Rialto Theater

Designed by architect Roland Borhek, the beaux-arts style Rialto Theater is a historic venue in downtown Tacoma that originally served as an art-deco movie house – with a resident organist during the silent movie era.

With seating for 742 people, it hosts plays, musicals, comedy, and other events. The intricately designed exterior designates itself as a beloved part of Tacoma’s history, but it’s what’s found inside the space that sets it apart from its nearby counterpart the Pantages Theater.

The Rialto has a history of featuring funky, eclectic performances, and has a little more of the beloved Tacoma grittiness than the other venues which make up the Historic Theater District. It’s an intimate setting in which to be immersed in sound while spending time with friends and neighbors. Its name, ‘Rialto’, hearkens to a medieval covered bridge in Venice around which novelty shops were built, providing a de facto entertainment district. Rialtos were plazas where the ordinary man could go for fun; theaters and operas were reserved more for the wealthy and nobility.