Second Stage Theater, a nonprofit company which produces on Broadway, has announced its next executive director. Adam Siegel will step into the position on April 1, 2025, following a month-long transition period. Siegel will succeed Lisa Lawer Post, who has served as interim executive director since February 2023 following the departure of Khady Kamara. Post will depart the organization, which operates Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater, on April 1.
Siegel’s appointment comes on the heels of the announcement of Second Stage’s new artistic director, Evan Cabnet, who joined the organization in September, taking over for Second Stage co-founder Carole Rothman.
Siegel will join Second Stage after a 25-year tenure at Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), one of Broadway’s other nonprofits, of which Cabnet is also a veteran. Siegel served as general manager of LCT from 2002 to 2012 before taking on the role of managing director. During this time, Siegel produced over 100 plays and musicals across LCT’s New York venues and on tour, including 2017 Best Play Tony Award winner “Oslo,” 2016 Best Revival of a Play “A View From the Bridge” and the 2015 Best Revival of a Musical “The King and I.” Siegel was responsible for LCT’s business operations, and also established and served on equity, diversity and inclusion committees for both LCT staff and board members. He previously served as assistant company manager on “The Phantom of the Opera” and company manager of “Swan Lake.” Siegel served as president of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) from 2020 to 2024.
“I am thrilled and honored to be joining Second Stage Theater — an organization whose mission, artistic integrity and commitment to excellence and continued growth have made it one of the premiere theaters in the country,” Siegel said in a statement. “Plus, this opportunity to join forces with my good friend and colleague, artistic director Evan Cabnet — with whom I have worked for over 20 years, including the last eight years at Lincoln Center Theater — was an opportunity I simply could not pass up. My 25 years at Lincoln Center Theater have been a dream come true in so many ways. Creating theater under the tutelage of André Bishop and Bernard Gersten — alongside a truly amazing staff — has been life-altering, and I leave with an immense amount of gratitude for the relationships that were formed and pride in the important work we achieved together.”
“Adam Siegel is one of the great leaders of the American theater,” added Cabnet, the former artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater’s LCT3 program, in a statement. “His creativity, vision, intelligence, generosity and wisdom [have] had a profound impact on me and on everyone lucky enough to work with him at Lincoln Center Theater. Adam’s positive impact on the field, both in New York and beyond, is immeasurable. I am proud to call him a friend, and am so excited to continue our professional and artistic collaboration at Second Stage.”
The search committee for the executive director reposition was led by Kevin Brockman, Second Stage’s co-chair of the board of trustees.
This announcement is one of many in a wave of recent leadership changes among all of Broadway’s nonprofit organizations. Lear deBessonet and Bartlett Sher were recently named the new artistic director and executive director of LCT, while Christopher Ahsley will join Roundabout Theatre Company as artistic director in 2026. In 2023, Manhattan Theatre Club welcomed Chris Jennings as its new executive director.
Second Stage’s 2024-2025 programming includes the Broadway premiere of Leslye Headland’s “Cult of Love,” which will open on Dec. 12, followed by a spring 2025 bow of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ “Purpose.” As previously announced, interim artistic director Bennett Leak will oversee the 2024-2025 season, before Cabnet launches his first season of programming in 2025-2026.
