The Playgoer: Sabbatical?

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Sabbatical?

"In a major change for one of New York City's resident not-for-profits, Manhattan Theatre Club's artistic director Lynne Meadow will take a sabbatical for the 2007-08 season, MTC announced Dec. 12. Meadow will use the time 'to travel and write,' according to a statement. She will return to MTC for the 2008-09 season."

MTC was becoming just that unsustainable I guess.

Read the whole story in Playbill. No doubt in the Times tomorrow.

The good news is look who's taking over, as a temp at least: Daniel Sullivan!

Notice he's bolstered (buffered?) by the quite large MTC leadership team, staying in place:

Daniel Sullivan, a close associate of MTC and director of several Manhattan Theatre Club productions (Proof, Sight Unseen, Brooklyn Boy, Psychopathia Sexualis), will serve as acting artistic director, working with Barry Grove, MTC's longtime executive producer, and with MTC's artistic staff, including Paige Evans, director of artistic development; Mandy Greenfield, director of artistic operations; and Amy Loe, director of artistic administration.

I admit, those titles don't show off Sullivan's best work, which maybe hasn't been at MTC recently. (Although why didn't they mention Rabbit Hole?) Perhaps he was better represented by Intimate Apparel (Roundabout) and Stuff Happens (Public).

Meadow will still be directing the new Charles Busch play in the Spring and not taking her very dignified sounding hiatus till the summer. It does seem time for new leadership at MTC, if they're going to survive the Curse of the Biltmore. But it may require more extensive replacements at the top levels, and/or a whole new mission.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I guess she doesn't need to be bringing home the bacon for a bit as her attorney husband happens to be the legal cracker-jack attacking these Urinetown productions.