When you first get to the Riverview Theater, by day or by night,
Image via Ann Marie Photography
Image via Celisia Stanton Photography
You’ll be struck by the Riverview! From the marquee to the lights, you feel like you’re walking into a neighborhood staple, and you are.
The doors open one hour before the show starts. So for a 7:PM weeknight show, the doors will open at 6:PM and for a 10:30 AM weekend show, the doors will open at 9:30 AM.
Parking is street parking only + the Riverview has 700 seats. So if you can, carpool, be dropped off + picked up, Uber or Lyft. And if you can’t, leave plenty of time to park and walk to the theater. And, of course, don’t leave any valuables in your car.
We start promptly.
Once you walk through the Riverview doors, Jason and Luisa — our spouses and LTYM greeters for the last decade! — will take your tickets.
Every person needs to scan in with their own ticket. You can print it out, show it on your phone, or take a screenshot of your ticket. If you bought tickets for a group, meet and go in together or distribute the tickets — paper or digitally — so that everyone has one.
Our ushers — our kids and their friends! — will have both paper programs and a QR code if you’d rather have a digital program, which can be easier to read in the darkened theater.
Once you’re inside, we recommend getting your seat. Seating is first come, first served, and the room fills up quickly.
There’ll be a montage playing on the big screen with photos from the cast and we’ve heard that the popcorn is the best ever!
FYI — the concession stand is cash only, so come prepared!
Once you’re settled in your seat, program + popcorn in hand, you can enjoy the montage or take a moment to visit the Riverview lobby. It’s not only where our sponsor table is — we love our sponsors and know that you will, too! — it’s also a slice of history.
The Riverview opened December 30, 1948. In 1956, the lobby was renovated to reflect a living room and even included, and still includes, a separate TV lounge.
There are photos in this space showing the theater in 1956, featuring architectural drawings of marquee designs and telegrams from 1956 from noteworthy well-wishers.
And to answer the #1 question our ushers get, the bathrooms are in the back right of the lobby, from when you enter the Riverview. :)
Co-director Galit Breen
Co-director Vikki Reich
We start on time and the cues that the show is about to start are the montage ends, the music stops, the lights dim, the curtain closes, and we take the stage.
Fun fact: The grey chevron curtain is the original stage curtain dating from 1949 and is the answer to the #1 question casts ask us!
Q: What should we wear?
A: Not grey, and not chevron!
And finally … show time! We still use the tried and true Listen to Your Mother format that was started in 2010 …
12 - sometimes 13! - women, a stage, and a microphone.
The show is approximately an hour and a half long, with each woman being introduced right before she reads her story.
In this simplicity, we’ve found one thing to be true: it’s pure magic.
Even though we hear and read each story several times before show time, something glittery happens on that stage.
The audience feels it, too.
The stories are real and raw. The laughs are BIG and the tears flow as well. Maybe bring tissues!
After an hour and a half, you may think the time is over. But AFTER the show, is a moment as well.
After the bow, the cast stays put. And friends and family and strangers all come tell them how wonderful they were.
Sometimes it’s because they think a storyteller is SO FUNNY, their stomach hurts from laughing so hard.
Sometimes it’s because their story was so rough on the heart, they want to tell them that they were heard.
And sometimes, it’s because a story touches an audience member so much, they feel compelled to speak up.
This is called the “LTYM me, too” when an audience member finds their story, their experience, inside one of the storyteller’s stories.
It can’t be said enough: It’s magic.
After we make our way out from the stage area, we find people still in the lobby or under the marquee discussing the stories, the show, the magic. We’re here for all of that!
And we hope you will be, too! We can’t wait to see you at the show!
Almost all of the photos in this post are from the 2022 Holiday Show and taken by the incredibly talented Celisia Stanton Photography. There are a few photos sprinkled in from past shows, and those are taken by the also wonderfully talented Ann Marie Photography.
