Plaza. It’s former building on West Congress Street was torn down due to urban development.

However, their competition, Cina Azteca depleted their future audiences, so Jacobs turned over the lease to William B. Stigma and Mariam Jennings, with John Jacobs becoming the manager.

They reopened the Plaza Theatre in 1973, walking down the naughty side of entertainment, showing adult films. This kind of entertainment didn’t go over well with the Tucson community. After “Deep Throat” was shown, the city tried to revoke their license but was stopped in the courts because they didn’t do their “due diligence” and forbid adult films from being shown.

The feds got involved and charged John Jacobs with receiving an obscene film over state lines. His conviction was overturned by the Ninth Circuit of the Court of Appeals, as he was convicted by a definition of obscenity that hadn’t existed when the crime was committed.

The theatre continued to show adult films for five more years, but not without consequence. An irate woman set fire to the balcony, which was contained to just this area. It was boarded up and business continued. It remained boarded up until 1993.

In 1978, the lease to Stigma and Jennings was ended, and Edward Jacob took over, cleaned up the theatre, and reopened El Cine Plaza once again as a Spanish film venue, showing first-run films with double features.

Disaster struck during the January 7th, 1984 6:30 show. Because the wrong valve was put on the boiler sometime after the last inspection in 1976, pressure had built up and a large explosion shook not only the theatre but the neighborhood. The stage was destroyed as well as part of the auditorium stage house. Miraculously, only one person was hurt, though guests and anyone living nearby experienced a great scare.

Fortunately, the eleven apartments that were located on the second floor had been condemned in 1983, leaving them empty of tenants. Damage was so extensive, the theatre was condemned by the city inspector. Its future didn’t look good, but it wasn’t over yet.

Then, a new group of investors, headed by mover and shaker Kirk Nayer, bought the theatre and apartments with the dream of creating a modern arts and theatre complex entertainment block for the 1980s. This lasted until 1986, when they realized that it wasn’t feasible for them.

The property was bought by real estate big shot, Rich Rodgers and his investment associates. He made it clear that all restoration efforts would stop, as he eventually planned to knock it down and build a large parking structure to serve the new high rise apartments that he planned to build.

When he painted over all the interior and took out all the seats, he met with blowback from the community. He claimed that he planned to rent the space to the upcoming massive security fraud trial in 1988.

He changed his mind about his future plans and sold the theatre to Paul Bear and Jeb Schoonover around the early 1990s. In 1995, they got busy in 1995 repairing the boiler explosion damage and opened the building as a concert venue for popular music artists. Over seven hundred artists went on to perform on the stage, as it was used by every promoter in the southwest.

As with many band venue buildings, the auditorium had no chairs, making it open for guests to dance to the music. The balcony probably had seating for those who wanted to just sit and watch.

In 2002, Doug Biggers and his partnership with Congress Street Investors, bought the entire block except the theatre. In 2004, they negotiated a deal with the Tucson authorities resulting in the city’s Rio Nuevo revitalization project purchasing the theater from Bear and Schoonover.

This sale opened up the flood gates for extensive renovation of the building, recreating some of original Art Nouveau style faux 18th century interior decor, and putting seating into the building.The city then leased the theatre to the Biggers Rialto Theatre Foundation.

In 2015, the theatre was bought by the Rialto Theatre Foundation. The theatre had become the cornerstone of the now thriving downtown area. It offers once again a variety of high-quality performing arts on its stage.

HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS

People who die before they can participate in an event they really wanted to experience, sometimes are not ready to move on.

Liberty Hall, KY (When the Brown family suffered the loss of their little daughter, the kind but frail auntie, Mrs. Margret Varick, made the hard journey on stage coach to arrive to comfort them. A few days after arriving, she had a heart attack and died, much to her disappointment. She wanted to be there to help her niece).

Point Park University PlayHouse, PA (Thespian John Johns, a popular actor, had spent hours preparing for a challenging role in an upcoming performance. He died suddenly before he could perform it).

Bissman Building, OH (On his last workday, a retiring employee, floor manager F. W. Simon, was in the process of saying goodbye to fellow workers on the floor below by sticking his head in the empty elevator shaft. One moment of inattention caused him to be decapitated by the elevator. His spirit is still very upset, and doesn’t accept his death).

Rialto Theatre, AZ (In 1940, just an hour before a pianist was supposed to perform in the orchestra pit for a show, he suffered a sudden accident).

People who have died in a freak accident, sometimes can’t get past their demise, especially if it could’ve been prevented.

Salem State Capitol, OR (The spirit of a politician in the House of Representatives was killed in a freak accident on his farm, probably preventable. His spirit still comes to work at the capitol).

Ropes Mansion, MA (Abigail suffered a painful death when her skirt caught fire from an ember from the fireplace. She can’t forgive her servants for their failure to act. If the living can hear her screams, how come her servants didn’t?).

The Willamette Heritage Center, OR (A male workman who was trying to work on a turbine that was either still on or accidentally turned on while he was working on it, was killed in a painful way. His spirit is still angry and haunts the Turbine Room).

Rialto Theatre, AZ (Apparently, in the orchestra pit, the piano bench and the floor beneath the piano were in wobbly condition. In the middle of the 1940s, a piano player fell victim to the wobbly bench as it collapsed, causing him to fall backward, hitting his head on the cement edge of the orchestra pit. The piano collapsed on top of him. Though he had many broken bones, he died from his head injuries. Today, the theatre would’ve been sued by the victim’s survivors for negligence).

Spirits who have a hard time accepting their deaths, sometimes try to continue with their lives in spirit form, even giving themselves new promotions or ways to help the living.

The Eagle Hotel, PA (The spirit of a past owner is still the spectral supervisor!).

Brumder Mansion Bed And Breakfast and Theatre, WI (The murdered spirits of Sam Pick’s speakeasy crew have decided to be the unseen security guards for the basement theatre, as well as other parts of the mansion, working for the living owners).

Saint John’s Cinema, OR (A murdered Vaudevillian actor yearns to be back on stage. He tries to be a positive, supportive force, giving himself the job of encourager to the staff).

Rialto Theatre, AZ (The spirit of the piano player is probably the unseen encourager in the orchestra pit).

Spirits of past owners, and employees of theaters sometimes like to visit or reside to keep an eye on the living, and/or enjoy the shows on stage.

Riverside Theatre, WI (Spirits may be past owners or managers or dedicated employees yearning to do their old jobs).

The Elsinore Theatre, OR (The spirit of George Guthrie still keeps an eye on the living to insure the quality of the performances. especially during rehearsals).

Variety Theatre, OH (Former spectral employees are ready to find themselves new jobs here).

Rialto Theatre, AZ (Some of the shadows and activity experienced in various parts of the theatre may be due to spirits of past employees and owners).

MANIFESTATIONS

PARANORMAL FINDINGS

The spirit of the piano player has provided personal experiences to the staff and probably other musicians, but no details have been made available.

Other reports of paranormal activity may be from other spirits. Haunted theaters rarely have only one spirit.

No hard evidence or detailed personal experiences have been made public. It sounds like the theatre isn’t ready to come out of the paranormal closet, but they did have paranormal investigator Amy Bruno come and tell about her investigations in other haunted places.

Still Haunted?

Probably so, despite the reluctance of its current theatre owners to promote or even admit to the hauntings. The theatre isn’t part of any Tucson ghost tours.

They downplay the spirit of the piano player and say he only makes himself known once in a while. I can’t blame them. The current foundation owners are enjoying a boom in ticket sales and don’t want to scare potential patrons.

LOCATION

318 E. Congress Street
Tucson, Arizona 85701

The Rialto Theatre is located in the heart of historic downtown Tucson, across the street and four buildings down from the Hotel Congress.

SOURCES INCLUDE

• https://www.rialtotheatre.com/history/
• https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/845d20e4-38f6-4b13-9a7f-516947ae634a/
• https://www.facebook.com/TheRialtoTucson/posts/paranormal-investigator-author-podcaster-and-star-of-kindred-spirits-and-ghost-h/10158936654928660/
• https://southernarizonaguide.com/tucsons-historic-rialto-theatre-old-meets-young/
• https://southernarizonaguide.com/fox-historic-perspective/
• https://www.library.pima.gov/content/ghosts-in-tucson/

Our Haunted Paranormal Stories are Written by Julie Carr

Our Photos are copyrighted by Tom Carr

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