Drama Book Shop Saved by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Hamilton Team
Theatre fans! Guess what?
The Drama Book Shop in New York City won’t be closing for good after all! Previously, it was set to close on January 20 due to rising rent prices. But we’re pleased to share that the shop has been purchased by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Hamilton team, and will be re-opening in the fall once a suitable location has been found.
As a teen, I went to the @dramabookshop on 47th. Spent hours reading plays. Felt made for me, a place to go.
In 2002, I met with Tommy Kail in the Drama Book Shop. It gave us a place to go.
Proud to be part of this next chapter.
A place for you to go. https://t.co/LuRJjVM72K— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) January 8, 2019
Together, Miranda, Thomas Kail (the director of Hamilton), James L. Nederlander (the owner of the Richard Rodgers Theatre, home of Hamilton), and Jeffrey Seller (lead producer) bought the store from Rozanne Seelen, who had owned it with her husband Arthur Seelen since 1958. All four of them had been regular visitors to the shop before and after their professional theatre careers began. And now, the shop will stick around for future drama club kids to visit too.
The 100-year-old shop has a long history with the theatre community in New York, as well as with visitors from around the world. Miranda himself has helped out in other times of need. In 2016, a burst pipe led to a damaging flood for the store.
Miranda was around to rally his Twitter followers, raising money for the repairs and to restore lost waterlogged inventory.
As a theatre fan—and someone who has yet to visit the Drama Book Shop—I’m completely delighted with this news! It’s a lovely thing to see this passion for theatre being paid forward and kept alive for another generation, and I look forward to visiting the shop in its new location this fall.
