Tom Kleinman. (Photo by Benedict Brain)
For Tom Kleinman, a successful Philadelphia businessman who now serves as an investor and producer for highly acclaimed and internationally syndicated theatrical productions, the appeal of the stage is one that cannot be re-created anywhere else.
There is something magical about a live play, he said. Kleinman summed it up by referencing the first play he worked on after retiring from his first career and beginning his second, a dramatic tale called “The Cottage.”
“There were six actors, but the audience was the seventh. They were the seventh member of the play,” he said.
When you read a novel, or watch a movie, that level of involvement just isn’t the same, he said.
Kleinman can often be found near New York City’s Broadway or London’s West End, watching the shows he produced as well as others, but make no mistake: the Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel congregant is proud to be a Philadelphian. He moved here for work almost 50 years ago, and has loved it ever since. He said he often refers to it as the “San Francisco of the East.”
“The winter is more akin to San Diego lately, though,” he said. “It’s just a real city. The only other city I can think of that’s as friendly to live in is Boston. It’s a walking city; everything is so convenient. It’s just a great place: good restaurants, good theater, good art, good sports — everything.”
Kleinman added that Philadelphia is a phenomenal place for a theater lover. He is a member of the Broadway at the Kimmel Center program, which brings some of the best productions right to Center City. He also enjoys time spent at the Philadelphia Theater Company.
“If you’ve never been to a theater there, it’s wonderful,” he said, laughing as he added that “they sell their tickets too cheaply!”
For Kleinman, that businessman’s perspective is a large reason that he has been so successful as a producer and investor. Yes, he is a theater lover, but that on its own doesn’t help create a solid bottom line or fill seats in the world’s largest venues. Kleinman said that he decided to go from enthusiast to producer in part simply to give him something else to focus on instead of just Wall Street.
“I wasn’t interested in getting involved in producing plays for a vanity exercise,” he said.
The first play he worked on was “The Cottage,” the directorial debut of former Seinfeld star Jason Alexander. The show was a smash hit, and a motion picture version will begin filming next May. From there, Kleinman was all in.
“We jumped in with both feet last year,” he said of himself and his wife, who are a production team.
Last year, the couple co-produced five plays, four of which were nominated for a total of 24 Tony Awards. Needless to say, this has been a successful endeavor for Kleinman. He said he has been ultraselective as to what plays he gets involved in, and approaches that question from a business perspective. He has read scripts that he has not personally enjoyed but decided to invest in, as well as scripts he has liked but decided weren’t worth the time and money.
Whatever Kleinman gets involved in, he usually ends up in a seat where he is making decisions, whether that’s in theater, real estate or at his synagogue. Splitting his time in Philadelphia, wherever his shows are playing and at a second home in Italy means that Kleinman isn’t around at BZBI as much as he’d like to be, but he still contributes from afar in a financial sense and attends services when he can. After sitting on the synagogue’s board of directors for 15 years, he is happy to now just be another congregant.
“Their growth has been unbelievable,” he said. “It’s a wonderful place.”
Kleinman and his family joined BZBI decades ago largely because it reminded him of his childhood synagogue in White Plains, New York.
For Kleinman, one career he loved has given way to another. As he continues to fly over the Atlantic, attend award shows and rub elbows with stars, he will keep a local cause at the front of his mind.
“We’ll just continue to support the Philadelphia arts,” he said.