Rialto Theater (Arizona)

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The Rialto Theater in 2012

The Rialto Theater is a former movie theater and now a concert center in Tucson , Arizona. The Rialto Theater opened in 1922 as one of the city's first cinemas. In 2003, the movie theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places .

The first films shown at the Rialto were mostly silent films . In the history of the theater's existence there have been many closings and new openings, often accompanied by name changes. From 1973 the Rialto was reopened as an erotic cinema. Efforts by a citizens' initiative of the city to close the cinema again failed. Annie Sprinkle made her breakthrough as an adult actress in the Rialto. However, the theater was often damaged by visitors during this time. So a visitor set fire to a balcony of the theater and fled. To date, she has not been caught. In the same year the Rialto was remodeled again. From this point in time until it was closed again due to an explosion in 1984 that destroyed much of the theater, the cinema showed mainly Spanish-language films .

In 1995 the Rialto Theater reopened as a concert center under its original name. After renewed closings due to the initial financial difficulties, concerts have been held regularly since 2004. 700 concerts have taken place in the Rialto since 2004, including The Band , Maroon 5 , Dave Chapelle , Spring Cheese Incident , White Stripes , Modest Mouse , Merle Haggard and The Roots in the Rialto.

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Coordinates: 32 ° 13 ′ 19 ″  N , 110 ° 57 ′ 59.4 ″  W.