EXCLUSIVE: The prolific production company Seaview plans to reopen the 296-seat venue that Second Stage relinquished, a vote of confidence for off-Broadway theater as nonprofit companies retrench.
Seaview, led by Greg Nobile and backed by Sony Music, will produce its own shows in the space, according to an application for a state liquor license filed with Manhattan Community Board 4. In 2024, Second Stage ended its lease for the Rem Koolhaas-designed theater, in the former bank building on 43rd Street and Eighth Avenue. Known as the Tony Kiser, Second Stage presented plays and musicals there, including developmental productions of Dear Evan Hansen and Next to Normal.
“When Second Stage announced it would be vacating the Tony Kiser Theater operating since 1999, like the rest of the industry, Seaview mourned what seemed unavoidable; the loss of yet another theater in New York,” Seaview said in the document. Instead, the company will rebrand the space as “Studio Seaview” and “produce exceptional productions created by the best theatrical creative talent and performers in New York.”
Terms of Seaview’s lease agreement weren’t available. The theater includes dressing rooms, a green room, rehearsal studio and offices. Nobile didn’t return and email and text or say whether it will also sublet the theater to other producers.
Seaview’s move into off-Broadway real estate contrasts with nonprofit theater cutbacks, amid uneven ticket sales, rising production costs and labor turmoil. On Sunday, the Atlantic Theater Co. suspended performances of its two current shows after newly unionized stagehands represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees went on strike, following an impasse in contract talks.
The auditor of Signature Theatre Co. — which is mired in about $20 million of debt from creating the company’s Frank Gehry-designed theater complex — disclosed that it has “substantial doubt about the organization’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Signature is aiming to reverse its fortunes partly by increasing income from renting out its theaters to other companies, including Second Stage.
At 32, Nobile is among Broadway’s youngest and busiest producers, and he’s sought to attract a youthful audience to the theater. Last season, Seaview was among the lead producers of Stereophonic, a Tony Award-winning hit play with music about the making of a rock album. It closed on Sunday after nine months at the John Golden Theatre.
This season, his company is the lead producer of Once Upon a Mattress, with Sutton Foster; Romeo + Juliet with Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler; All In: Comedy About Love with John Mulaney and other celebrities; Good Night, and Good Luck with George Clooney; and The Last Five Years with Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren.
Seaview has presented two hit revivals at the Lucille Lortel Theatre: Hold on to Me Darling, with Adam Driver; and Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, with Aubrey Plaza. The off-Broadway productions had high ticket prices that wouldn’t be out of place on Broadway — driven by stars that elevated the plays into events.
Theater landlords have the potential to make money regardless of whether a production is a hit or a flop — as long as there’s steady demand for their real estate. Jujamcyn, with five Broadway houses, earned a profit of $34 million on revenue of $116 million in the year ending March 30, 2024, according to a filing in the U.K. by its parent, ATG Entertainment.
In addition to presenting theater, Seaview plans to serve wine by the glass, beer, mixed drinks, non-alcoholic beverages and light food at “The Vault” at Studio Seaview. Community Board 4 is scheduled to consider Seaview’s plan at a meeting on Tuesday.
