Manhattan Theatre Club is one of New York’s preeminent not-for-profit cultural institutions and a premier destination for both the most talented artists and discerning audiences to return to time and again. We produce seasons of bold, entertaining and thought-provoking new plays and musicals at our Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway and on our two off-Broadway stages at New York City Center.
For over 50 years, MTC has been acclaimed for identifying, fostering and supporting extraordinary artists at all stages of their careers and for the consistent quality, range and originality of our over 600 premieres, which include nearly 20% of all of the new plays on Broadway since we opened the Friedman in 2003. Much of this work has gone on to be mounted around the country and the world, appearing frequently on annual “most-produced” lists and amounting to a significant contribution to the American theatrical canon. MTC productions have earned 7 Pulitzer Prizes, 31 Tony Awards, 52 Drama Desk Awards, and 49 Obie Awards, amongst many other honors.
MTC is now entering a new era of leadership with recently-appointed Artistic Director Nicki Hunter and Executive Director Chris Jennings, who joined the company in 2023, succeeding Lynne Meadow and Barry Grove, who helmed MTC for 53 and 48 years, respectively. With this team leading a dedicated staff, in concert with the Board of Directors, MTC will continue to embrace its core mission and to grow in our unique space in the industry as a home for new work, new voices and new perspectives.
We champion new voices and are constantly expanding the MTC family of writers. Some who have made their MTC debuts in recent seasons include Jocelyn Bioh (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding), Bekah Brunstetter (The Cake), Amy Herzog (Mary Jane), Sarah Jones (Sell/ Buy/Date), Tracy Letts (Bug), Matthew Lopez (The Whipping Man), Martyna Majok (Cost of Living, Queens), Dominique Morisseau (Skeleton Crew), Qui Nguyen (Vietgone), Amanda Peet (The Commons of Pensacola), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Lackawanna Blues), and Jonathan Spector (Eureka Day).
MTC’s robust Artistic Development program offers one of the largest commissioning programs in the country as well as dramaturgical guidance, readings, and workshops in our studios to support artists in the creation of new work. Just a few of the many MTC commissions that have graced our stages in recent years include Prayer for the French Republic by Joshua Harmon, Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney, and Heisenberg and Morning Sun by Simon Stephens.
We have given many celebrated writers and modern American classics their Broadway debuts, including How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel, Jitney by August Wilson (also The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, and King Hedley II), Fool for Love by Sam Shepard, Venus in Fur by David Ives, and Wit by Margaret Edson. We have also produced plays by some of America’s most heralded writers, such as Lillian Hellman (The Little Foxes) and world premieres by John Guare (Gardenia), Elaine May (After the Night and the Music), Arthur Miller (The Last Yankee), Marsha Norman (Last Dance), and Lynn Nottage (Ruined).
Other writers who have had an artistic home at MTC and returned throughout their careers include David Auburn (Proof; The Columnist; Summer, 1976); Alan Ayckbourn (Woman in Mind, Absent Friends, A Small Family Business, House/Garden, Absurd Person Singular); Charles Busch (The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, Our Leading Lady); Harvey Fierstein (Casa Valentina, Bella Bella); Richard Greenberg (Eastern Standard, The American Plan, Three Days of Rain, The Assembled Parties); Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart, The Miss Firecracker Contest, The Lucky Spot); Rajiv Joseph (King James, Dakar 2000); David Lindsay-Abaire (Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Rabbit Hole, Good People); Donald Margulies (The Loman Family Picnic, Sight Unseen, Collected Stories, Time Stands Still); Terrence McNally (It’s Only a Play; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune; The Lisbon Traviata; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Love! Valour! Compassion!); John Patrick Shanley (Women of Manhattan, Italian American Reconciliation, Doubt, Defiance, Outside Mullingar); Richard Wesley (The Sirens, The Past is the Past, The Talented Tenth), and Charlayne Woodard (Pretty Fire, Neat, In Real Life).
Since our homegrown production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ burst onto the scene in 1978, we’ve brought to the stage musicals such as Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends and Putting It Together, Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, Alfred Uhry’s LoveMusik, and Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash’s Murder Ballad.
In addition, MTC has a long history of bringing the work of important international writers to American audiences, including multiple world premieres by Alan Ayckbourn; Translations and Aristocrats by Brian Friel; Valley Song, The Captain’s Tiger and many others by Athol Fugard; Ink and Punch by James Graham; The Philanthropist by Christopher Hampton; East is East by Ayub Khan-Din; The Children by Lucy Kirkwood; the world premiere of A Kind of Alaska by Harold Pinter; Ashes by David Rudkin; The Ruins of Civilization and Linda by Penelope Skinner; The Memory of Water and An Experiment with an Air Pump by Shelagh Stephenson; Three Birds Alighting on a Field by Timberlake Wertenbaker; and The Father and The Height of the Storm by Florian Zeller.
We are committed to sharing the work on our stages with the widest possible audience. Along with a robust slate of ticket initiatives to make our productions broadly accessible, we strive to engage audiences of all generations and backgrounds. We aim to help the public build deep connections with our work through our Beyond the Stage programming and gold standard Learning and Community Engagement program, which serves over 3,000 learners of all ages annually: in high school classrooms throughout the NYC area, nationwide and abroad; in partnerships with other local not-for-profit organizations and their community members; and in our offices and theatres.
This represents just a fraction of the work we are proud to have shepherded over the last five decades. We are proud of our proven track record but are always looking forwards and are committed to staying at the forefront of the American theatre, developing the most vibrant voices and producing the most exciting theatre of the present to help inform our future.
12/4/2025
Dear MTC Family,
This is a big week—for me, and for MTC—as I step into the role of Artistic Director.
For the past sixteen years, MTC has been my professional home. It’s a place that has inspired, educated, and challenged me, and to now steward this extraordinary institution into its next chapter is an opportunity I look forward to with humility and tremendous excitement.
For more than five decades, under the visionary artistic leadership of Lynne Meadow, MTC has been a beacon for bold theatrical storytelling and has set a standard for excellence in the American theatre. I am profoundly grateful for Lynne’s mentorship, her collaboration, and her faith in me. Her legacy lights the path ahead.
As I take the reins, my commitment is simple and unwavering: to ensure that MTC remains a premier destination for the highest caliber of theatre on Broadway, off Broadway, and in our rehearsal studios. I look forward to fostering exciting art in all of MTC’s spaces.
MTC occupies a unique position in the theatrical ecosystem: the risks we take on adventurous works today will set the stage for the canon of tomorrow. It is my priority that MTC continues to thrive as a home where a myriad of voices are nurtured, artists feel emboldened to spread their wings, and discerning audiences across generations choose to return time and again to experience theatre that is entertaining, thought-provoking, and deeply human.
Together with Executive Director Chris Jennings, our dedicated Board of Directors, and our exceptional staff, I am inspired to shape a bold and successful new era for this company.
Whether you have been with MTC since its earliest days on East 73rd Street or have recently discovered our work, you are an important part of the Club and your support in all forms sustains everything we do. It is my absolute pleasure to welcome you to this next chapter—one that honors our incredible history while embracing all the possibilities ahead.
I look forward to seeing you at the theatre!
With gratitude and excitement,
Nicki Hunter
Artistic Director
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club believes that equity, diversity and inclusion should be essential elements of all activity within the organization. We are proud to be a preeminent theatre in one of the most diverse cities in America and strive to represent that both on and off-stage.
We believe that the most interesting and successful theatrical pieces are those which allow us to identify with human characteristics we relate to and enlighten us to aspects of the human experience that are different from our own. We are strongly committed to producing work that is made by, and tells the stories of, a wide range of voices from all walks of life and to making that work accessible to all audiences including those that have historically lacked access to the arts and cultural sector.
We understand that to perpetuate growth and development, it is imperative that leadership, staff and artistic teams consist of people with a mix of ideas, perspectives and values which come from diverse backgrounds. We have made it a priority to create and maintain an environment that is attractive to and supportive of all individuals regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender identity, age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, military or veteran status, etc.
MTC Education, which has been at the forefront of Arts Education for decades, is dedicated to equity, diversity and inclusion in everything we do. From our earliest days, MTC Education has worked not only with students in public high schools, but also extensively with youth on the margins – in jails and alternative programs and similar settings – who arguably most need the arts and seldom have them. We cherish opportunities to promote creative collaboration and thoughtful dialogue in our classrooms and to introduce disparate groups of young people to theatre’s miraculous power to transform an audience of many into one.
ALL ARTS DOCS: MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB, A HOME FOR ARTISTS
“ALL ARTS Docs: Manhattan Theatre Club, a Home for Artists” explores the influential theater’s 50-year history through interviews with David Auburn, Christine Baranski, André De Shields, Laura Linney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sam Waterston and more.
Traces the nonprofit Manhattan Theatre Club‘s storied 50-year history under the leadership of its artistic director Lynne Meadow and executive producer Barry Grove, who together grew the institution from an off-off-Broadway venue into one of America’s most acclaimed and prolific theatrical institutions.
The film charts the theater’s growth and the challenges facing the industry at large, revealing how Manhattan Theatre Club has endured as a space for creative experimentation and an artistic home for playwrights, directors, designers and actors.