Opened: April 4, 1925 as the New Strand Theatre, operated by United Theatres. "Sally" was the initial film. This house at Cresent Ave and Clarissa was a replacement for the Strand Theatre, a 1912 vintage house on Sumner Ave. The theatre is the second building on the right in this c.1938 photo by Herman Schultheis from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
An article in the March 5, 1925 Catalina Islander talks about the upcoming opening of the new theatre. The April 8 Catalina Islander had a lengthy article about the event with one of the headings noting "Stage and fixtures complete for vaudeville whenever desired."
Architects: Unknown. Possibly Webber, Staunton and Spaulding. Cinema Treasures researcher Joe Vogel notes that he found an article in the December 12, 1924 issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor saying that architects (Walter I.) Webber, (William F.) Staunton and (Sumner Maurice) Spaulding had prepared plans for a 600 seat theater to be erected in Avalon. He adds that neither the name of the theatre nor the address was given.
Seating: 535 was the count toward the end of the theatre's life.
An early 1926 L.A. Times ad for three theatres in the United circuit. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it. The United Eagle Rock later was known as the Sierra.
There's no information about when the theatre was renamed the Riviera -- perhaps in the late 20s. Ken Roe reports that the Riviera was only open during the summer tourist season after the Avalon Theatre opened in 1929. His report, from a book on the history of the Casino Building:
"Tom White, a Hollywood promoter who held the lease on Avalon’s Riviera Theater, leased the new Avalon Theater in 1929 and also signed on as general manager of the Casino operation. His lifestyle proved too flamboyant, and his association with the Casino ended in December 1929. Art LaShelle, who had managed the Riviera and Avalon theaters for Tom White, stayed on to manage both theaters and facilities until 1939.
"Over the years Avalon had enjoyed the offerings of a number of summer resident theatrical groups on the stage of the Riviera or the Bandbox Theater in El Encanto. Western Amusement Company, which operated a number of theaters on the mainland, obtained a lease on both the Avalon and Riviera Theaters in 1949. The company closed the Avalon Theater during the winter but kept the Riviera Theater open all year until it was converted into a bowling alley in 1961."
"Over the years Avalon had enjoyed the offerings of a number of summer resident theatrical groups on the stage of the Riviera or the Bandbox Theater in El Encanto. Western Amusement Company, which operated a number of theaters on the mainland, obtained a lease on both the Avalon and Riviera Theaters in 1949. The company closed the Avalon Theater during the winter but kept the Riviera Theater open all year until it was converted into a bowling alley in 1961."
Status: After being a bowling alley, the building was later a bar and restaurant called the Riviera Room. It was the Riviera Room at least until the end of 2002. It's now a clothing store called Island Threadz.
c.1938 - A look across the beach to the theatre. It's a Herman Schultheis photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
c.1938 - A detail from the photo by Mr. Schultheis.
2002 - Thanks to Ken Roe for this look at the front of the building as a restaurant. It's on Cinema Treasures.
2002 - The booth end of the building. It's another photo from Ken Roe on Cinema Treasures.
2017 - Thanks to Bruce C. for posting this view of the building as a retail shop on Cinema Treasures.
2018 - Another look at the protruding projection booth. Photo: Bill Counter
c.2018 - A look across the bay toward the former theatre. It's a photo from VisitCatalinaIsland.com.
More Information: What's known is on the Cinema Treasures page for the Riviera Theatre. Thanks to Ken Roe and Joe Vogel for the research.
The Samoa Theatre: Its location in Avalon is unknown but it's mentioned as being active in an item Joe Vogel found in the July 1938 issue of Boxoffice noting that "Visitors… Art LaShell, manager of the Avalon, Riviera, and Samoa in Catalina, accompanied by Ernie Gans, who will produce a stage show at the Samoa shortly...."
Joe speculates that if the New Strand wasn't designed by Webber, Staunton & Spaulding, perhaps the Samoa was. He reports about the card in the Los Angeles Public Library's California Index mentioning the 1924-25 project that was noted in Southwest Builder and Contractor:
"... a librarian's note on this card says that this is believed to be the building which, after the opening of the Casino and its theater, was converted into the Post Office. ....I wonder if the Samoa could have been the 1924-25 project by Webber, Staunton & Spaulding which was later converted into the post office? Avalon’s post office is currently located on Metropole Avenue, in a newer building, but there’s a building at 409 Crescent Avenue that looks as though it could have been a theater, having what seems to be a former stage tower. The building currently has a courtyard, but the L.A. County Assessor’s office gives it an original construction date of 1926, and an effective construction date of 1941, so the courtyard might date from the rebuilding at that latter date."
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