Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Lynne Meadow has been the company’s Artistic Director and visionary since 1972. Barry Grove joined the company in 1975 and was Meadow’s partner until 2023. Chris Jennings is now Executive Director. Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-off Broadway showcase into one of the country's most acclaimed theatre organizations. MTC's many awards include 31

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cere ...

, seven

Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

, 49 Obie Awards and 51 Drama Desk Awards, as well as numerous Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards. MTC has won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Achievement, a Drama Desk for Outstanding Excellence, and a Theatre World for Outstanding Achievement. MTC produces Broadway and

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

plays and musicals.

Notable productions

* '' Eastern Standard'' by Richard Greenberg * '' Ruined'' by Lynn Nottage * ''

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

'' by Theresa Rebeck * '' LoveMusik'', book by

Alfred Uhry Alfred Fox Uhry (born December 3, 1936) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is the recipient of the two Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for '' Driving Miss Daisy'', as well as the Academy Award for the 1989 film adaptat ...

and songs by Kurt Weill * '' Blackbird'' by David Harrower * '' Translations'' by Brian Friel * '' Rabbit Hole'' by David Lindsay-Abaire * ''

Doubt Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, and is certainty, uncertain about them. Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and wikt:disbelief, disbelief. It may i ...

'' by John Patrick Shanley * ''

Proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a co ...

'' by David Auburn * '' The Tale of the Allergist's Wife'' by Charles Busch * '' Crimes of the Heart'' by Beth Henley * '' Sight Unseen'' by Donald Margulies * '' Love! Valour! Compassion!'' by

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...

* '' Ain't Misbehavin''', the

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star ...

musical * '' King Hedley II'' by August Wilson * '' Nocturama'' by Annie Baker (reading) * ''

Constellations A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellations were likely defin ...

'' by Nick Payne * '' Jitney'' by August Wilson * '' Lackawanna Blues'' by Ruben Santiago-Hudson * '' Prayer for the French Republic'' by Joshua Harmon * '' Jaja's African Hair Braiding'' by Jocelyn Bioh * '' Mary Jane'' by Amy Herzog * '' Eureka Day'' by Jonathan Spector * '' Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends''

History

Under the Artistic Direction of Lynne Meadow since 1972, Manhattan Theatre Club is a not-for-profit theatre that produces shows in multiple venues: the 650- seat Samuel J. Friedman Theatre—formerly Biltmore Theatre—which they restored and reopened in 2003, and at New York City Center off-Broadway, where they created a 300-seat Stage I and a 150-seat Stage II. MTC productions have earned 7 Pulitzer Prizes, 30 Tony Awards, 51 Drama Desk Awards, and 49 Obie Awards, amongst many other honors. Barry Grove, who retired in 2023 after 48 years as MTC's Executive Producer, was replaced that summer by Executive Director Chris Jennings. Writers who have had an artistic home at MTC and returned throughout their careers include David Auburn (''

''; ''The Columnist''; ''Summer, 1976''); lan 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 Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He gained notice for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'', winning both the Tony Award for Best ...

(''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''); David Lindsay-Abaire (''Fuddy Meers'', '' Kimberly Akimbo'', '' Rabbit Hole'', ''Good People''); Donald Margulies (''The Loman Family Picnic'', ''Sight Unseen'', ''Collected Stories'', ''Time Stands Still'');

(''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'', ''Defiance'', ''Outside Mullingar''); Richard Wesley (''The Sirens'', ''The Past is the Past'', ''The Talented Tenth''), and

Charlayne Woodard Charlaine "Charlayne" Woodard (born December 29, 1953) is an American playwright and actress. She is a two-time Obie Award winner as well as a Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee. She was a series regular on the hit FX TV series '' Pose''. She pl ...

(''Pretty Fire'', ''Neat'', ''In Real Life''). Some who have who have made their MTC debuts in recent seasons include Bekah Brunstetter (''The Cake''), Sarah Jones (''Sell/ Buy/Date''), Matthew Lopez (''The Whipping Man''), Martyna Majok (''Cost of Living''), Dominique Morisseau (''Skeleton Crew''), Qui Nguyen (''Vietgone''), Amanda Peet (''The Commons of Pensacola''), and Ruben Santiago-Hudson ('' Lackawanna Blues''). MTC’s Artistic Development program offers dramaturgical support, readings, and workshops, as well as a wide range of commissions, which provide artists with the resources to create new work. Just a few of the MTC commissions that have bowed in recent years include ''Prayer for the French Republic'' by Joshua Harmon (Playwright), ''Choir Boy'' by Tarell Alvin McCraney, and ''Heisenberg'' and ''Morning Sun'' by Simon Stephens. MTC has also produced plays by some of America’s most heralded writers, such as

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, Prose, prose writer, Memoir, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was black ...

(''The Little Foxes'') and world premieres by John Guare (''Gardenia''), Elaine May (''After the Night and the Music''),

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

(''The Last Yankee''), Marsha Norman (''Last Dance''), Lynn Nottage (''Ruined''), and

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

(''Eyes for Consuela''). Since their 1978 production of ''Ain’t Misbehavin’'' moved to Broadway, MTC has given many 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. The company has shepherded to the stage musicals such as

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

’s ''Putting It Together'', Andrew Lippa’s ''The Wild Party'',

’s ''LoveMusik'', and Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash’s ''Murder Ballad''. MTC also has a long history of bringing the work of international writers to American audiences, including world premieres by Alan Ayckbourn; ''Translations and Aristocrats'' by Brian Friel; ''Valley Song'', ''The Captain’s Tiger'', and many others by

Athol Fugard Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard (; 11 June 19328 March 2025) was a South African playwright, novelist, actor and director. Widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright and acclaimed as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaki ...

; ''Ink'' by James Graham; ''The Philanthropist'' by

Christopher Hampton Sir Christopher James Hampton (born 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play Les Liaisons Dangereuses (play), ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the Les Liaisons da ...

; ''East is East'' by Ayub Khan-Din; ''The Children'' by Lucy Kirkwood; the world premiere of ''A Kind of Alaska'' by

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

; ''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. MTC's Learning and Community Engagement program, founded in 1989, was the first education department created by a major theatre company and runs multiple programs annually that use playwrighting and live theatre to serve learners of all ages.

Facilities

At its founding, the Manhattan Theatre Club staged

off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...

productions at Stage 73, located at 321 East 73rd Street. In 1984, MTC moved to its ongoing

productions to

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama, and the New York City Center 55th Street Theater) is a performing arts center at 131 West 55th Street (Manhattan), 55th Street between Sixth Avenue, Six ...

's lower level. Its performance space comprises a 299-seat theatre with fixed seating (Stage I) and a 150-seat studio theatre with variable seating configurations (Stage II). The MTC added a venue for Broadway productions when it purchased the Biltmore Theatre in 2001; the theatre was renamed the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on September 4, 2008, in honor of Broadway publicist Samuel Friedman.Jones, Kenneth
"Broadway's Biltmore Becomes the Friedman on Sept. 4"
, playbill.com, September 4, 2008. After the 2001 purchase, the MTC commenced renovations, re-opening in October 2003. With 650 seats the Friedman has about two-thirds of the capacity of the old Biltmore Theatre.

References

External links

* * *
Manhattan Theatre Club records 1964–2004 (bulk 1970–1994)
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

{{Authority control Theatre companies in New York City 1970 establishments in New York City Arts organizations established in 1970 Broadway theatre Off-Broadway