Broadway News has learned additional details about the upcoming renovation of the Todd Haimes Theatre, the flagship Broadway venue of Roundabout Theatre Company (RTC). The previously reported renovations, which will be completed as a collaboration between Allied Works Architecture and architect Fred Basch, will begin in August 2025 and are anticipated to last eight months.
The Haimes venue will receive a myriad of upgrades, including a restoration of the venue’s historic interior (maintaining its original Neo-Renaissance style). The elevators of the 107-year-old venue will receive modernization, the restrooms gut-renovated and safety systems updated.
The Haimes will expand accessibility for deaf or hard-of-hearing patrons by installing an induction loop (which connects the sound system of a theater directly to an audience member’s hearing aid via an electromagnetic signal).
Additionally, the seats of the theater (whose capacity is approximately 740) will be replaced, which will encompass the addition of increased accessible seating, bringing the total of accessible seats to 28, up from 23, a representative for RTC told Broadway News.
This is not the first time this venue has received a facelift. Originally opened as a Broadway venue in 1918 as the Selwyn Theatre, the theater ceased to host legit productions beginning in 1950. Upon its acquisition by RTC in the late 1990s, the nonprofit renovated the theater, reopening it in 2000 as the American Airlines Theatre (the airline had purchased the naming rights during the renovations). The venue was renamed the Todd Haimes in 2024, in honor of RTC’s late, longtime artistic director and CEO.
These impending renovations are made possible, in part, by funding from City of New York, the Office of the Governor and New York State.
In addition to artist and audience considerations, these types of venue renovations provide an inimitable contribution to New York City’s economy. According to the Broadway League’s most recent economic impact analysis of the Broadway industry, direct and indirect spending from capital improvements to Main Stem houses totaled an estimated $55.3 million in the 2018-2019 season.
The Haimes most recently served as home to the Broadway premiere of Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “English.” As previously announced, “Pirates! The Penzance Musical” will play a limited engagement at the venue beginning on April 4, ahead of an April 24 opening night. Following the renovations, the Haimes will reopen with a revival of Noël Coward’s “Fallen Angels” (the play’s first Main Stem mounting in 70 years), starring Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne, in spring 2026.
RTC is temporarily led by interim artistic director Scott Ellis, executive producer Sydney Beers and chief advancement officer Christopher Nave. As previously announced, Christopher Ashley will join the company as artistic director beginning in the 2025-2026 season.
Update: An earlier version of this article did not include the public funding for this project. This has been corrected.
