ABOUT US

The Historic Ritz Theater

The original Rockville Opera House was built in 1883 and was sold to a company in
1907. This transaction resulted in the loss of a theater for the town of Rockville. In 1912, a
group of men decided to build a new opera house, naming the building “The New Rockville
Opera House.” It had a seating capacity of 700. The Rockville Opera House Company operated
until August of 1925.
Motion Picture equipment was installed in 1929. “Pollyanna” was the first movie shown
and over 1,000 patrons attended the movie. Admissions prices at this time were 10-15 cents for
children and 20-25 cents for adults depending on the day the movie was attended.
The Parke County Chamber of Commerce purchased the Ritz on June 10, 1969. A major
remodeling of the building took place in 1975. This face lift restored the building to a 1890s
look. The Chamber sold the Ritz Theater to Parke Players in 1998. Parke Players is a not for
profit organization that owns and runs the theater to this day.
We are open and operating with first run movies and live stage productions throughout
the year.