Less than 10 minutes into my interview with Tom and Judy Kleinman, Mr. Kleinman is recounting their foray into the hospitality industry where the two met, which was after he graduated from law school and then became president of a publicly owned hotel group, and then next pivoting to what he called “urban inns,” when he says, “That basically became a full time gig for both of us, and I was in the midst of my professional racing career at that point …”
Cue blinking white man gif.
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The Kleinmans have led lives of entrepreneurship, arts, travel, and reinvention. More recently, the couple’s lifelong shared love of theater led them to establish Kleinman Entertainment Group in 2025. Their productions have graced the stages of Broadway, the West End, on national tours, and in regional theaters, and have earned 28 awards so far, including nine Oliviers and four Tonys.
But the Kleinmans’ latest project is one that they hope will ensure long-term success for Philadelphia’s regional theater scene. This summer, they underwrote a half-million dollar gift toward Ensemble Arts Philly’s free theater education programs serving elementary, middle and high school students. The Kleinmans hope that young people, who are the audiences of the future, will enjoy continued access to the theatrical arts through their efforts.
The gift comes at a crucial time for the arts in Philadelphia. Under Mayor Parker, the City has slashed funding for arts and culture; the current federal government has eliminated much National Endowment for the Arts funding, and attendance itself has still not recovered post-Covid (it was already down pre-Covid, as younger generations were not showing the same love for the theater as previous generations).
The adventures of Tom and Judy
Titans of theater and motion pictures were a regular part of growing up in Scarsdale, New York for Tom Kleinman. He befriended Liza Minelli in high school. He delivered groceries to the Sondheims. He wasn’t much interested in theater, however, until he was in Denver earning his liberal arts degree and then his law degree and would come back to the East Coast to see shows with his sister, a theater buff living in New York. When he moved back himself, and then after he met his wife, he made it a point to return to the theater several times a year.
“To say that I’ve loved the theater for close to 70 years would be very accurate,” he says.
Judy Kleinman moved to Philadelphia from Colorado when she was 24 and has been here for over 50 years. She began her career in advertising and public relations, and served as the assistant PR director for Philadelphia’s Bicentennial, among other roles. She met Tom after his company acquired the large hotel where she was working. Her background was, he recalls, an incredible carrot. “This is somebody that I want to know,” he remembers thinking to himself.
“I was yin to his yang,” says Judy.
Tom being Tom, he was also planning a disco concept at the time (ah, the 70s!) and needed someone to navigate advertising and PR. He thought she could absolutely handle such a niche project. Eventually, they became partners in every sense. They’ve been married for 49 years.
Together they pioneered the “urban inn,” a boutique model more like a bed-and-breakfast than the traditional hotel stay common in major cities. They operated Society Hill Hotels and Restaurants, but also ran boat charters in the Florida Keys, owned and managed The Philadelphia Force, a women’s professional fastpitch softball team in the National Pro Fastpitch league (Judy as PR and advertising director, Tom as a coach) all while was Judy building a respected consulting practice, and Tom maintaining his financial trading business.
“I’m a Philadelphia guy. I’ve been here for 40 plus years, and I wanted to support our local theater.” — Tom Kleinman
Judy is also a community leader, serving on the board of Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Residences High-Rise Council and contributing to Private Industry Councils in Philadelphia and Baltimore to foster connections between the public and private sectors.
The Kleinmans have been patrons of Philadelphia theater for many years, including as founding members of the Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC). At the launch of the Suzanne Roberts Theatre in 2007, they developed close relationships with the artistic directors. In March of 2023 Paige Price, previously an artistic director for PTC before founding her own production company, reached out to the Kleinmans about going across the ropes to become producers.
They became co-producers on a new play called The Cottage, actor Jason Alexander’s directorial debut, featuring a stellar cast. Despite opening at New York City’s Helen Hayes Theater in June (traditionally a rough time to debut because people tend to leave the city), the play gleaned audiences looking to see new theater during the coinciding SAG-AFTRA strike. The show was a hit.
“I got into this business at a mercurial age, because I’ll be 80 next year, and it’s a young person’s game,” says Tom. “Most of the producers that I work with are in their 50s, but I got into the business saying I can make money in this business, and everybody thought that was outlandish.”
Kleinman Entertainment Group’s award-winning productions include, as of 2026, Dead Outlaw, Operation Mincemeat, Sunset Blvd., Two Strangers, Chess, Paddington: The Musical, and Evita.
Ensemble Arts Youth Theater Education programs
The gift to Ensemble Arts began as part of the Kleinmans’ estate planning.
“We were looking for a legacy project,” says Tom. “Of course, there’s hospitals, there’s the National Cancer Institute, American Heart Association, Make a Wish, St. Jude’s — all of the things that I give to on a regular basis. I served on our synagogue board for 20 years, so obviously I looked at that. But I got involved in theater!”
As a Broadway League member, he was already familiar with supporting youth programs like The Jimmy Awards (National High School Musical Theatre Awards) in New York. “But I’m a Philadelphia guy. I’ve been here for 40 plus years, and I wanted to support our local theater.”
Ensemble Arts runs a multitude of education and community engagement theater programs that serve thousands of school-age students annually. Their theater education programs begin with an introduction to musical theater for grades four through six called Set The Stage in which theater professionals visit schools for pre-show acting, music, and dance workshops. Then students are provided a field trip to the Kimmel Center for a custom interactive performance to tell their own stories.
The tuition-free Middle School Summer Art Sessions target emerging theater kids, immersing them for 10 days in musical theater, dance, and digital arts. If the theater bug stays with them through high school, advanced training is available via auditions for the three-week High School Summer Arts Sessions. At this level, the attendees develop a stage production alongside professional artists and theater practitioners for performance at The Kimmel Center in front of an audience (including, but not just, parents and friends). Students also have the opportunity to learn from the “Behind the Curtain” curriculum: producing, marketing, technical craft, lighting, scenic design and arts administration.
When the Kleinmans were invited to see Set The Stage in action, they observed busloads of excited students, mostly from Title I schools with little or no arts in their curriculums, coming in for a program lasting a little less than an hour. The kids volunteered to get onstage to learn the fundamental elements of theater.
“Their eyes lit up,” Judy Kleinman says. “They were present. They were involved in the storytelling. It was page to stage. They said, What happens in this story here? They start developing that story into how the scene is set. I mean, it was insane, and it was beautiful.”
During the program, she recalls the master of ceremonies asking the audience, Raise your hand if this is the first time you’ve ever been in a theater. Nearly every one of the 800 hands went up.
“For Judy and I, that was the snake venom,” Tom says. “After the theater cleared, Judy and I sat there and I looked at her and I said, I think we found our legacy project, and with tears in her eyes, she shook her head and said, Yeah.”
What’s next
The Kleinmans have more to give when it comes to their passion for Philadelphia theater. They have played an instrumental role in PTC’s recent refresh of the lobby of the nearly 20-year-old Suzanne Roberts Theatre. They are underwriters for PTC’s production of Liberation, an acclaimed memory play about women in the 1970s connecting with each other to spark a movement. They are honorary producers for Glass Menagerie, a one-man adaptation of Tennesse Williams play starring the inimitable B.D. Wong.
“Tom and Judy are longtime friends and supporters of PTC,” said PTC Managing Director Margo Moskowitz. “Their continued commitment to the arts on Broad Street means so much, especially at a time when arts organizations are facing so many challenges. We’re incredibly grateful to have them in our corner.”
Meanwhile, The Cottage is in development to become a major motion picture with filming scheduled to begin this spring in Ireland.
The Kleinmans believe a healthy theater scene is essential for Philadelphia’s culture and growth. But for youth, the theater arts build life skills.
“It creates confidence when they are on the stage. They learn to communicate and speak clearly. It’s teamwork, like sports, but different, and it’s inclusive,” says Judy. “It’s also problem solving. When they have to act out different scenarios with other children, and they have to solve problems on how to do whatever they’re supposed to do and why. And so it also teaches empathy.”
It also goes a long way to ensure the existence of live theater in years to come.
Tom adds, “if you don’t have young people that are interested in theater, how are they going to be interested in the arts when they’re older?”
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