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"Broadway Hits Gold in Buffalo"

"Broadway Hits Gold in Buffalo"

says the New York Times! Buffalo has long since known the wonder of Shea's Performing Arts Center and now the rest of the country was learning this too. Our subscription base is one of the highest nationwide and starting in 2016, we began premiering National Tours.

Puppeteers Jon Hoche (at the head), Brian Burns (at the heart) and Jessica Krueger (at the hind end) demonstrate how they bring the Warhorse puppet "Joey" to life. Joey is just under 10 feet long and 8 feet tall and weighs about 120 pounds, and is just one of eight horse puppets used in the show.

Photo Credit: The Buffalo News - November 12, 2013

Puppeteers Jon Hoche (at the head), Brian Burns (at the heart) and Jessica Krueger (at the hind end) demonstrate how they bring the Warhorse puppet "Joey" to life. Joey is just under 10 feet long and 8 feet tall and weighs about 120 pounds, and is just one of eight horse puppets used in the show.

September 21, 2017

Photo Credit: The Buffalo News - September 21, 2017

September 21, 2017

Jimmy Buffett makes a surprise appearance onstage with his musical, Escape to Margaritaville

November 16 - 21, 2021
“It’s very exciting for the city of Buffalo, Western New York and Shea’s in particular to be the first stop, to actually launch the tour. To be the first city on the tour, it’s very significant to the reputation of the theater and to the city.” - Albert Nocciolino

Photo Credit: The Buffalo News - September 21, 2016. Pictured: the load-in for Finding Neverland.

“It’s very exciting for the city of Buffalo, Western New York and Shea’s in particular to be the first stop, to actually launch the tour. To be the first city on the tour, it’s very significant to the reputation of the theater and to the city.” - Albert Nocciolino

Broadway comes to Buffalo

Before a production opens, it must go through "tech" when the show is brought onstage to be rehearsed with all the technical elements for the first time - set pieces, costumes, lightning, sound...for a Broadway musical, this process usually lasts about a month and it all happens right here in Buffalo! Thanks to the New York State tax credit, teching shows has brought millions in revenue to Western New York. Since 2016, Shea's has launched 10 shows so far: Finding Neverland (2016)On Your Feet! (2017), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2018), Mean Girls (2019), Disney's Frozen) (2021), Tootsie (2021), To Kill a Mockingbird (2022), Into the Woods (2023), Mrs. Doubtfire) (2023), and The Outsiders (2025).
Opening Night for <i>Finding Neverland</i>

Photo Credit: October 9, 2016

Opening Night for Finding Neverland

Show History

How many shows have you seen? Check our list of Broadway productions, dating back to 1968. But you've probably seen our most popular show - Cats, which has been to Shea's Buffalo Theatre twelve times since 1986! Annie is a close 2nd most popular production, with eleven shows at Shea's.
When Anthony C. Conte started as President of Shea's Performing Arts Center, we had 5,248 season ticket holders and had $5.2 million in debt from finishing our stagehouse expansion. By 2016 when he retired, we now had 13,326 subscribers and were one of the top Broadway touring houses in the country!

Photo Credit: The Buffalo News - December 15, 2015

When Anthony C. Conte started as President of Shea's Performing Arts Center, we had 5,248 season ticket holders and had $5.2 million in debt from finishing our stagehouse expansion. By 2016 when he retired, we now had 13,326 subscribers and were one of the top Broadway touring houses in the country!

The hype over <i>Hamilton</i> lead to our highest subscription numbers ever - for the 2018-2019 Broadway season, Shea's had 18,622 season ticket holders with 4,001 new subscribers!

Photo Credit: Shelby Converse

The hype over Hamilton lead to our highest subscription numbers ever - for the 2018-2019 Broadway season, Shea's had 18,622 season ticket holders with 4,001 new subscribers!