Bennett Leak Will Be Second Stage Theater's Interim Artistic Director

Second Stage Theater has announced that Bennett Leak, Second Stage Theater's Director of Artistic Production, has been named Interim Artistic Director for the 2024-25 Season.

Founder and current Artistic Director, Carole Rothman, who remains with the Company through August 2024, will focus on this season's remaining works, including the current hit production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' play, Appropriate, directed by Lila Neugebauer and featuring Sarah Paulson, Corey Stoll, Michael Esper, and Elle Fanning; the Next Stage Festival production of The Apiary, by Kate Douglas, directed by Kate Whorisky; the highly anticipated production of Paula Vogel's Mother Play, directed by Tina Landau that features Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jessica Lange, and Jim Parsons; and Alexis Scheer's world premiere play, Breaking the Story, directed by Jo Bonney. Mr. Leak will continue to work alongside Ms. Rothman on these productions while the Board conducts a nationwide search for a permanent Artistic Director.

Bennett Leak has worked in New York theater in various capacities for nearly two decades. He joined Second Stage in 2015 as the Director of Special Events, producing large scale fundraisers and raising over $7M for the organization, eventually becoming Associate Artistic Director in 2019 and Director of Artistic Production in 2021. Throughout his tenure, Leak has produced over 20 plays both on Broadway at the Hayes and off-Broadway at the Tony Kiser Theater and McGinn Cazale Theater. He has shepherded numerous works through development and produced countless developmental readings and workshops, including the inaugural Next Stage Festival of new plays and early career writers. Among the many noteworthy productions at Second Stage, select shows he's produced include the Tony winning revival of Take Me Out (Richard Greenberg), Appropriate (Branden Jacobs-Jenkins), The Thanksgiving Play (Larissa FastHorse), Best Play Tony Nominee Between Riverside and Crazy (Stephen Adly Guirgis), Best Play Tony Nominee Clyde's (Lynn Nottage) and Make Believe (Bess Wohl). He has worked with leading directors including Scott Ellis, Kate Whoriskey, Michael Grief, Kenny Leon, David Cromer, Rachel Chavkin, Stephen Brackett and Lila Neugebauer, among others.

In making the announcement, Board Co-Chairs Terry Lindsay and Kevin Brockman said, “Bennett has been a vital member of Second Stage Theater for many years, and we are thrilled that he will serve as our Interim Artistic Director next season. Bennett's passion for our mission of producing living American Playwrights is indispensable at this moment of change for the Company, and having his tenure, expertise and deep institutional knowledge at hand will help ensure a seamless transition. We're excited to see what he has in store.”

"Bennett Leak is the real deal. When the chips were down in tech and previews, Bennett was in the trenches with us daily -- getting things done, getting us what we needed, contributing artistically, and ever gracefully providing his keen eye, smart notes, and an empathetic ear,” said Between Riverside and Crazy playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. “He cared deeply and he was indispensable. I'm thrilled for him but more thrilled for Second Stage. You've got an old school gentleman with vision, artistry and work ethic in Bennett Leak."

“I am thrilled that Second Stage is in Bennett's hands for this historic transition,” said The Thanksgiving Play playwright Larissa FastHorse. “Working with Bennett on my Broadway debut was a joy. He knows plays and production inside and out. His hands-on support and insights were so valuable to me. Bennett's calm leadership balances art, audience, and process in a way that ensures that Second Stage will continue to create the powerful work they are known for.”

“It is thrilling to see Bennett step into the role of Interim Artistic Director of Second Stage,” added Kate Whoriskey, director of the current production The Apiary at the Kiser Theater and of Lynn Nottage's Clyde's on Broadway.  “He carries a deep understanding of the institution, a keen dramaturgical eye and an ability to gain the trust of artists. On a personal level, he was able to offer incisive notes at a pivotal time that allowed our production to reach its next step and flourish. I look forward to Bennett leading Second Stage into a creative and dynamic 2024/2025 season.”

ABOUT Second Stage Theater

Under the artistic direction of Carole Rothman, Second Stage Theater operates two New York City venues, exclusively dedicated to producing living American Playwrights.

Among Second Stage's over 200 productions are the 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis; the 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey; the 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes; Mary Page Marlowe by Tracy Letts; The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown; Dogfight by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Peter Duchan; Dear Evan Hansen by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Steven Levenson; Clyde's and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage; Trust and Lonely, I'm Not by Paul Weitz; Grand Horizons by Bess Wohl; The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz; Everyday Rapture and Whorl Inside a Loop by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott; Let Me Down Easy and Notes From the Field by Anna Deavere Smith; Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo; Torch Song by Harvey Fierstein; Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; Jitney by August Wilson; Crowns by Regina Taylor; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo's Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan; Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; and Tiny Alice and Peter and Jerry by Edward Albee.

The company's more than 180 citations include the 2022 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play for Take Me Out, as well as Best Featured Actor in a Play for Jesse Tyler Ferguson; six 2017 Tony Awards for Dear Evan Hansen (Best Musical; Best Lead Actor in a Musical, Ben Platt; Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Rachel Bay Jones; Best Book of a Musical; Best Original Score; Best Orchestrations); the 2009 Tony Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley, Next to Normal), Best Score (Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal), and Best Orchestrations (Tom Kitt and Michael Starobin, Next to Normal); the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed); the 2005 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, …Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, …Spelling Bee); the 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses); the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 29 Obie Awards, 11 Outer Critics Circle Awards, four Clarence Derwent Awards, 20 Drama Desk Awards, 11 Theatre World Awards, one Dorothy Louden Award, 20 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics Circle Award and 23 AUDELCO Awards.

In 1999, Second Stage Theater opened The Tony Kiser Theater, its state-of-the-art, 296-seat theater, designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. In 2002, Second Stage launched “Second Stage Theater Uptown” to showcase the work of up-and-coming artists at the 99-seat McGinn/Cazale Theater.

In 2018, Second Stage began producing at its 581 seat Broadway home, The Hayes Theater. Originally named “The Little Theater” and built in 1912, the city landmark has been remodeled by David Rockwell of Rockwell Group.

The Theater supports artists through several programs that include residencies, fellowships and commissions, and engages students and community members through education and outreach programs.