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1920

The Rialto, built by the California-based firm William Curlett and Son, opens on Aug. 29. Its first movie is "The Toll Gate," with silent-film star William S. Hart.

1924

Roy P. Drachman, son of Rialto owner Emanuel Drachman, begins as a doorman at the theater. Roy would take over as manager a year later. He is named "the most influential Tucsonan of the 20th century" after his death in 2002 at age 95, for his work as a developer, civic leader and philanthropist.

1925

Actress and dancer Ginger Rogers performs in one of the venue's regular vaudeville shows. Other acts include the Hungarian National Chorus and ballerina Anna Pavlova.

1928

The theater has its first brush with controversy with the "All New Gay Paree" revue. Promotions include risqué posters with women wearing next to nothing.

1929

Majority interest in the Rialto is sold to Paramount-Publix. The company adds plush seating, swamp cooling, and a fresh coat of paint inside.

1933

Roy Drachman leaves to work at the Fox Theatre, down the street.

1948

The Rialto changes its name to the Paramount.

1959

The Paramount nearly closes. Managers blame poor ticket sales on the theater's location at the east end of Downtown.

1962

A manager is shot and more than $1,400 is stolen in a robbery that remains unsolved.

1963

The Paramount closes. Reasons given include its lack of first-run films and urban sprawl. It's used as a storage facility for Mitchell's Furniture Gallery for the next eight years.

1971

Edward Jacobs reopens the theater as Cine Plaza, a first-run Spanish-language movie house.

1973

An out-of-state firm turns the theater into a pornographic film house.

Cine Plaza begins showing "Deep Throat," a smash hit that runs for seven months and sells an estimated 54,000 tickets.

1978

The theater starts showing Spanish-language films again.

1984

The stage collapses after a boiler explodes, causing one minor injury. The city condemns Cine Plaza.

1984

Producers of the movie "Desert Bloom," starring Jon Voight, change the name on the marquee to The Palace for the movie, and it remains that way through much of the late '80s.

Investors buy the Rialto to return it to its former glory as a performance space but eventually deem the renovation infeasible.

1986

Real estate mogul Rich Rodgers acquires the Rialto with plans to demolish it to make room for a parking complex. He removes the remainder of the fixed seating, but never gets around to tearing it down.

1995

KXCI co-founder Paul Bear and concert promoter Jeb Schoonover buy the Rialto and begin renovating it. They will present hundreds of concerts there until 2004.

2002

Former Tucson Weekly Publisher Doug Biggers buys the entire Rialto block except for the theater. He worked out a deal two years later for the city to buy the theater as part of the Rio Nuevo project.

2004

The Rialto closes for major renovations.

2005

The Rialto reopens just in time for the spring Club Crawl.

SourceS: The Rialto Theatre, Star archives and Roy P. Drachman's book, "From Cowtown to Desert Metropolis: Ninety Years of Arizona Memories."