Second Stage Theater

Second Stage Theatre

Official Logo
Second Stage's Helen Hayes Theater
Address	New York City United States
Coordinates	40°45′28″N 73°59′16″W / 40.7579°N 73.9878°W / 40.7579; -73.9878
Owner	Second Stage Theater
Type	Off-Broadway & Broadway
Production	Purpose
Years active	1979-present

Second Stage Theater is a non-profit theater company that presents work by living American writers both on and off Broadway. It is based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and is affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres.

Founded in 1979 by Robyn Goodman and Carole Rothman, Second Stage produces both new plays and revivals of contemporary American plays by new playwrights and established writers. The company formerly had an off-Broadway theater, the Tony Kiser Theater at 305 West 43rd Street on the corner of Eighth Avenue near the Theater District, as well as an off-off-Broadway theater, the McGinn–Cazale Theater on the Upper West Side. In April 2015, the company expanded into Broadway theater productions when it bought the Helen Hayes Theater, at 240 West 44th Street in Manhattan.

Robyn Goodman and Carole Rothman founded Second Stage Theater in 1979 to produce “second stagings” of contemporary American plays, later expanding to new works as well.^[1]

In 1982 they secured a permanent venue with the McGinn–Cazale Theater. In 1999, the company opened a new 296-seat venue, the 43rd Street Theater, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas; this location was renamed the Tony Kiser Theater in 2011.^[2] The Second Stage Theater Uptown series was inaugurated in 2002 to showcase the work of emerging artists at the McGinn–Cazale Theater at 76th Street.^[3]

Second Stage finalized its acquisition of the Helen Hayes Theater, a 597-seat Broadway theater at 240 West 44th Street, in April 2015 for $24.7 million.^[4] The first Second Stage production at the Hayes Theater was Lobby Hero in early 2018, after renovations and upgrades.^[5] Second Stage is one of four nonprofit theater companies that own and operate theaters on Broadway.^[6]

In 2023, Second Stage gave up its off-off-Broadway space.^[7][8] Founding artistic director and president Carole Rothman announced that September 2023 that she would resign from her position as Second Stage’s artistic director at the end of the 2023–2024 season.^[9][10] In February 2024, Second Stage named Bennett Leak their interim artistic director for the 2024-25 season. Also in February 2024, Second Stage decided to let go of the Tony Kiser Theater, its off-Broadway space, at the end 2024, due to high rent and unfavorable lease terms.^[7][8] Second Stage plans to continue producing off-Broadway theater, and will reopen another off-Broadway space elsewhere.^[8] In June 2024, Evan Cabnet was hired as Second Stage’s incoming artistic director in June 2024, succeeding Rothman.^[11][12]

The company’s more than 180 citations include three 2024 Tony Awards for Appropriate (Best Revival of a Play; Best Actress in a Play, Sarah Paulson; Best Lighting Design, Jane Cox), two 2022 Tony Awards for Take Me Out (Best Revival of a Play; Best Featured Actor in a Play, Jesse Tyler Ferguson), six 2017 Tony Awards for Dear Evan Hansen including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Steven Levenson), Best Original Score (Pasek & Paul), Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Ben Platt), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical (Rachel Bay Jones), and Best Orchestrations (Alex Lacamoire), three 2009 Tony Awards for Next to Normal including Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley), Best Original Score Written for the Theatre (Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey), and Best Orchestrations (Tom Kitt and Michael Starobin), the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White) for The Little Dog Laughed, 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses), the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 28 Obie Awards including a 2017 Special Citation by the Obies for Anna Deavere Smith's Notes from the Field,^[13] seven Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, 12 Drama Desk Awards, nine Theatre World Awards, 17 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics' Circle Award and 23 AUDELCO Awards. In 2010 Next to Normal received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.^[14]

In the following table, the seasons correspond to the year of the play's production; the ceremonies are traditionally held in the same or the following year as the production.

Notes

• Official website
• Second Stage Theater at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• McGinn-Cazale Theater at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)