Omaha Exploration

There’s no doubt that the ornate Rose Blumkin Performing Arts Center caught your eye as you headed west away from downtown Omaha. Located at 20th and Farnam Streets, the building started its life as the Riviera Theater when it was built by A. H. Blank in 1927. The impressive building is a unique combination of Moorish and Classical architecture.

The interior of the building was just as impressive with its tapestries, oriental rugs, friezes, intricate mosaic tile flooring, fountains and its Mediterranean-style murals. It was equally impressive inside with its perfect acoustics, balconies and the impressive ceiling with electric stars and clouds. The theater with its 2,776 seats also had a full orchestra to support song and dance acts, vaudeville skits and feature films.

Its founder’s dreams came to a screeching halt with the stock market crash of 1929 just two years after it opened. Mr. Blank was forced the sell the theater which was renamed as the Paramount Theater afterwards. In an effort to attract new customers, the new owners went so far as to install a miniature golf course in the main lobby. It didn’t go as planned as the theater opened and closed seven times from 1937 to 1952.

Creighton University had already owned the land when it purchased the building in 1957. They had considered using it as their own performing arts center before finding it unsuitable. Instead, the old theater became home to the Omaha Packers professional bowling team in 1961. It was at that pointed that they ripped out some of the seats while installing four bowling lanes. The National Bowling League of which they were a member went belly up just one year later.

It found new life in 1962 after Creighton leased it to Dubinsky Brothers Theaters. In the process of remodeling, they removed much of the lavish decor. Its new name, Astro Theater, was in honor of astronaut John Glenn’s orbit of the Earth that same year. The renovated theater had 1,500 seats – much few than the 2,776 it had when it first opened. This newest iteration of the theater remained open until 1979.

By that time, Creighton was desperate to get rid of the building which was expensive to maintain. When the Federal Reserve Bank expressed interest in tearing it down to build its new building, there was a public outcry to save it. Enter Rose Blumkin who often admired the building as she drove past it on her way to Nebraska Furniture Mart which she founded decades earlier. Upon hearing of the plans, Rose instructed her daughter to buy it no matter the cost in 1981. Her generosity likely saved the building from the wrecking ball. The Federal Reserve opted to build next door where the old Nebraska Furniture Mart store used to sit.

The theater was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and named as Omaha Landmark in 1980. It wasn’t until 1993 that the Blumkin Family donated the building to the Emmy Gifford Children’s Theater. It also contributed the first $1M towards its renovation. These gifts were on the condition that the theater would secure the remaining funds for not only a full restoration but also an endowment for maintenance and repairs.

The children’s theater had been existence since 1949 and performed in area high schools over its first 25 years. By the mid-1970s they found a permanent home at the former Center Theater. The theater company successfully raised another $9M from both corporate and private donors. The intent of the restoration was to keep the theater consistent with architect John Eberson’s original vision when he built it in 1927. The renovation did just that and also added classrooms, administrative space and brought it up to code. The restoration of its majestic ceiling with its clouds and twinkling stars would have to wait until 2007 when the Ahmanson Foundation donated the money to re-add those elements. Howard Ahmanson was a Central High School alum that visited the theater when he was young.  

In honor of Rose Blumkin’s generosity, the theater was renamed the Rose Blumkin Performing Arts Center in 1995. Today the Rose Theater as it is more commonly known continues to serve as the home to the children’s theater and is considered one of the best in the country. Its performances are directed towards children with an age range of 2-13 years old. In addition to its wide variety of shows, the Omaha Theater Company also offers classes, camps and workshops.

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