The famed Drama Book Shop in the heart of Times Square in New York, closed its doors today. Thankfully however, it won’t be closing them for good.
The Drama Book Shop is a small store located on 40th St. between 7th and 8th avenues in an area of New York known for its bright lights and over-sized billboards. When tourists think of New York, Times Square is probably one of the first things that comes to mind. The fact that a little book store could reside in this part of town for nearly 20 years, is a marvel in itself.
Due to a prohibitive rise in the rent (more than $20,000 a month already), the Drama Book Shop had to close down. Thankfully though, due in part to the likes of Lin Manuel Miranda and friends, the bookstore will remain open — albeit in a different location. If the name above sounds familiar, it’s because Lin Manuel Miranda wrote a little play you might have heard of recently, called Hamilton. Yes, Lin is that guy.
In a recent interview, Miranda mentioned how he would go to the Drama Book Shop when he was in high school and the fond memories he had of being there. I myself have patronized the store quite a bit as well.
Back in 2010/2011 I just happened to see it while walking by. I went in and was immediately hooked. Though the store gears more towards plays and theatrical material, it had a fairly large inventory of film books. Over the years I’ve brought quite a few books from there and I’ve always enjoyed the warm environment and perusing through its aisles. To know that its closing and moving, certainly hits hard.
The silver lining in all of this is unlike so many other bookstores that have had to close down in recent years, the Drama Book Shop will be returning somewhere in New York. Plans are for it to re-open sometime in the fall. Its reopening can’t come soon enough.
FilmSwag 