BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — MusicalFare Theatre is taking center stage in a new home — officially moving from Amherst to Buffalo’s Theatre District. The company is now in residence at the newly renovated Shea’s 710 Theatre, marking the start of a long-term partnership between two of the region’s leading cultural institutions.
The collaboration will bring roughly 100 performances to downtown Buffalo each year, drawing tens of thousands of theatergoers to the area and boosting nearby restaurants and businesses.
“It’s incredibly exciting,” said Randall Kramer, MusicalFare’s founder and artistic and executive director. “It’s such an opportunity for us, but it’s also an opportunity for the city. It’s a true collaboration between the two cultures, and we’re going to bring 30,000 people a year down to this theater and down to the theater district.”
WATCH: MusicalFare Theatre makes downtown Buffalo debut with Come From Away at Shea’s 710
Business owners are already seeing the potential impact. Jay Manno, who owns Frankie Primo’s +39 and Soho, says more events downtown make all the difference.
“Ever since COVID, with people working less downtown, the shows and events make a huge difference for us,” Manno said. “We pack them in for a Shea’s show, we pack them in for big concerts, it’s going to be nice to have more people down here whenever there are events downtown."
Shea’s Performing Arts Center President and CEO Brian Higgins said the partnership is about revitalizing the city’s cultural core.
“There’s a real impact here, and we’re very proud of that,” Higgins said. “We want to do our role to lift up downtown Buffalo, lift up the theater district and all the restaurants, taverns and shops that are in and around it.”
MusicalFare’s first downtown production, Come From Away, opens Thursday, October 23 and runs through November 9. The Tony Award–winning musical tells the true story of 7,000 stranded airline passengers on 9/11 and the small Canadian town that welcomed them with open arms.
