Company will bring cabaret, musicals as it moves into Shea’s 710, site of old Studio Arena,

By Mike Desmond

Buffalo’s Theatre District is getting a late-night cabaret, something many have always claimed was important in keeping the district successful.

MusicalFare Theatre in Amherst has long had cabaret performances in its current home on the Daemen University campus.

Those cabarets are going to have a new location, as will the entire theater.

On Wednesday, MusicalFare impresario Randall Kramer and Shea’s President and CEO Brian Higgins announced the Amherst-based theater will be moving into Shea’s 710 Theater, once the home of the former Studio Arena Theatre.

MusicalFare’s first production as the theater company “in residence” will be in the fall of next year, probably in October.

That means the theatre district will have four theaters based there: Irish Classical in its Andrews Theater; Alleyway in its theater; Road Less Traveled in its venue on Lafayette Square; and now, MusicalFare.

Second Generation Theatre stages its productions in Shea’s Smith Theatre, which is on Main Street between the Shea’s mothership and 710, adjacent to the Alleyway.

Shea’s Board Chair Jonathan Dandes calls it the “Shea’s Campus.”

There are also those Mainstage shows in Shea’s.

Buffalo Place Executive Director Michael Schmand cut to the heart of the eventual goal, in a statement:

“The Shea’s Theatre District Campus has long been a cornerstone and driving force of our Downtown’s cultural and economic vitality. As one of the region’s most iconic venues, Shea’s drives significant economic activity, attracting visitors, generating local business, and fostering a vibrant Downtown environment.”

Higgins says the recent week-long stay of “Hamilton” on the mainstage left $7 million in economic impact at 88% of seats sold, in the musical’s third visit to Shea’s.

He wants more of those tickets and meals paid in Canadian dollars, with more visitors from across the Niagara River.

Visit Buffalo Niagara President and CEO Patrick Kaler was in the news conference audience, smiling.

Higgins terms MusicalFare’s arrival “a transformative partnership.”

A key goal is to operate year-round and it has long had summer shows.

That would make bars and restaurants more likely to be profitable by not having that long summer hiatus.

MusicalFare has operated in Amherst for 35 years, until Daemen said it wouldn’t be renewing the theater company’s lease on the university campus and the theater company and the Town of Amherst cut a deal for a new theater in the long-planned Amherst Central Park.

That plan crashed and burned amid political unrest over property tax hikes and the $10 million cost of the theater.

Kramer wants to retain his Amherst audience in the move Downtown, so he and Shea’s staff are working on how to do that, perhaps with a shuttle bus system linked to restaurants in the suburban town.

They are also working out details of the move, basics like Shea’s taking over MusicalFare’s ticket system, leaving Kramer more time for his “artistic director” duties and less need for his “executive director” role.

Higgins wants better “wayfinding,” to help everybody.

That’s better signs Downtown and on the roads feeding the Theatre District so people can find theaters, bars and restaurants and parking.

Higgins went through that, fighting for better signs on the Niagara Section of the Thruway to help people find Canalside, an early problem after it opened.

The former congressman has had a full year of running Shea’s and is still dealing with the expanse of the operation, while planning for the future.

That likely involves some construction in all three theaters and more unification of the look of the buildings.

In 710, that may mean removing a lobby wall to expand the current bar area, allowing for a much larger cabaret area.

That would continue the decades of construction which changed the Mainstage from a theater which was almost falling down, facing demolition and turning it into today’s landmark facility which attracts theater companies and theater customers.

The institutional hope is that pattern will continue, as will the customers for theater, bars and restaurants, in growing numbers.