The Rivoli Theatre opened on September 1, 1921, at 416 George Street in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Originally built with seating for approximately 2,200 people, the theater opened with a stage production of the musical comedy Irene. The following evening, the program featured a screening of Mother o’ Mine, starring Lloyd Hughes, along with several vaudeville acts.
The Rivoli was part of New Brunswick’s growing downtown entertainment district, where theaters offered a combination of motion pictures, stage productions, and live entertainment.
By 1927, the Rivoli was operating as part of the B.F. Keith theater circuit, one of the country’s largest vaudeville organizations. The theater later became part of the RKO circuit and continued showing films as live vaudeville declined. It was listed as an RKO theater in the 1951 Film Daily Yearbook and eventually came under the operation of Walter Reade Theatres. By the middle of the twentieth century, the Rivoli had become an established neighborhood movie house, showing regular film programs to New Brunswick audiences.
The Rivoli remained in operation through the 1960s, although the theater was no longer the major attraction it had been during its early years. Its final reported screenings took place on March 14, 1967, with Walt Disney’s The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin and Git!. The theater initially closed for renovations, with plans to reopen that July, but the reopening never happened. The building was eventually demolished, although the exact demolition date has not been confirmed.
The former theater site was later affected by the redevelopment of downtown New Brunswick, including the construction and expansion of the Johnson & Johnson corporate headquarters complex. The Rivoli was one of several theaters that disappeared as the downtown area changed during the second half of the twentieth century. Historic photographs and surviving theater programs document the building and its years as one of New Brunswick’s principal entertainment venues.
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