Shea Theater Arts Center — Attraction in Montague

The Shea is a venerable institution in Franklin County, and it has had many incarnations and rebirths since it was built in 1927. Locally the Shea is known primarily for staging plays and musicals put on by community theater groups, and also for hosting musicians and bands both from around New England and national and international acts. Theater groups from overseas have also used the space to premiere new work. The Shea also hosts "Valley Idol," the annual talent show contest broadcast on local TV. In short, it is one of the more versatile spaces for performance in the area, and one of the larger proscenium stages available to the public. (Full disclosure: I have acted in a number of plays at the Shea with its resident company.) The Shea is in a constant process of renovating itself and keeping its facilities up to date; recently the theater installed a state of the art lighting system. It should be noted that the producing behind almost every event at the Shea is done by volunteers. It is a theater that is run because the people in the community want it to be there, and the energy of that community is what you can expect when you attend an...

Lovely, little music venue, nicely staffed, quite close to I-91 and just a bit off of route 2, few blocks down the main street. Easy for a Vermonter who was particularly happy to see Reprise perform 11/28/97 Worcester, and, only 90 minutes away! (Note: I grew up near Worcester and saw 11/30/97 close out that Centrum run.) Reprise knows how to pick their venues and the crowd was treated to beautifully mixed sound and my little circle of phans really reveled, dancing on the floor by the stage. I had a few occasions to dap Davis Thurston mixing at the soundboard halfway up the risers as the sound was glorious throughout the room. With a few friends nearby who had attended the original show, recognizing the fantastic era that originally solidified our love of Phish was easy because Reprise nailed the replication of 11/28/97's particularly flavorful renditions (Curtain, YEM, Theme, Black-Eyed Katy!, Timber...)! I hope the Shea Theater has Reprise return. It was an extremely successful, superbly vibed Thursday night. The enjoyment of all who attended was palpably evident. Thanks to everyone in...

I recently went to the Shea to see a live music performance. The immediate noticable difference was the layout of the venue. Most music venues are in buildings designed for whatever. This place was designed for that particular experience, and while I didn't think it would matter, it did. If you're going to a live show for the "scene" then the music is good background noise for whatever conversation you're having and it really doesn't matter so much. But if you're going because you love a band or really want to check a band out under ideal circumstances, this is where you should go see them. The sound and lighting was perfect. There's a good sized dance floor at the stage, with elevating rows of comfortable seating behind it where you can relax with a beer and watch the show with a good view without the tall guy with the big head obstructing it. The way the acoustics work, you can also have a casual conversation without annoying the people nearby and it's never "too loud" in any one particular spot. Now I understand why these places are designed the way they are, and I feel lucky to...