English: The Rialto Theater (10 West Main), in Bozeman, Montana.

The Bozeman Opera House had been showing kinetoscopes and motion pictures occasionally since 1900 or so. The Lyric Theatre (vaudeville and movies) was built in June 1908, the Orpheum (vaudeville and movies) in late 1908, and the Gem Theater (vaudeville and movies) and Ellen Theater (vaudeville and movies) in 1919.

The building was originally constructed in 1908, and served as the city's U.S. Post Office. The Rialto Theater opened in the building in 1925. Omnipresent local architect Fred Willson oversaw the building's Art Deco renovation in 1934, during which a marquee was installed and an Art Deco facade added. At that time, the theater sat about 375. The Rialto Theater suffered a terrible fire in 1967 which destroyed the marquee and Art Deco facade; the owners restored the original facade beneath it. At some point, the Russell local ranching family purchased both the Rialto and the much larger and ornate Ellen Theater (directly across the street). Carmike Cinemas operated the Rialto Theater as a movie house in the 1990s, but closed it in 2005.

On September 15, 2005, the Ellen Theatre and Rialto Theatre were purchased by a nonprofit, Montana TheatreWorks. The Russell family required that the two cinemas be sold together. Montana TheatreWorks, however, quickly sold the Rialto to a group of local investors, who pledged to turn it into condominiums. Although the Rialto was gutted, the renovation into condos never got financing. The building sat empty for five years, the only abandoned structure in historic downtown Bozeman.

The Rialto was purchased in November 2010 by music recording and publishing company Standing Room Only Live. The company announced a $1 million, two-phase restoration project and asked local businesses to invest in the building by donating services, funds, materials or labor or by purchasing theater seats. One of the goals of the project is make the Rialto Theater into a studio where recordings can be made in front of live audiences. Phase one renovations included a new sub-floor (completed May 2012); installation of antique theater seats (completed January 2013); refurbished electric, HVAC, and plumbing (completed March 2013); new restrooms (completed April 2013); new sound and lighting systems (completed April 2013); and a repainted interior.

The Rialto Theater officially reopened on April 26, 2013, with a screening of the outdoor documentary, "Congo, The Grand Inga Project.” The Rialto Theater now seats 200, includes a small dance floor, and has some of the highest-quality sound and lighting systems for live performance anywhere in the area.

Phase two of the renovation will include restoring the marquee and the Art Deco facade, renovating the storefront lobby, and refurbishing and renovating the concessions area. Cost estimates for phase two have risen appreciably, to just about $1 million. The goal is to have phase two complete by June 2015 (the original date was March 2014). There is some controversy about phase two. In October 2012, the National Park Service gave SRO Live a $150,000 matching grant to restore the Art Deco exterior. But the company declined the grant in April 2013, claiming they could not meet the March 17, 2013, deadline for submitting restoration plans.