After 600 games in the past 53 years, Lynne Meadow resigned as artistic director of the Manhattan Theatre Club, one of the city’s most prolific and productive nonprofits. OK, maybe not resignation, but definitely sideways. She kicks herself to an art consultant and introduces her wisdom and knowledge to those who inherit her work. “I feel like I’m just surrendering, not the last bow,” she said to the observer.
The Meadow and Manhattan Theater Club date back to 1972, when it was the Bohemia National Hall between First and Second Avenues, located at 73 East. one Cum Excellent Alumni from Bryn Mawr, who is struggling to find a director job in New York, graduated from Yale Theatre School and has spent a year in Paris and founded an international theater company.
Despite these certificates, the only job she received in New York came from Zabal’s cheese department. “I don’t remember who said that, whether it was Brian Friel or Charles Busch: If I brought Zabar to it, I would now run the only dinner and snack theater in New York.”
Fortunately, the Upper East Side summons are even stronger. A group of merchants purchased the five-story Bohemia National Hall and are renting out space, except for taking up most of the bars on the first floor. Waiting for the table to be on the table is Mary Steenburgen (and then, “Freedom” from the comedy improvisation group called “Cracking Tokens”.
Three stories of the building (some twenty-three rooms) are provided, which is of interest to the meadow. “I’ve always been interested in dealing with multiple things,” she admitted. “I think this opportunity is similar to the Three Ring Circus, which is the game in every room.”
In her first year, she “had twenty-three games in every room in this place in seven weeks! Terrence McNally bad habits From there to Broadway. ”
Fats Waller Musical Not misbehavior’ The Manhattan Theatre Club is noisy when Meadow is clocking there. Developed and expanded extensively by director-writer Richard Maltby and soon-to-becoming stars like Nell Carter, André De Shields, Ken Page and Charlayne Woodard. Eventually, other producers took it to Broadway and won Tony’s best musical in 1978.
Over the years, the Manhattan Theatre Club has won 31 wins in various Tony categories. In 1995, it won three best matches (Terrence McNally’s like! courage! pity!), 2001 (David Auburn) prove) and 2005 (John Patrick Shanley) Suspect). Additionally, it won two Best Revival Tonys, 2017 (August Wilson’s Gitney) and 2025 (Jonathan Spector) Eureka Festival). Richard Greenberg Take me out Bring Tonis back and forth – Best Revival in 2003 and 2022. Then, there are seven Pulitzer Prizes, fifty-two Drama Prizes and forty-nine obies between the two.
“I have received many wishes many times and thought of the work of many outstanding playwrights, so we will premiere,” Meadow said, smiling, relying on her blessing. “I tend to think more passively. Are there other great playwrights? Sure. We have an incredible golden age in New York, not just at the Manhattan Theatre Club.
She held Zabar’s to the seaside, paused to defend the reconstructed drama protagonist at the time – Marshall Mason in the circle, Bob Moss of the playwright Horizons and Joe Papp/Bernie Gersten in the public. “Everyone said, ‘You want to play it.’ Well, that would have been a disaster, because I wasn’t going to be a good stage manager, so I ended up building my own theater. Beth Henley, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Joshua Harmon.”
Meadow’s voice accelerated as she recalled her past victory. “I’m not tired,” she insisted. “I’m actually more energetic than ever. I’m so excited about what Chapter Two says. Over the years, I’ve been full of ideas and energy. I’ve taught and directed at Yale and NYU and the Square.
If Meadow wins in the selection competition, it’s because she risks picking them. “I hate being told ‘no’” is her personal philosophy, which keeps moving forward.
Of the many Terrence McNally plays initiated by the Manhattan Theatre Club, the most controversial ones are Corpus Christi (named after his hometown), and portrays Jesus and the Apostles as gay people in modern Texas. Meadow recalls: “It was a drama he really wanted to do, so we read a drama, but before we even talked about the drama, we got a call from the Catholic Union saying ‘You can’t do this game’. It was especially obvious to Terrence because what you know is part of it, but working hard in the store window, not in the store.
One of her Pulitzer Prizes Living expenses Polish-born playwright Martyna Majok is a penetrating portrait of two paramedics and people with disabilities. “I hope you see something challenging and if we can open our hearts and minds in some cases, you want to know more.
“If you tell a story about a person’s particularity, then the work becomes common. If you specialize in the feeling of this, the audience will come in. You can be open and find resonance in your life, even if it’s a world or culture you never knew.
Example: Tony-Contending by Jocelyn Bioh Jaja’s African Hair Braid. “The audience who saw it was made up of many people who had never been to a salon with women’s braids,” Meadow said. “For some, it’s like traveling to a place they didn’t know. Others are happy to see themselves on stage for the first time, so it turned into a glorious experience. Isn’t that theatre doing what to do, open our hearts and our minds?
“For me, what keeps me going is all the great people in our community, and it’s a positive force in the theater in our city. That’s why I’m not tired. I have a lot of gas in my tank.”
