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Todd Haimes, who built New York’s Roundabout Theater Company into one of the leading non-profit theaters in the city – and country – died today at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital of complications from osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. He was 66.
His death was announced by Roundabout spokesman Matt Polk. Haimes was first diagnosed with jaw sarcoma in 2002.
As Artistic Director and CEO of Roundabout, Haimes directed one of the most prolific and successful of all Broadway and Off-Broadway theater companies and was responsible for such acclaimed productions as The Man Who Came To Dinner with Nathan Lane (2000), Big River (2004), The Pajama Game (2006), On the 20th Century (2015), Long Day’s Journey into Night (2016) and A Soldier’s Play (2020) to name a few. Recent Broadway productions have included revivals of 1776 and Caroline, Or Change and Birthday Candles with Debra Messing, and critically acclaimed productions of The Minutes and Trouble in Mind.
Under his leadership, the Roundabout has won 34 Tony Awards, 58 Drama Desk Awards, 73 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 21 Lucille Lortel Awards, and 14 Obie Awards.
With three Broadway venues – the American Airlines Theatre, Studio 54 and the Stephen Sondheim Theater – and two off-Broadway venues at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, the Roundabout is by definition one of the city’s most influential and recognized producers and hosts stage work.
Audra McDonald and Todd Haimes at the 2016 Roundabout 50th Anniversary Gala (Credit: Walter McBride/WireImage)
Haimes opened Roundabout’s first Broadway home at the Criterion Center in 1991 and saw such early triumphs as Anna Christie with Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson and New York’s first revival of She Loves Me, both in 1993. With the $24 million capital campaign Um renovating the historic Selwyn Theater on 42nd Street, the Roundabout took over the American Airlines Theater, which is now its main Broadway home.
Among the Roundabout’s greatest successes was the 1998 revival of Cabaret, directed by Sam Mendes and co-directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall. After a construction accident suddenly closed the space where Cabaret was playing, Haimes set about renovating the former Studio 54 dance club, where Cabaret ran until 2003. During its run, Roundabout negotiated the purchase of the space and made it the property of the company’s second Broadway venue.
At Studio 54, Haimes produced hits such as Assassins (2004) and Kiss Me, Kate (2019).
Haimes with Caroline, Or Change composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist/author Tony Kushner, Studio 54 2021 (Credit: Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
In 2009, Roundabout took over operations of the Henry Miller Theater on Broadway and renamed it the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, where Haimes produced hits like the Tony-winning Anything Goes (2011). The venue is currently home to the hit musical & Juliet.
Born in New York City, Haimes graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University School of Management. He is survived by Mrs. Jeanne-Marie Haimes; daughter Hilary Haimes and her husband Jonathan Salik; son Andrew Haimes and his wife Stacy Haimes; four grandchildren; and stepdaughters Julia and Kiki Baron.