Shea’s celebrates record-breaking end to season

BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you’ve seen a show at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in the past few months, you’ve been part of a record-breaking run for the Buffalo theater.

“The last three shows of this season, Les Mis, Mamma Miaand of course, MJall completely sold out,” said producer Albert Nocciolino. “Les Mis set the record for a week-long engagement at Shea’s, and MJ came in and broke it.”

Nocciolino says MJ: the musical attracted a new audience, while also being a hit with Shea’s season ticket holder base.

“It resonated with the entire community, whether you loved MJ’s music, grew up with him, or are an aficionado of Broadway theater,” he said. “It just checked all the boxes and was a huge, huge success.”

The focus now is on building on this success for next year’s season.

“It’s no different than a sports franchise winning the Super Bowl or a hockey team winning the Stanley Cup, it’s about retention,” Nocciolino said. “Our subscribers understand that the best way to get places is to continue to subscribe, and so we’re on pace to surpass last year’s subscriptions, I think, and that’s very significant for us. ”

The line-up includes new musicals direct from Braodway like And Juliette, scaledAnd Back to the futureas well as public favorites Hamilton And The Lion King.

“It’s important for us to continue to grow the audience, to bring new people to the theater,” Nocciolino said. “Stand in the lobby during the three weeks of The Lion King at Shea’s and watch the young people come in, and you’ll know they’re there for the very first time because their heads turn like that, and they start looking around. ‘them, and that’s what it’s all about for us.’

For more information on the upcoming season at Shea’s, click here.