When I was a teen, the renowned, now defunct, Studio Arena theater was a lonely anchor at the north end of what is now known as the Theater District on Main Street in Buffalo. Unless you count a girly show here and there, Studio Arena was the only live theater downtown back then. The street was in steep decline and the nearby faded movie palaces played mostly X rated or kung fu movies. All but one of those movie palaces were eventually demolished in what is often inexplicably described as progress. Thankfully, the grandest of them all, Shea’s Buffalo Theater, was saved by the efforts of a small group of very smart people. Shea’s tentative first steps away from the precipice of demolition planted the seeds for rebirth of this part of downtown.

Today, Shea’s is the anchor of Main Street as one of the nation’s highest grossing Broadway touring theaters. Its 3,000 seats can rake in more than $1.5 million a week for a touring show. Its success has set the stage for a strong and growing local theater industry, which is the envy of many other cities. Main Street is now home to a handful of popular live theaters such as Alleyway Theater, 710 Main Theater, Smith Theater, and the Andrews Theater, home to the Irish Classical Theater Company. The Buffalo area now boasts 24 theater companies in regular production at stages located throughout the city and suburbs. This is a phenomenal number for a city of Buffalo’s size. Collectively they put on about 1,630 performances a year that attract almost 500,000 attendees!

What’s more, Buffalo’s theater scene is diverse, with companies producing plays catering to all ages, cultures, and interests. The Theater of Youth (TOY), produces plays for children at the Allendale Theatre building, another magnificent playhouse, which narrowly escaped destruction. The Ujima Theater in the Elmwood Village produces plays are based on the African-American experience, while the Paul Robeson Theater, part of the African-American Cultural Center on the near East Side, produces the work of African-American playwrights. The previously mentioned Irish Classical Theater has a self evident focus. I could go on and on.

While Shea’s packs them into its palace with the more conservative Broadway fair, you can also find experimental theater in unexpected places, like the Torn Space Theater. Torn Space produces edgy shows on its East Side stage, which is tucked behind a bar at the Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle, a non-profit private club founded in 1895. Interesting venues such as this are a common part of the Buffalo theater experience. Of course the king of all Buffalo theaters is the magnificent Shea’s, which is theater all by itself. But, have you experienced the charming Kavinoky Theater on the D’Youville campus? There is no better theater seat than the front row of its elegantly curving balcony. It is also a special experience walking up to the simple corner storefront of the New Phoenix Theater, tucked into the west end of Johnson Park in the West Village. These theaters are woven into the fabric making them a special part of the city’s cultural offerings. They are a sign of its strength, pointing to a very bright future for the city and its neighborhoods.

For more on Buffalo theater check out the Buffalo Theater Alliance and see the theater company web pages. The following video produced by Visit Buffalo Niagara is also a great testament to the local theater world and the dedicated people who make it happen.

The entry image is from another video on Buffalo theater produced by Full Circle Studios:

Theatre – Buffalo, New York from Full Circle Studios on Vimeo.