Back"Can you give me some names of the prominent people here?" Vincent McFaul, newly appointed manager of the Wonder Theater, was asked last evening. "Names? - Impossible," he replied. "Just say that all Buffalo is here."
The price for a ticket to attend the Grand Public Opening in 1926 was just 65 cents - that would cost $11.74 today.
The first movie shown at Shea's Buffalo Theatre was The King On Main Street, starring Adolphe Menjou. Although a silent film, The King On Main Street includes two sequences filmed in early two-strip Technicolor.
The front of the playbill from Shea's Buffalo Theatre's grand opening on January 16, 1926, reflects the excitement of the evening, where Michael Shea hosted 4,000 of his closest friends.
65 cents for a show!
The Daily Box Office Statement for opening day showed 10,332 paid admissions. All tickets that day were 65 cents. The day’s receipts totaled $6,715.80. Meanwhile, the theater’s payroll for the first week totaled $6,633.92. Some of the weekly salaries:
- Vincent McFaul, manager $150
- ushers (there were 37) $7.36 to $18.33
- Harry Wallace, orchestra conductor $150
- M. DelCastillo, organist $200. The payroll lists 47 orchestra members, including the conductor and organist.
25,000 CROWD SHEA'S BUFFALO
Long lines of eager movie patrons stretched from the doors of Shea's Buffalo Theater to Chippewa Street and to Tupper Street yesterday, as thousands of Buffalonians decided to see the new "Wonder Theater", no matter how long the wait outside might be. Twenty-five thousand times did the turnstile click, from 11 o'clock in the morning until 10 o'clock at night. Standing room at a premium throughout the day as it was on Saturday, when the public opening was public.
Photo Credit: The Buffalo Evening Times - January 18, 1926
Opened Too Soon?
Despite the grand success of its opening, the Shea's Buffalo Theatre remained unfinished by January 16th. "It will take us at least a month to finish and I daresay there is just as much decorating to be done as there is in the place now. Every night as soon as the audience leaves an army of workmen descends upon the theater and works until daybreak. Only half the brilliant red and gold brocade drapes have been hung, additional rugs are to be laid and the railings on the stairway must be finished." Vincent McFaul reported.
Photo Credit: The Buffalo Courier-Express - January 18, 1926
Photo Credit: The Buffalo Courier - January 16, 1926
Photo Credit: The Buffalo Evening News - January 18, 1926
seeing a show at Shea's
Going to see a show at Shea's wasn't just a movie - although the latest film from Hollywood was a major attraction. It was like walking into a well-oiled machine on loop that repeats itself four times a day from 11:00 AM until the doors closed at 10:00 PM. Upon entering the Wonder Theater, audiences were greeted with music from the player piano in the lobby that plays itself (and is still playing in the Grand Lobby today!), from the musician's lounge above the Main Street doors, and from an orchestra of 45 musicians in the theater itself, accompanied by the Mighty Wurlitzer of course.
Up on the big screen, newsreels would play, and then the show would begin - the live show, that is: the stage of Shea's Buffalo has held it all, from the Marx Brothers to dance revues...Then the latest film from Paramount Pictures would be played - in the 1920's up until 1948, Shea's theaters were part of the block booking system and could only show movies produced by their studio.
Finally, the audience would leave, the musicians playing them out, as the ushers prepared for the next showing that was already about to begin.
Up on the big screen, newsreels would play, and then the show would begin - the live show, that is: the stage of Shea's Buffalo has held it all, from the Marx Brothers to dance revues...Then the latest film from Paramount Pictures would be played - in the 1920's up until 1948, Shea's theaters were part of the block booking system and could only show movies produced by their studio.
Finally, the audience would leave, the musicians playing them out, as the ushers prepared for the next showing that was already about to begin.