BUFFALO, N.Y. — A night out at Shea's Performing Arts Center is an escape for people when things are normal. Since the theater can't offer those live experiences to audiences right now, they've shifted the focus to challenging Western New Yorkers to put their own talents on display from home.
The doors to the historic theater have been closed since March 12. Since then, Shea's has rolled out a variety of virtual activities to keep people busy. They've rolled out a printable image of their iconic marquee for people to color in, a monologue challenge for acting students and "Buffalo's Got Talent", where people submit 60 second videos of themselves singing, dancing and acting while practicing social distancing.
Shea's PR and content strategist, Celine Braz, said the theater wants to remind its patrons that this is only an intermission, and they can't wait to welcome audiences back to their seats.
"We want to keep giving people those entertaining moments, we want to keep serving our mission of creativity and love and connection," she told 2 On Your Side. "We know we can do that online that's why we keep doing it. This community is why we're in business and why we do what we do, so until then, until we're able to open our doors again, come find us online and we can't wait to welcome you all back home."