Second Stage

SEAVIEW SCOOPS UP A TIMES SQUARE THEATER

January 13, 2025 by Philip Boroff

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. Continue Reading

SIGNATURE AUDITOR RAISES ‘SUBSTANTIAL DOUBT’ ABOUT NONPROFIT’S SURVIVAL

January 7, 2025 by Philip Boroff

EXCLUSIVE: Signature Theatre Co. — which raised the bar off-Broadway by devoting entire seasons to the work of major dramatists while offering $25 tickets across the board — is struggling to stay afloat.

Lutz and Carr, the company’s auditor, said it has “substantial doubt about the organization’s ability to continue as a going concern.” The accountant’s alarm accompanies financial statements completed in August 2024 that were posted on the New York Attorney General’s charities registry during Christmas week.Continue Reading

UZO ADUBA & SANDWICHES STAR IN LYNN NOTTAGE KITCHEN COMEDY: REVIEW

November 23, 2021 by Richard Dana

Uzo Aduba, of In Treatment and Orange Is the New Black, plays the hilariously tyrannical proprietor of her self-named truck-stop diner in Clyde’s. She lords it over her crew of short-order cooks trying to reclaim their lives — and create the perfect sandwich — in Lynn Nottage’s hopeful comedy at the Helen Hayes Theater. Continue Reading

SECOND STAGE BORROWED $16.5 MILLION FOR HELEN HAYES, BACKED BY PROSPECTIVE ‘FROZEN’ LANDLORD

August 19, 2016 by Philip Boroff

Screen Shot 2016-08-01 at 11.25.45 PM — Proposed Facade of Helen Hayes/Rockwell Group via Landmarks Preservation Commission

EXCLUSIVE: Second Stage Theatre has less than two years to repay a $16.5 million mortgage on its new Broadway home.

In April 2015, the nonprofit completed its long-awaited purchase of the Helen Hayes Theatre. The “amazing moment,” as Artistic Director Carole Rothman put it, should help raise the profile of the 37-year-old company and the contemporary American plays and musicals it produces, which have won three Pulitzer Prizes since 2010. But in buying Broadway’s smallest venue, Second Stage accepted a big burden.Continue Reading