The Drama Book Shop to Close Doors in 2019

The 100-year-old performing arts bookstore is reportedly looking to relocate after facing a steep rent increase.

The Drama Book Shop, which celebrated its 100th anniversary just last October, has told Crain's New York Business that it will close the doors to its longtime home in midtown in early 2019. The performing arts book shop, which boasts an impressive collection of play and musical scripts, biographies, guides, and history books, will reportedly look to re-open elsewhere in the theatre district.

The Drama Book Shop's vice president Allen Hubby told Crain's New York that the closure was due to a recent, and steep, rent increase. The company has occupied its home at 250 West 40th Street for almost 20 years.

The theatre community has already begun rallying in support of the store, echoing the community effort the shop saw after experiencing water damage in 2016, when it saw almost a third of its inventory wiped out due to a burst pipe within the building. Following the incident, Lin-Manuel Miranda (who wrote much of In the Heights in the bookstore's basement) appealed to theatre lovers to help the Drama Book Shop.

Playbill has reached out to Hubby, who started working at the store as a clerk-cashier in 1977, for further comment.

Read: ALLEN HUBBY’S LIFE AT DRAMA BOOK SHOP, FROM MARLENE DIETRICH TO LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA