Hi all,

The Secret Theatre was founded in 2007 in Long Island City. We built our own 50-seat black box theatre and then, in 2009, opened the more extensive 'Big' Secret with 99 seats.

We became very well known for hosting great shows, and revivals like A Chorus Line, Cabaret, King Lear, Macbeth, Richard III, Seussical, Into the Woods, Gypsy, and hundreds of original One Act plays during our annual twin festivals. Many of our actors have gone on to great success, with several artists now on Broadway, in National tours or appearing at storied Regional theatres. In 2011 we founded the Secret Theatre Academy to teach young aspiring actors and musical theatre artists the techniques and skills they would need to get into great colleges and Performing Art Schools. Currently, STA students are studying at La Guardia, Frank Sinatra School of The Arts, PPAS, the Professional Children's School, Talent Unlimited and more.

photos of our 2019 production of Rent by Reiko Yanagi

Then disaster struck the theatre industry in 2020, and our beautiful theatre in LIC was a casualty of the pandemic. We went online but lost a lot of students and impetus; in some sense, we were almost back to square one.

However, just like Tiny Tim in our upcoming production of Christmas Carol, we did not die. Thanks to our generous new partners at 38-02 61st St in Queens, we built a new Secret Theatre, which has been in operation for a 2 years now.

This year has been a struggle for us all as we navigated back to work, and in the case of the dormant theatre industry, we coped with smaller audiences due to Covid worries. Several fantastic theatres closed and never returned, and many young actors, stage managers and other creatives left New York for good.

We want to continue to provide incredible access to the theatre arts, a platform for emerging theatre companies and quality instruction to the next generation of actors. You can help us achieve this ongoing mission.

During this season of giving, we appreciate all the past and present support we receive. Any gift or donation that you can help us with will be much appreciated.