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 An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

theater, the Tony Kiser Theater at 305 West 43rd Street on the corner of Eighth Avenue near the

Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing a city's theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences ...

, as well as an

off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...

theater, the McGinn–Cazale Theater on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

. In April 2015, the company expanded into

Broadway theater Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...

productions when it bought the Helen Hayes Theater, at 240 West 44th Street in Manhattan.

History

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. 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 Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theory, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Graduate School of ...

; this location was renamed the Tony Kiser Theater in 2011. 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. 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. The first Second Stage production at the Hayes Theater was '' Lobby Hero'' in early 2018, after renovations and upgrades. Second Stage is one of four nonprofit theater companies that own and operate theaters on Broadway. In 2023, Second Stage gave up its off-off-Broadway space. 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. 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. Second Stage plans to continue producing off-Broadway theater, and will reopen another off-Broadway space elsewhere. In June 2024, Evan Cabnet was hired as Second Stage’s incoming artistic director in June 2024, succeeding Rothman.

Awards and honors

The company’s more than 180 citations include three 2024

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cere ...

for '' Appropriate'' ( Best Revival of a Play; Best Actress in a Play,

Sarah Paulson Sarah Catharine Paulson (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. In 2017, ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 1 ...

; Best Lighting Design, Jane Cox), two 2022 Tony Awards for ''

Take Me Out A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each ...

'' (Best Revival of a Play; Best Featured Actor in a Play,

Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed List of Modern Family characters#Mitchell Pritchett, Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nomin ...

), six 2017 Tony Awards for ''

Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important rol ...

'' including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (

Steven Levenson Steven Levenson (born May 1984) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''Dear Evan Hansen''. Early life Levenson was raised in Bethesda, Maryland. He was raised in a Reform Jewish f ...

), Best Original Score ( Pasek & Paul), Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor and singer. The son of film and theater producer Marc Platt (producer), Marc Platt and philanthropist Julie Platt, he began his acting career in musical theater as a child and ...

), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical ( Rachel Bay Jones), and Best Orchestrations (

Alex Lacamoire Alex Lacamoire (born May 24, 1975) is a Cuban-American composer, arranger, conductor, musical director, music copyist, and orchestrator who has worked on many shows both on and off-Broadway. He is the recipient of multiple Tony and Grammy A ...

), three 2009 Tony Awards for ''

Next to Normal ''Next to Normal'' is a 2008 American rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. The story centers on a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects that managing her illness has on her fam ...

'' including Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (

Alice Ripley Alice Ripley (born December 14, 1963) is an American actress, singer, songwriter and mixed media artist. She is known, in particular, for her various roles on Broadway in musicals, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' Next to Normal'' (2009 T ...

), Best Original Score Written for the Theatre ( Tom Kitt and

Brian Yorkey Brian Yorkey is an American playwright and lyricist. His works often explore dark and controversial subject matter such as mental illness, grief, the underbelly of suburbia, and ethics in both psychiatry and public education. Early life Yorkey ...

), and Best Orchestrations (Tom Kitt and Michael Starobin), the 2007

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Actress in a Play ( Julie White) for '' The Little Dog Laughed'', 2002

for Best Director of a Play (

Mary Zimmerman Mary Zimmerman (born August 23, 1960) is an American theatre and opera director and playwright from Nebraska. She is an ensemble member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company, the Manilow Resident Director at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinoi ...

for ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

''), the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 28

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

s including a 2017 Special Citation by the Obies for

Anna Deavere Smith Anna Deavere Smith (born September 18, 1950) is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is known for her roles as National Security Advisor Dr. Nancy McNally in ''The West Wing'' (2000–06), hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus i ...

's ''Notes from the Field'',Obie Awards
2017 Winenrs
seven

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town news ...

s, two

Clarence Derwent Award The Clarence Derwent Awards are theatre awards given annually by the Actors' Equity Association on Broadway in the United States and by Equity, the performers' union, in the West End in the United Kingdom. Clarence Derwent (23 March 1884 – 6 ...

s, 12

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

s, nine

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

s, 17 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics' Circle Award and 23 AUDELCO Awards. In 2010 ''

'' received the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for Drama.History and Mission
, Second Stage Theater, retrieved January 8, 2018 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.

References

Notes

External links

* * * {{Off-Broadway theatres, state=collapsed Off-Broadway theaters 1912 establishments in New York City Theatres completed in 1912 1979 establishments in New York City Theatre companies in New York City Broadway theatre