Arts: Theater in Buffalo
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 1:09PM 
By Vanessa Oswald
There’s something special about the way Buffalo embraces the arts, whether it be theatre, dance, visual art, music, or anything one can consider a form of expression. There never seems to be a dull moment, with flash mobs flooding the streets of the Central Terminal or the massive rowboats sculpture displayed in front of the Albright-Knox; there’s art everywhere you look, and it continues to unveil itself in new ways with each generation.
The Queen City began its trailblazing of the arts in the early 1880’s when vaudeville was popularized, which allowed Buffalo to become a household name in theatre. Tourists from out of town would attend these performances as they traveled along the Erie Canal and would stop to enjoy quality entertainment, which has evolved throughout the decades into today’s theatre.
One of the latest events springing up to showcase the city’s current artistic endeavors in theatre was Curtain Up! This annual occasion recently celebrated their 30th anniversary, presenting previews of upcoming Buffalo productions set to be staged.
This year there were 16 professional theatres, all belonging to the Theatre Alliance of Buffalo, participating in the evening of debuts, which included original works and revamped classics. As the actual season gets underway, there will be 22 professional theatres contributing works this year, along with several other offerings from alternative theatres emerging from the Western New York theatre circuit
The Theatre Alliance of Buffalo, which is a conglomerate of 20 active theatre groups from Buffalo, was founded in September 2004 when 16 professional theatre companies banded together with one goal – to keep theatre in Buffalo alive. Their overall mission was to try to help promote the welfare of the already budding local theatre scene by strengthening their marketing efforts, developing communication and coordination among their members and providing opportunities to stabilize these groups as a cultural and regional asset.
The diversity displayed within this association is evident, as there is something for everyone, from traditional Irish theatre to avant-garde performance art to old-school Broadway musical theatre to even kid’s theatre. The theatres currently affiliated with the Theatre Alliance of Buffalo are Alleyway Theatre, Buffalo Laboratory Theatre, Buffalo United Artists, Irish Classical Theatre Company, Jewish Repertory Theatre, Kaleidoscope Theatre, The Kavinoky Theatre, Lancaster Opera House, MusicalFare Theatre, New Alt Performance Group, New Phoenix Theatre, O’Connell & Company, Paul Robeson Theatre, Playhouse of the American Classics, Road Less Traveled Productions, Shakespeare in Delaware Park, Shea’s Performing Arts Center, Subversive Theatre Collective, Theatre of Youth, Theatre Plus, Torn Space Theatre and Ujima Company.
“Buffalo has many theatres that offer a wide range of different style plays,” said Justin Karcher. “It’s a great place too for actors, directors and writers to find their voice and hone their craft, all the while having the opportunity to partake in a variety of shows.”
Karcher, 26, a native from Buffalo, has been associated with theatre in the area for over five years and has performed with Road Less Traveled Productions. He and his friend Drew McCabe developed a new program for the theatre called Road Less Traveled: Black Light, a Neo-Vaudevillian late night theatre, which runs at 10:30 p.m., following the scheduled season’s main shows.
“The emergence of the Road Less Traveled Company is a wonderful addition to the local theater scene: dynamic premiers and challenging projects have enriched our cultural lives,” said Randy Rumley, a director and current Vice-President with the Towne Players in Tonawanda. “Thanks to pioneers like Road, there is a greater sense of adventure in our theatrical community.”
McCabe and Karcher also run their own theatre company, Theater Jugend, with the word “jugend” translated in English from Horn German to mean “youth.” Since the company’s inception in 2009, they have presented Karcher’s original work which was essentially like a cult hit and was very popular amongst non-theatergoer and an adaption of Eugene Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano.” For their upcoming season they are staging their own adaptation of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” running from November 25 to December 17 at the Manny Fried Playhouse (255 Great Arrow Avenue) and an original work written by Karcher, “Men of Like Passions,” running from March 15 to March 31 at Buffalo East (1410 Main Street).
“I think it’s imperative that the theatre scene grows and attracts new audiences,” said Karcher. “First of all, theatre needs to grow into the direction of attracting members of Generation Y to make it exciting for them to want to come to shows. Every theatre is getting a new audience and younger kids showing up, and these are the audiences that local theatres really need to focus upon if theatre wants to survive and thrive.”
Numerous theatres have made the effort to step outside of the box, broadening their acceptance to showcase more contemporary works, while others have stuck to a more traditional route. In Buffalo the theatre scene offers the best of both worlds, not to mention all the gray area in between. “I think that there’s a lot of neo-theatre being developed in Buffalo,” said Billy Artistic Director of Fusebomb Productions. “You have a lot of new groups sprouting up that are trying to take advantage of this growing crowd, which I think they need to do, like the Alt Theatre, which is doing more off-the-wall quirky shows that other theatres in Buffalo wouldn’t touch.”
Niagara Falls resident, Horn, 27, has been immersed in Buffalo theatre for the past six years. The first show he starred in was “She Stoops to Conquer” with the Irish Classical Theatre Company in 2005. Since then he’s also appeared in “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” with MusicalFare Theatre in 2009 and has participated in Shakespeare in Delaware Park for the last two years. In 2007 he even formed his own theatre company, Fusebomb Productions, which has presented “Fall: The Rock Musical” and “Legacy,” the latter of which has been asked to be shown at New York City’s Manhattan Repertory Theatre from October 26 to October 29.
“Honestly, I think there is a growing younger crowd,” said Horn. “It just seems to me like there’s a bigger crowd of young people in their 20’s and 30’s and late teens that are into live theatre. I’m sure there’s always been that crowd, but it seems like lately with the development of newer works, even though they’re not geared necessarily toward the younger crowd, it’s more accessible.”
Studio Arena Theatre, one of the most prominent theatres in Buffalo, was closed in 2008, although with its closing came the chance for smaller theatres to finally get noticed.
“I think theatre in this region has indeed grown, despite the passing of the Studio Arena Theatre,” said Rumley. “In a way, more choices have been made available to several theater companies because they are no longer deprived of certain productions due to the trumping of Studio Arena.”
As the younger generation continues to step forward into the spotlight of Western New York theatre, they are making their presence known in a region inundated with creativity and innovative ideas for the taking, yet it remains a city that never forgets its roots.!
