The Riverside Theater opened its doors to the public on April 29, 1928. In 1908 the Radio-Keith-Orpheum, an American film production and distribution company, was looking for a larger venue to replace the Majestic Theater. They decided to tear down the Empire Hotel and Tavern in order to build the Riverside Theater. The building is lined by the Milwaukee River and a small alley where stage equipment and scenery pieces have been loaded over the decades into the back entrance with some pieces even accidently ending up in the river.
The seating in the theater was made to be a presentation house holding 2,558 seats on the orchestra level, along with three box seating areas on each wall below the organ screens. Riverside tickets are required for admission into the venue. Also, a very large balcony was accessible to patrons by an elevator located in the lobby.
The Riverside Theater was known as one of Milwaukee's most beautifully graceful theaters that unfortunately was nearly destroyed in 1966. Even with the hard work to control the fire, the estimated cost to replace the originals totaled $590,000.
For many years after the fire, it was evident that the United Artists had not done a good job in re-creating or maintaining the original beauty of the Riverside Theater. In 1982 when their lease was up, the United Artists did not renew. The current owner of the Theater at that time, Towne Realty, had already made plans to demolish the theater and build a mixed-use facility, or a large parking structure. It looked like the Riverside Theater was never going to be restored to what it once was until the help of volunteers in a committee to "Save the Riverside" publicized the issue. Within a few months the owner of Towne Realty and local millionaire Joseph Zilber decided to fund the $1 ½ million to restore the Theater.
The grand re-opening of the theater was in 1984 and after that the theater became a popular place for touring bands and small theater productions and continues to do so to this day. Riverside tickets are always a great gift idea for friends and family.
