Second Stage Raising $58 Million to Purchase, Renovate Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre

According to The New York Times, Second Stage Theater has upped its fundraising efforts to purchase and renovate Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre in time for the 2017-18 season. The off-Broadway company, which announced it would be acquiring the Hayes in 2008, is now aiming for $58 million. The sale could be finished as soon as mid-February 2015.

Around $25 million will go into paying for the theater. The rest will be used to create a reserve budget "to make sure we have the money to operate the Hayes and produce the sort of work we want, rather than build something that isn't sustainable," according to Second Stage Executive Director Casey Reitz.

The "sort of work" Second Stage is known for includes new plays by women and minorities and "other living American writers who might appear to nontraditional theatergoers."

Reitz told the Times he expects the operating budget to double from $8 million to $16 million once Second Stage takes over.

Second Stage's plans for the Hayes also include improvements and renovations developed by architect David Rockwell for a "fresh and contemporary" feel -- from the marquee to the dressing rooms. The original facade and ceiling will stay the same, but Rockwell told the Times this project is "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to think through what a Broadway theater should be today."

The Hayes will likely be renamed once Second Stage receives its final large donation for the revamped theater.

Second Stage will continue to lease and operate their original theaters on the city's Upper West Side and in Midtown Manhattan, in addition to their new Broadway venue.

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