Rialto Theatre
112 S. Broad Street,
Woodbury,
NJ
08096
112 S. Broad Street,
Woodbury,
NJ
08096
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Paul J. Henon, Jr.
Firms: Hoffman-Henon Co.
Functions: Housing
Previous Names: Green's Opera House
Nearby Theaters
Green’s Opera House was located on the second floor of the G.G. Green Block. By 1912 it was screening movies. In 1919 it was remodeled and the movie theatre used the main floor of the building. Renamed Rialto Theatre, it was opened on December 20, 1919 with Bryant Washburn in “It Pays to Advertise” & Ben Turpin in “Salome verses Shenandoah”. A Kimball 7 ranks organ had been installed. The Rialto Theatre made the New York Times on February 17, 1932 when the local police record sentenced three schoolboys, charged with having broken the lock of the theatre’s exit door to see a movie, to receive ten lashes each and pay a $5 fine. The officer then descended from the bench and administered the flogging himself with a borrowed strap.
The theatre is still listed in the 1951 Film Daily Yearbook.
The building was converted into housing for the elderly in 2013.
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Here is the link to the original article & photo, don’t know how long it will be active:
View link
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
NEW JERSEY, GLOUCESTER COUNTY, Green’s, G.G., Block, 108 S. Broad St., Woodbury, 01000769, LISTED, 7/25/01
1907 postcard of the Opera House:
View link
Here is an expanded version of one the 8/7/05 photos, from the Irvin Glazer theater collection:
http://tinyurl.com/omm4m5
1932 Program:
View link
View link
Minor damage from last month’s earthquake leads to questions about building’s condition, talk of possible demolition. Philadelphia Inquirer column here.
One paragraph from today’s Inquirer story: A remnant of an era when Broad Street was the downtown for much of Gloucester County, the Green Block includes a second-floor opera house that later became a 1,100-seat movie theater called the Rialto. The last picture show was in 1955, and Fashion Bug, the most recent store to inhabit the ground floor, closed in 2000.
Theatre will be converted to age-restricted housing.
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2012/04/woodbury_council_authorizes_sa.html
The renovation into housing has been completed.
The G.G. Green Block held Green’s Opera House on its second floor, as noted above. In 1912, Howard Willis presented movies in that space. When Woodbury Amusement took on the venue in 1919, it turned it into a modern movie palace moving the theater to the main floor.
The Rialto launched December 20, 1919 with Bryant Washburn in “It Pays to Advertise” supported by the Ben Turpin comedy “Salome versus Shenandoah”. The Hill Brothers closed the Rialto on January 8, 1955 with John Wayne in “Reap the Wild Wind” without converting to widescreen projection. It was converted to retail within months