Back10,000 Maniacs
September 19, 1989
1987
Photo Credit: Dr. V. Roger Lalli (Buffalo My City Collection) - circa 1989
Photo Credit: The Buffalo News - October 2, 1994
May 16 - 17, 1987 / October 1 - 4, 1992
October 18 - 23, 1988
Photo Credit: August 9, 1988
Our first season announcement took place in the Grand Lobby for quite a small crowd.
Photo Credit: August 9, 1988
Coming soon to Shea's: Nunsense and Elvis: An American Musical!
Photo Credit: August 9, 1988
Albert Nocciolino and Patrick Fagan at our first Broadway season announcement.
Photo Credit: 1987
Patrick Fagan
Photo Credit: The Buffalo News - November 22, 1986
Shea's hired Patrick J. Fagan but nobody thought he would stick around. By November 1986, Shea's Buffalo had gone through multiple managers who lasted mere months in the unenviable position of not just saving Shea's from the wrecking ball but restoring it.
His first priority? "To get people to come here to see this beautiful building and see what we're doing."
Photo Credit: The Buffalo News - April 6, 1988
Cats lands on its feet!
The show was nearly cancelled before it even got onstage when the first touring production of Cats at Shea's Buffalo couldn't get their set through the backstage door. Luckily, the crew finally pushed it through, tilting the large set piece on its side. But Cats almost closed anyways when local promoters Corky & Harvey defaulted on their share, leaving Shea's and our Board Chairman James L. Vardon scrambling to cover the costs alone.
The show went on - with help from a young producer named Albert Nocciolino, who was sent from Broadway to insure Cats played Buffalo. And Cats would go on to play sell-out runs in Buffalo for the next three years, with Albert as our co-promoter.
The show went on - with help from a young producer named Albert Nocciolino, who was sent from Broadway to insure Cats played Buffalo. And Cats would go on to play sell-out runs in Buffalo for the next three years, with Albert as our co-promoter.
Photo Credit: The Buffalo News - April 1, 1988
This auspicious article in The Buffalo News correctly predicts the beginning of a new theatrical era as Albert Nocciolino partners with Shea's Buffalo Theatre as a co-promoter in bringing Broadway productions to Buffalo. In August 1988, Shea's began offering our Broadway season subscription with our first five-show package: Cabaret, Me and My Girl, Elvis: An American Musical, Nunsense, and Cats.
In this undated photo of downtown Buffalo, it's hard to make out Shea's Buffalo Theatre without it's blade sign.