Randy Weiner (born March 10, 1965) is an American playwright, producer and theater and nightclub owner. Weiner co-wrote the Off-Broadway musical The Donkey Show and, as one-third of EMURSIVE, produced the Drama Desk Award winning New York premiere of Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. He is co-owner of NYC "theater of varieties" The Box and The Box Soho. His creation The Stranger was a Time Out New York 2023 "Best of the City" award winner.Adam Feldman, Anna Rahmanan, Shaye Weaver, Amber Sutherland-Namako & Rossilynne Skena Culgan, "Time Out", Time Out, June 8, 2023 Most recently, Weiner co-created and executive-produced the Drama Desk Award-winning Masquerade, an immersive production of Phantom of the Opera and nightlife venue located at the former site of Lee's Art Shop.
Weiner is a founder and partner of Outside The Box Amusements (OTBA), a theatrical production company which creates, manages and produces unique experiences. These experiences include Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular on London’s West End and Usher’s Residency in Las Vegas.
Weiner is the creator of Queen of the Night at the Paramount Hotel in New York City, and recently served as the dramaturge for Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna. He was named one of Modern Luxury Manhattan's 75 Most Influential People In The Arts. He was named one of BlooLoop’s Power 10 most influential people in immersive visitor attractions.The Power 10 - blooloop 50, BlooLoop
Personal life Weiner was born Edward Randall Weiner, the son of a New York banker and lawyer. He graduated cum laude from Harvard University. On October 1, 1995, he married fellow theater arts graduate Diane Paulus."WEDDINGS; Diane M. Paulus, Randy Weiner", New York Times, October 1, 1995
Career Weiner and Paulus along with a few other theater school graduates established a small theater troupe in New York City called Project 400 Theatre Group.Colleen Walsh, "Paulus reaches beyond boards", Harvard Gazette, 23 April 2009Ricky Spears, "Quick Wit: Anna Wilson ", TheaterMania, 7 July 2000 With Project 400, Weiner and Paulus specialized in creating avant-garde musical productions which married classic theater and modern music.Eric V. Copage, "Not Your Mother's Musical, and That's the Point", The New York Times, 6 September 1999 These included a rock version of The Tempest, an R&B Phaedra and a hip-hop Lohengrin.
In collaboration with Paulus, Weiner co-created The Donkey Show, a disco adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream which ran off-Broadway from 1999 to 2005 and was revived in 2009 for Paulus' first production as director of the American Repertory Theater.Megan Tench, "Disco inferno", The Boston Globe, August 23, 2009 Critics cited the production as an exemplary of a trend in which edgy avant-garde theater had become fashionably mainstream.Arnold Aronson, American Avant-garde Theatre: a History, Routledge; 1 ed. (2000), p.207
In February 2007, Weiner cofounded (with partners Richard Kimmel and Simon Hammerstein) the Box theater on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.Spencer Morgan, "The Box Feeling a Little Boxed In", New York Observer, September 16, 2008 The cabaret theater has drawn attention for its risque burlesque acts.Allen Salkin, "Imperiled, the Box Defends Itself ", New York Times, September 26, 2008
In January 2014, Weiner and partner Aby Rosen unveiled the Diamond Horseshoe supper club in midtown Manhattan. Once presided over by legendary nightlife impresario Billy Rose, the venue has undergone a $20 million renovation and plays host to Weiner's latest immersive spectacle, Queen of the Night.
In April 2023, Weiner opened The Stranger, a nightlife experience heralded by Time Out.Trisha Mukherjee, "Time Out", Time Out, June 8, 2023
In 2025, again collaborating with Paulus, Weiner co-created and executive produced Masquerade, an immersive production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. Masquerade opened on September 29, 2025, running eight weekly performances.Stephi Wild, "Masquerade Will Host NOCTURNE Late Night Performance Set in the World of PHANTOM", Broadway World, April 23, 2026 The production received a 2026 Drama Desk Special Award.
Weiner has served on the Advisory Committee on the Arts at Harvard University.Practice & Performance: The Guide to the Arts at Harvard, Harvard University, 20th Edition, 2003/4 He has guest lectured on theater arts at Columbia University, Barnard College, New York University, and Yale.
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