Our History
2025 is a substantial milestone for our nonprofit organization, as it marks the 35th anniversary of New 42, the 30th anniversary of the New Victory Theater and the 25th anniversary of New 42 Studios.
Land Acknowledgement
We are on the island known as Mannahatta, now called Manhattan, in Lenapehoking, the homeland of the Lenape people. These lands are intertribal trade lands under the stewardship of many Nations, and New Victory acknowledges the systematic erasure of their true history. The land of the five boroughs that make up New York City was and still is inhabited by the Lenape, Merrick, Canarsie, Rockaway and Matinecock Nations.
We celebrate and pay deep respect to the Peoples of these Nations, their cultures, their communities, their elders past and present, those with us today, and all their future generations. We recognize that seized lands are historically inhabited by people who are racialized, marginalized and displaced by those in power, and we offer this land acknowledgement as a step in reexamining our relationship to that history. We offer our gratitude to the Indigenous peoples of many the Nations who continue to act as stewards of the land, and we encourage you to learn more about these vibrant communities.
History of New 42
In 1990, The New 42nd Street (now New 42) was founded to breathe new life into 42nd Street and its historic theaters, transforming the block into a vibrant and youthful theater district.
Today and every day, we continue to spark awe and wonder, opening new worlds to young audiences through New Victory Theater, incubating new works at New 42 Studios, and paving new pathways to creative careers through our artist and mentorship programs. Under the leadership of President & CEO Russell Granet and Board Chairman Henry Tisch, New 42’s mission is to make extraordinary performing arts a vital part of everyone’s life from the earliest years onward. Driven for 35 years by the belief that the performing arts have the power to connect and change us all, we continue to expand what’s possible for artists, audiences, and the future of the performing arts. New 42 is the recipient of a 2025 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre.
The New Victory opens new worlds to young people and families through extraordinary performances, education and engagement programs. Bringing kids to the arts and the arts to kids since 1995, this nonprofit theater has become a standard-bearer of quality performing arts for young audiences in the United States. Reflecting and serving the multicultural city it calls home, New Victory is committed to arts access for all communities of New York to experience and engage with the exemplary international shows on its stages. A global leader in arts education, youth development and audience engagement, the New Victory Theater has been honored by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, by Americans for the Arts with a national Arts Education Award, and by the Drama Desk for “providing enchanting, sophisticated children’s theater that appeals to the child in all of us, and for nurturing a love of theater in young people.”
New 42 Studios has evolved over the years into an incubator for developing new works, many of which have defined Broadway history in recent decades. Since its opening in 2000, New 42 Studios has served as the rehearsal space for over 1,000 Broadway/Off-Broadway/Touring companies, 655 workshops and readings, 431 regional theater productions, and more than 1,500 other creative projects. The historic productions that have rehearsed at New 42 Studios include sixteen Tony Award® winners for Best Musical or Best Play: The Producers (2001), Hairspray (2002), Jersey Boys (2005), Spring Awakening (2006), In the Heights (2008), Kinky Boots (2012), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2014), Hamilton (2015), Dear Evan Hansen (2016), The Band’s Visit (2017), The Ferryman (2018), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2018), Hadestown (2019), Moulin Rouge (2019), The Inheritance (2019) and Leopoldstadt (2022).
