Lin-Manuel Miranda Saves The Drama Book Shop
The last we heard of the historic Drama Book Shop was that it was closing due to rent escalations. The rent jumped from $18,000 to $30,000 which is outrageous.
Guess again thespians!
Lin-Manuel Miranda, along with three of his Hamilton collaborators, Thomas Kail, Jeffrey Seller, and James L. Nederlander, have purchased the shop, in hopes to revive it.
The shop was founded in 1917 by the Drama League and it became an independent store in 1923. It had moved several times, before settling in on West 40th Street in 2001.
The shop also has a reputation as the city’s best source for theatrical works, keeping 8,000 plays in stock
The wonderful shop that was just steps away from Times Square, will find a new home in Midtown.
The shop also has a reputation as one of the best sources for theatrical works – it keeps 8,000 plays in stock. The shop was beloved by all.
“When I was in high school I would go to the old location and sit on the floor and read plays — I didn’t have the money to buy them,” Miranda said in a telephone interview. “After college, Tommy Kail and I met in the Drama Book Shop basement, and I wrote a good deal of In the Heights there.”
This isn’t the first time Miranda has come to the shop’s aid. A pipe burst in 2016 that caused some damage and he urged fans to help out.
“They’re like family to us,” he said, “and when we heard that the rent increase was finally too precipitous to withstand, we began hatching a plan.”
The shop is expected to reopen in the fall.
source: Broadwayworld.com
When Beth “grows up” she wants to see her creations appear on the screen and stage. In her free time, Beth blogs about her love of craft beer and writes screenplays. She received her bachelors in journalism from Youngstown State and received her masters in communication from The University of Akron. She is honored to be a part of the FanFest family.
