Buffalo Rising Online

There is usually a fun, lively, sizable crowd for opening nights in Shea’s Broadway series. Last night (Tuesday, May 24, 2007), was the opening of Chita Rivera: A Dancer’s Life, the final production touring through here for this theater season. The crowd included more of Buffalo’s theater community than usual… our own actors, directors, writers and so on, which made for a special kind of noise from the audience in response to the show.

You don’t have to be theater-savvy (just normal savvy) to read into the title and understand the gist of the show: Chita Rivera, a performer who has enjoyed a career of more than fifty years and is still going, relates to the audience her life as a dancer and the life that all dancers endure in their effort to make audiences happy . Again, just the gist, the essence, the idea. The seed--a simple thing--until planted.

The richn…

One question you will never have to answer is “Chita who?”

There is only one.

To write about Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life comes perilously close to treading on the show’s territory…something a respectful journalist would never do. It would be worse that synopsizing the plot, always a lazy substitute for cultural journalism. Suffice to say, there is no traditional plot to this biographic revue coming to Shea’s as part of Rivera’s national tour.

One could write about the show’s purpose, a brainy attempt to get to the “why” of the show…but the show is all about purpose, and set to music to boot- why Rivera dances, why anyone dances- the training, the toil, ambition and disappointment, the thrill of performance victory, the agony of the feet. (Sorry. But that’s how hard it is to put an acceptable gloss on the physical suffering a career dancer experience…

Special Discount announced from Shea's: All tickets for this event are now $5 off! Use the codeword "Jack" online or on the phone to receive this very special discount!

Few people are lucky enough to love their jobs as much as Jack Hanna, who had his first position working with animals at age eleven, cleaning cages for a local vet. From that summer job to college, to his own pet store, to transforming the Columbus Zoo into a state-of-the art park, Jack has devoted his life to understanding and caring for animals. After an appearance on the David Letterman show turned into a series, and then into appearances on Larry King Live, Entertainment Tonight and more, it seemed a natural for Jack to take over as the new television face of the wild kingdom with Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures. Now, Jack brings his Jungle Jack Hanna Live eve…

May 10th brings us one of the Shea’s three annual fundraising events, always a terrific blend of fun, friends, and fabulous food and drink. This time around is “Food, Wine & The City, held in Shea’s Grand Lobby and featuring live jazz along with some of the best food and wine in the city.

We have searched our little black book and set a date with some of Buffalo’s favorite restaurants, to bring the best food and wine from around the world!

May 10, 5:30 PM $35.00 Presale/$40.00 Day of Event Shea’s Performing Arts Centre 646 Main, 14202, 847.1410

Call it one of life’s guilty pleasures, or perhaps it’s the simple fact that the people who grew up with the movie are now in a position to buy tickets, but Spam-A-Lot has hit the big time. The musical theater version was “lovingly ripped off” from the film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and became a financial and critical success, receiving fourteen Tony nominations and three awards its first year running. Not a direct copy of the original film, some decry it as a work of lazy comedy formed of catch-phrases, exactly what the Pythonites meant to fight against (and what made their work so fresh) in the first place. However, if you were a fan before, all signs point to a thoroughly enjoyable evening of Mock Camelot, with dozens of other pop culture references thrown in for good measure.

May 1 to 6 $27.50 – $67.50 Shea’s Performing Arts Centre 646 Main, 14202 847.1410