8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
For 53 Years, She Led a New York Theater. Now She's Stepping Down.
Lynne Meadow, the last of the long-serving artistic directors who for decades led the four nonprofits with Broadway theaters, plans to step down from her current position, she said in an interview.
Meadow, 78, has served as artistic director of Manhattan Theater Club since 1972, and by her own count has produced or presented more than 600 shows, making her one of the most prolific and successful figures in the American theater. Among the successes: the repeatedly extended Lynn Nottage play 'Ruined,' which won a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2009, and Jonathan Spector's 'Eureka Day,' which won a Tony Award earlier this month.
She said she will stay with the organization as an artistic adviser, but that a search for a new artistic director is already underway.
Her move will follow that of André Bishop, whose 33-year run leading Lincoln Center Theater ends next week; Carole Rothman, who in 2023 ended a 45-year tenure atop Second Stage Theater; and Todd Haimes, who died in 2023 after running Roundabout Theater Company for 40 years.
The departures mean that, after decades of constancy, a new generation of leaders will oversee the nonprofit presence on Broadway. These institutions, which together control six of the 41 Broadway theaters, over the years have been an important ballast for the industry, preserving a place for new plays, risky work and large-orchestra musical revivals during periods when those types of projects have been less appealing to commercial producers.
'I'm doing this because I feel that the timing is right to do this — there are things that I want to do,' Meadow said. 'I'm not tired, and I'm not bored, and I'm not depressed, but I'm excited for Chapter 2.'
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