Renovations to 710 Theatre welcome visitors

By Mike Desmond
(Images courtesy of Shea’s Buffalo)

For customers of Buffalo’s Theatre District, the re-done 710 Theatre is a brightly-lit beacon to welcome people to the district.

For some, it’s also a sign local people can do big projects on time and (even) under the $5 million budget.

Shea’s Buffalo and its contractors finished a major rehab of the building that had been a burlesque theater, a porn film theater, the Studio Arena Theatre and then 710 Theatre at Main and West Tupper.

It’s now open with a production of “Dreamgirls.” It opened Wednesday and is running through Sept. 28.

Shea’s President and CEO Brian Higgins said the renovations required a lot of thought.

“We started off here with a very simple and straightforward premise and that is: How do we enhance the patron experience here at Shea’s 710. And we’ve increased the usable square footage by 30%.”

To him, that’s exciting: 10 months of design and six months of construction, right through last weekend.

Higgins says that on-time finish helps as he goes out to raise money for the $30 million expansion and improvement of the Shea’s Mainstage complex, just up Main Street.

This is at a time when County Executive Mark Poloncarz is complaining about developers not getting projects done and leaving construction sites accumulating dust and not employing anyone.

What makes the 710 project exciting for theater people and customers is two-fold: 120 performances annually, which means there will be lights and foot traffic night after night in the entrance of the Theater District, instead of people moving past a building only occasionally lit.

There is also MusicalFare, which is taking over the space permanently after moving from the company’s long-time home on the Daemen College campus.

The company’s first show in the new location is “Come From Away,” opening Oct. 23 with the story of a Newfoundland town dealing with thousands of American airplane passengers stuck there by flights to the U.S. being shut down in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

MusicalFare Artistic and Executive Director Randall Kramer says his company is holding onto most of his Amherst audience and picking up Southtowns interest in the new, closer location.

710 customers will have a new front on the building, with digital signs and a patio (which is still to come).

The patio on the south side of the new entrance backs onto the new theater bar with its dramatic two-story scale.

Shea’s and Carmina Wood Design flipped the theater inside so that the bar moved across the new and larger lobby and then they removed much of the second floor to allow the higher ceiling shown by the two-story front windows.

There’s also an actual concession stand and much larger restrooms.

That’s another feature of the planned Shea’s addition, more bathrooms and more convenient bathrooms.

That will allow patrons to use both the concession stands and the bathrooms at intermission.

The old bar site will remain in use for public events.

Higgins says Shea’s is also looking at more amenities along Main Street to make people more comfortable during visits, potentially staying to spend more time in the bars and restaurants so dependent on the theater audience.

The theater will celebrate the annual Curtain Up! ceremonial opening of the season Sept. 19, with the traditional formal dinner and post-shows street party.