My brother Paul and I trekked up to the Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center in Erie, PA for the…read moreBuddy Guy concert this past weekend. The D'Angelo is owned and operated by Mercyhurst College. It's used for both a performing arts center and a movie theatre. I didn't know it was the only cinema within the Erie city limits, but they show a lot of art & indie flix here that otherwise wouldn't play in a city like this. They've shown "The King's Speech", "Winter's Bone", "Waiting for Superman", etc. They've also got a brew-n-view series here. But it's first and foremost use is as a concert facility. It's a pretty modern space--only about 15 years old. It's got about 700 seats in it, which is perfect for a city the size of Erie. My brother and I had main floor center seats for the Buddy Guy concert and I can tell you that the sightlines here are excellent as are the acoustics. Although not as historic as the Byham in Pittsburgh or the Palace in Greensburg, it's a great place to see a show. Okay music fans. You know that this being a Susan concert hall review, you're gonna get a review of the show itself. Well I shan't disappoint. While some performers are w-a-y past it (hello Mike Love & What's Left of the Beach Boys), Buddy Guy can still belt out a blues tune. He can still play a guitar lick that'll put guys 50 years his junior to shame. I guess it is true that the blues had a baby and named it rock-n-roll. Buddy sounded best when he concentrated on such material as "Damn Right I've Got the Blues", "Hoochie Coochie Man" (um, Eric Clapton, I love you too but you're too well polished for this one), and a few others. He played a rollicking version of his latest, the autobiographical "74 Years Young". And when he sang "Skin Deep", a song about racial relations so emotionally honest it almost puts Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" to shame, I was almost moved to tears. But there were a couple of problems with the show. First of all, how do you condense a 50+ year career into 90 minutes? You can't. Second of all Buddy Guy couldn't seem to separate Buddy Guy the personality from Buddy Guy the performer. He seemed to be alternating between doing extended jams and working the audience. No I haven't been to many blues concerts and yes I am aware that they do extended jams. But I've never been very fond of them and this probably explains why I've never been fond of jam bands like Grateful Dead, Phish, and the Dave Matthews Band. The other thing was when Buddy was working the crowd, he seemed to be doing shtick. As one fan said, he'd seen him many times and essentially Guy's been doing the same thing for the past 30 years. My friend Catherine saw him recently in Joliet and said the same thing. An online reviewer said he did 10 mostly complete songs and a lot of screwing around. Still, we love ya Buddy! Your CD "Living Proof" is one of the best albums I've heard in a long time and it occupies a special place in my collection (and lemme tell ya, for a chick that's got 300+ CDs, that's saying something). You've drank wine with kings/And the Rolling Stones. When you get down to it, you can still play with the best of 'em. If you'd just given me and Bro a few more tunes and a little less horsin' around, I could've given you a five star review!

Very talented local musical and theatrical performances. Always well set-up and performed. Awesome…read morecustomer service and well-thought out showtimes.

I saw a production of Harvey at the Reitz Theater last night. What an enjoyable evening ! The…read morestaff are friendly and the theater itself is a great old building, lots of character. Local talent always amazes me and this cast was no exception. They put on a great show ! Thanks for the fun. Mark Hamilton

We just experienced a wonderful production of "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying"…read more The cast all had terrific vocal abilities as well as dancing abilities. The live orchestra was spot on with the music. It was amazing to watch the actors freeze their action spread throughout the stage while another cast member sang and danced a solo. Excellent direction by Mike Cavalier and his choreography were key reasons this cast performed so well. The auditorium sound system and lighting director added to our entertaining evening. A clever set design used elevators, swinging doors, and even speedy scene changes to quickly change from various offices, street scenes and the mail room. Excellent work. Totally entertaining and very professional!

As a huge fan of the performing arts, I was so excited to find this venue in our new hometown. We…read moretook our 4 and 5 year old children to see Beauty and the Beast Jr last night and it was fantastic! The performances were great as was the set design, sound, etc. The theater is a nice size. There is a decent size parking lot adjacent to the main building plus plenty of overflow parking close by. They had a concession area and gift shop set up in the lobby for snacks and show related keepsakes. This is a great local theater venue and cannot wait to bring the kids back.

We really enjoyed our visit to Erie Playhouse! The staff is very courteous. The venue is lovely,…read morewith an intimate feel. The production of Matilda we saw far exceeded any community theater production we've seen elsewhere.

The Erie Playhouse is one of my favorite places in Erie!…read more Price: The tickets are cheap compared to the talent you see on their stage. Setting: The theater is comfortable (sometimes you will find that, in theaters, the seats are too small or there isn't enough leg room), and really no seat is a bad one, since the theater is relatively small. Shows: The performances are great. We once attended a show where one of the actresses missed a performance (due to hospital emergency) and I wasn't able to tell who was replacing her until the end of the show! (side note: they had offered a refund, a ticket to another show, or for us to enjoy the show with a replacement) I enjoy the Christmas plays and the interactive plays the most. I don't think I have had a better time since I attended We Gotta Bingo!.

Every visit to Shea's is special. As soon as you walk in you feel the magic of the place. This…read morevisit was for the play Suffs, a story based on the Woman's Suffrage Movement. Fantastic play! For this play our seats were on the very top balcony. This means 4 flights of stairs!. Ha ha, you better be in shape for that walk. It was high up but ee actually had a perfect view of the stage. Shea's is celebrating it's 100 birthday and up until this point has had no elevators. They're now in the process of adding an addition which will include elevators. Since it's an addition it won't take away from the original charm of the building. If somehow you live in the Buffalo area and have never been to Shea's you really need to check it out. For everyone else. Just go again. 2026-30

We were there to hear about the 2026-27 season. Tickets are free, but we had to register. The event…read morewas called for 5:30. At 6 the doors were finally opened to sit down and hear about the season. It is now 6:15. The organ is still playing; there is no evidence of someone coming out to talk about the '26-'27 season. There are vendors in the lobby, selling beer, water, wine, popcorn. Nothing complimentary. 6:32 and the first speakers have appeared. Very disorganized. The presentation was a bit lengthy, but very nice. Each of the seven shows in the subscriber series was introduced. Guest artists performed songs from two musicals in the subscription: "Sound of Music" and "The Great Gatsby". There are three additional shows which are not part of the subscription, but to which subscribers can purchase tickets ahead of the general public. The presentation lasted about an hour.

This is a really nice small theater. They do some great performances and have a nice bunch of…read moretheater players. We most recently saw Alice In Wonderland and it was very well done.

Beautiful theatre. Grabbed tickets on a whim while we were in town and took in the Vampire Circus…read more Had a great time! Our interactions with the staff were great, too.

I really hope this venue hits it big with the advent of the new National comedy center…read more I almost want to do a road trip all the way to see the Zephyr performance by the Cirque Mechanics, an exciting circus group located in Henderson, Colorado, possibly inspired by Guy Laliberte' of Cirque du Soleil.