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Fall of 1925

Fall of 1925

This contract was signed in September 1925 to have Shea's Buffalo seated at $13 a seat. Adjusting for inflation over a century later, that would be about $238.50 x 3,500 seats = $838,250.00! Even adjusting for our current house count of 3,019 seats, that would be over $700,000 today.

This contract was signed in September 1925 to have Shea's Buffalo seated at $13 a seat. Adjusting for inflation over a century later, that would be about $238.50 x 3,500 seats = $838,250.00! Even adjusting for our current house count of 3,019 seats, that would be over $700,000 today.

Shea's Buffalo Theatre boasted a seating capacity of over 4,000, "an acre of seats". Notably, the balcony design features no central support; instead, the weight is distributed outward to the surrounding columns. This innovative architectural choice includes a built-in flex of 5/16, allowing for structural integrity no matter how excited our audiences would get!

Photo Credit: October 3, 1925

Shea's Buffalo Theatre boasted a seating capacity of over 4,000, "an acre of seats". Notably, the balcony design features no central support; instead, the weight is distributed outward to the surrounding columns. This innovative architectural choice includes a built-in flex of 5/16, allowing for structural integrity no matter how excited our audiences would get!

If you've ever wondered why Shea's Buffalo Theatre lacks an elevator, you can thank Michael Shea. A man who enjoyed physical exertion, he purposefully omitted elevators from the building. To his employees who complained, Michael Shea pointed out that hundreds of people paid every day to walk up those stairs and he was paying them to take the stairs instead.

Photo Credit: The Buffalo Times - May 16, 1934

If you've ever wondered why Shea's Buffalo Theatre lacks an elevator, you can thank Michael Shea. A man who enjoyed physical exertion, he purposefully omitted elevators from the building. To his employees who complained, Michael Shea pointed out that hundreds of people paid every day to walk up those stairs and he was paying them to take the stairs instead.

The Grand Lobby begins to take on a familiar shape by late October.

Photo Credit: October 20, 1925

The Grand Lobby begins to take on a familiar shape by late October.

"It's a tremendous job to build an organ like the one now nearing completion in Shea's new Buffalo theater. These photographs show some of the workers at their tasks. In the upper left, workmen are shown placing the huge pipes in place. Upper right shows an expert workman attaching the electric wires which control the pipes, while the lower right photograph shows a young woman expert placing the 400 miles of wire needed in the organ. Lower center is the keyboard and pedal control."

Photo Credit: The Buffalo Sunday Times - November 29, 1925

"It's a tremendous job to build an organ like the one now nearing completion in Shea's new Buffalo theater. These photographs show some of the workers at their tasks. In the upper left, workmen are shown placing the huge pipes in place. Upper right shows an expert workman attaching the electric wires which control the pipes, while the lower right photograph shows a young woman expert placing the 400 miles of wire needed in the organ. Lower center is the keyboard and pedal control."

Carlo Bianchi

Shea's Buffalo Theatre was built by thousands of workers, many of whom (like Michael Shea) were likely immigrants. One such individual we do know of was Carlo Bianchi, an Italian immigrant and an artisan who specialized in the scagliola technique that beautifies our Grand Lobby. His daughter, Angela Giafranceschi, would join us in her later years as a volunteer to restore her father's original scagliola after 72 years.
Scagliola is a 17th century Italian technique for substituting marble in architecture. It is created by applying gypsum to strands of raw silk fibers to create the "veining" effect of marble. To the eye, it is indistinguishable from it's natural counterpart (although a clever patron can identify the real marble from the artistic facade of scagliola by touching the walls of our Grand Lobby - marble remains cool to the touch).

Scagliola is a 17th century Italian technique for substituting marble in architecture. It is created by applying gypsum to strands of raw silk fibers to create the "veining" effect of marble. To the eye, it is indistinguishable from it's natural counterpart (although a clever patron can identify the real marble from the artistic facade of scagliola by touching the walls of our Grand Lobby - marble remains cool to the touch).