Shea's - Table of Contents................. Shea's Buffalo Center - Official Home Page

2014 Restored Auditorium
Shea's Buffalo Theatre / Shea's Performing Arts Center
646 Main Street, Buffalo, New York

Shea's Buffalo Center for the Performing Arts - Official Home Page

TEXT Beneath illustrations

Photos taken on August 28, 2014, a week after ceiling restoration completed.


Huge proscenium stage (one of the largest in the country) without curtain



Proscenium stage arch surround detail



Proscenium stage arch surround detail




View from the stage








View of auditorium from the stage ... Spanish Baroque Revival style ... Ceiling restoration completed in August 2014

View of balcony from the stage




View of box seating and balcony from the stage ... Seating capacity of approximately 4,000



Note reserved box seating at left (detail in next photo below)


Reserved box seating



Metal flowers help mask one of the pipe chambers for the Wurlitzer organ in the reserved box seating



Twisted Baroque Revival columns feature Corinthian capitals in the reserved box seating



Reserved box seating surrounding arch detail



Reserved box seating surrounding arch detail



Upper balcony



Balcony detail



Balcony details ... Note two fanciful creatures just above chandelier






Balcony details



View from the floor looking up at ceiling domes ...
At the center of the top of the auditorium is an immense dome, indirectly lighted. This dome is 56 feet north and south by 70 feet east and west. The total distance from the top of the dome to the orchestra floor is 89 feet, a distance equal to the height of the average seven-story office building.

In front of this door is a smaller, rectangular-shaped dome, in which are concealed ten floodlights for the stage.




View from the floor looking up at ceiling domes



View from the floor looking up at larger ceiling dome



View from the floor looking up at larger ceiling dome detail ... Cartouche and other cloth-reinforced plaster ornamentation


View from the floor looking up at large ceiling dome detail ... Cloth-reinforced plaster ornamentation


Dome under the balcony


Dome under the balcony (shape distorted by camera angle)




Detail - Dome under the balcony ... Painted cloth-reinforced plaster



Detail - Dome under the balcony ... Painted cloth-reinforced plaster




Detail - Dome under the balcony ... Painted cloth-reinforced plaster



Detail - Dome under the balcony ... Painted cloth-reinforced plaster




Detail - Dome under the balcony ... Painted cloth-reinforced plaster



Detail - Dome under the balcony ... Painted cloth-reinforced plaster ... Ribbon and laurel leaves ... Detail below:




Detail - Dome under the balcony ... Painted cloth-reinforced plaster ... Laurel leaves




The text below is an excerpt from the
1975 Shea's Buffalo Theater Nomination for the National Register of Historic Places

The "Motion Picture News" article continues to describe the theater auditorium, which has a seating capacity of approximately 4,000.

The first impression [of the theater auditorium] is that of a harmonious mass of gold, pink and blue. The eye notes the elaborately decorated proscenium arch which has a height of 50 feet. The stage has an opening 66 feet wide. It is 32 feet deep [enlarged since 1975]. The balcony seats 1,600.

There are eleven rows of loge seats in the front of the balcony. There are three mammoth arches at each side of the balcony, each of which has a large mirror at the top and a fire exit at the bottom. A large crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling in front of each arch mirror.

At the center of the top of the auditorium is an immense dome, indirectly lighted. This dome is 56 feet north and south by 70 feet east and west. The total distance from the top of the dome to the orchestra floor is 89 feet, a distance equal to the height of the average seven-story office building.

In front of this door is a smaller, rectangular-shaped dome, in which are concealed ten floodlights for the stage.

The whole interior decoration of the theatre is French Renaissance [Ed. Note: Spanish Baroque Revival may be a more accurate] in character, approaching most nearly to the Louis XIV styles, but with a modern and American adaption. The ceiling is covered with an infinite variety of interlacing woodwork designs on curving panels, painted in the dominant golds, pinks and blues, with many variations of these shades.

Ten great hanging lamps in variegated glass provide light at the sides, together with a number of lights of similar glass set in plaques on the walls. At the front the proscenium arch is set off by indirect lights all around.

The orchestra is arranged on a special platform which can be lowered to the basement, and raised to the stage level at the time of the overture. The organ console, similarly arranged, is on a separate elevating unit.

Opportunities for originality in stage fittings are somewhat limited, but the stage of the Shea Buffalo offers something quite different. The fire curtain in the 66-foot wide proscenium, is raised at the opening of the house in the morning, and only the drop of red silk is visible. When this is parted, the real novelty of this stage is visible in the form of enormous gilded gates weighing 1,600 pounds, which slowly fold back. [Ed. note: The original curtain is still in use but the gilded gates have been removed]. The opening of the portal is 42 by 26 feet, and forms the stage proper. The sounding board is attached to this and extends 42 feet into the air, making the acoustics practically faultless ("Ultra Modern Theatres," "Motion Picture News," December 25, 1926, n.p.).


Special thanks to Shea's President Anthony Conte for his cooperation and to Shea's Restoration Manager Doris Collins for her assistance in August 2014

Photos and their arrangement © 2014 Chuck LaChiusa
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