N  I  A  G  A  R  A      G  A  Z  E  T  T  E  - Feb. 2, 2009     niagara-gazette.com

LIFESTYLE: Riv Revival
By Paul Lane

The first thing you notice walking up to the Riviera Theatre on Webster Street is the preponderance of show fliers postered across the doors.

A venue that once showed fewer signs of life than an Old West ghost town once again has a pulse, as no fewer than five upcoming performances were advertised on the theater, which once again has a full marquee.

Enveloped by the vintage smell that’s been trapped between the 83-year-old theater’s walls for decades, the mass of young event-goers that have graced the Riv of late have started to erase the reputation of the theater as a house only reserved for organ concerts and military band performances.

Hundreds of high school students attended the recent concert by Inlite, a band made up of Grand Island teenagers. The echoes of their show barely dissipated, throngs of thirtysomething took in the following night’s “The Big Lebowski Event.” Concert-goers of all generations, meanwhile, crammed the theater for the recent Musical Box tribute show to Genesis, a show to which nearly 100 people bought standing room tickets after all 1,150 seats were sold.

“We’ve made an aggressive attempt to create public awareness,” said Frank Cannata, who’s been the theater’s executive director about three years. “It just seems Webster Street is an unknown to so many people.”

To that end, events such as “The Big Lebowski Event” — a movie screening mixed with comedy, cocktails and bowling — are booked in an effort to draw first-timers to the venue.

“The hope is that people will start to think of the Riv as an entertainment destination when planning their weekend,” said Ethan Cole, who helped organize the Lebowski soiree. “It’s great for the Riv to have a lot of people see that they do a lot more than children’s movies and organ concerts.”

Those events are a mainstay at the theater — Cannata has received calls from organists as far away as Europe asking to come play the Riv’s vintage Wurlitzer — but Cannata knows the theater’s future relies upon drawing a well-rounded clientele.

The Musical Box concert, for one, may have helped. A scan of the ticket purchase list for that show found ticket-buyers from as far away as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida.

“People are filled with awe when they walk in here,” he said. “We may get someone from Eden who ordinarily wouldn’t come here because we’re off their radar. They come to a big show and they realize, ‘Hey, it was only 30 minutes away and it was a thruway driving. That wasn’t so bad.’ ”

Cole figures at least a few of the more than 700 movie-lovers who attended the Lebowski event will become such people.

“I hope people who went tell their friends that they had a great time,” he said.

George Root, whose Pink Floyd tribute band Hey You recently played a fundraiser concert at the Riv and who attended the Musical Box show, said that the Twin Cities receive the Rodney Dangerfield treatment.

“I think Tonawanda and North Tonawanda never get the credit they deserve as local music hotspots, and that is probably another reason why we chose (to play a concert at) the Riviera,” Root, also a Greater Niagara Newspaper columnist, said in an e-mail. “Here is this beautiful theater in a community of people that love and live music. The Tonawandas are hopping with live music all year long, and I don't think the area gets the credit it deserves as a prime place for bands to play in Western New York. Then you add in this beautiful old theater that hosts live music all year long, and you have a winning combination.”

While the venue may impress audience members, the bigger drawing power of up-and-coming venues such as the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts in Amherst (larger seating capacity) and the Seneca Events Center at Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel in Niagara Falls (better amenities) draws many acts — particularly comedians — that don’t opt for Western New York mainstays such as Buffalo’s Shea’s Performing Arts Center.

“We just can’t afford them anymore,” Cannata said. “(The Senecas) put them up in a hotel suite and comp them for expensive dinners. I put them up in a Microtel and take them to a local restaurant.”

The Riv’s nonprofit status doesn’t help that cause. With only 1.5 paid positions, the theater relies upon a cavalcade of volunteers; the thick volunteer call list, thumbtacked to the theater box office, has so many names that only people with last names beginning with A-Da appeared on the first page.

The economic climate of the region, meanwhile, means Cannata has to keep close watch on ticket prices; rarely if ever will a person pay anywhere near $50 to see a Riviera show. That, combined with a smaller seating capacity, means less potential income for anyone who plays there.

The venue, Cannata said, is capable of overshadowing any deficiency that may arise in booking acts.

“The very last seat in the last row is only 65 feet away,” he said. “You’re up close and personal with the (act on stage).”

That intimate feel is among the reasons that once-untouchable acts such as Art Garfunkel and Gordon Lightfoot have contacted Cannata in recent months to inquire about playing NT, he said. The theater may never attract entertainment’s biggest names, but Cannata is banking on “twilight” acts such as these combined with up-and-coming bands to keep the marquee full.

Complementing the music Cannata wants to bring in are the O’Connell & Company theater troupe — which temporarily calls the Riv home since moving from its former space in Snyder last summer — and special local events such as the Lebowski festival. The theater also pulled a bit of a coup in landing the “High School Musical 2” stage show for its first Western New York appearance in April (when asked how the booking happened, Cannata nonchalantly replied, “I know some people, and I called them”).

A former school teacher and principal, Cannata’s background in education might not seem suited to turning around the fortunes of a community landmark. That, according to Cole, couldn’t be more false.

“He’s got something of a shotgun approach — let’s just try things and see what works,” Cole said of Cannata, who is allowed a lot of flexibility in contracting acts to keep the shows affordable. “He’s got great vision.”

The acts aren’t the only upgrades Cannata intends to make. On top of the recent $50,000 organ renovation, Cannata wants to build additional dressing room space, add a Main Street entrance and make as many infrastructure upgrades as possible (the theater’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places makes some improvements, such as energy-efficient heating and air conditioning, difficult to achieve, he said).

As the Riv continues to improve, Cole feels it could be the catalyst to make downtown NT a viable attraction.

“You can really make Webster Street a destination — dinner at Crazy Jake’s, a show at the Riviera and cocktails afterward at Dwyer’s,” he said.

Still amazed by the Riv’s beauty when entering his second-floor office every daily, Cannata hopes his efforts get more people across the region to see what he sees — and keep the tumbleweeds away for good.

“When you walk into the building, it’s an absolutely magnificent room,” he said. “It’s just magical.”