Jim Morgan resigns from York Thestre

[BIG BALONEY]

Posted: 10/12/24 at 7:58pm

Jim was the backbone to the York Theatre located at St.Jeans Theatre at 76th and Lexington Ave. He gave his all and will be sorely missed. He was pushed out by others and I think this will put a stake in the heart of the company. Expect a lot of blood loss at the box office in support of Mr. Morgan. Their future looks uncertain at this point.

Updated On: 10/12/24 at 07:58 PM

[jakethesnake]

Posted: 10/12/24 at 9:12pm

BIG BALONEY said: "Jim was the backbone to the York Theatre located at St.Jeans Theatre at 76th and Lexington Ave. He gave his all and will be sorely missed. He was pushed out by others and I think this will put a stake in the heart of the company. Expect a lot of blood loss at the box office in support of Mr. Morgan. Their future looks uncertain at this point."

I heard differently.  He wasn’t pushed out as much as dug his own grave.   But I do agree that this does not bode well for the theatre.  

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/12/24 at 9:55pm

Yeah, it’s easy to read between the lines of the Playbill story –– though there's probably more to it and this simply could have been the last straw.

The York barely had a sustainable audience and donor base to begin with, so it’s not like they’re losing a ton. The York has been tolerated by the larger theatre community for a while; perhaps now it can take steps towards gaining a greater respect.

Morgan's interests were niche and old-fashioned, the York is terrible at developing new work, and Morgan’s curtain speeches were among the most uncomfortable things I’ve ever sat through in a New York theatre.

Change is good. 30 years is a long time for a person to run an institution. 

Updated On: 10/12/24 at 09:55 PM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 10/12/24 at 10:51pm

I wasn't able to find the Facebook post that Playbill mentioned but it's interesting to call out InunDATEd specifically as that only has two actors (and a pianist).  And their previous show Monte Cristo DID have actors of color in it.  I don't know the York or the overall situation well enough, but I've generally enjoyed the shows I've seen there (though I agree about the pre-show speeches) and wish them the best in the future

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 10/12/24 at 11:00pm

He didn't have great programming.  Also well known, McIntyre wants the job.

Updated On: 10/12/24 at 11:00 PM

[Theater3232]

Posted: 10/13/24 at 12:47am

Inundated (playing thru tomorrow) was one of my favorite shows at the York since it finally had 2 accomplished talented actors in it.  Rather than some of the new faces in recent shows who were terrible actors and gave the shows they were in a clownish amateur feel. They were very foolish if they pushed Jim Morgan out. He loves the theater and knows what the Upper East Side audiences want to see. The sudden announcement means he was pushed out.  

Updated On: 10/13/24 at 12:47 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/13/24 at 1:23am

Theater3232 said: "knows what the Upper East Side audiences want to see."

You've hit the nail on the head: He was catering to an unsustainable audience. Most of that crowd is dead or dying, and he –– and the Board that enabled his programming for so long –– failed to adapt as time went on. (Whether that's ego or ignorance is a different matter.)

It's fine for producing organizations to have no aspirations to be highbrow or even middlebrow, but producing minor, esoteric works in an uninspired way is not a recipe for success.

As I said above, if he was encouraged to resign, I have no doubt there were multiple reasons, some of them financial.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/13/24 at 2:32am

One other thing to remember, going by the Playbill piece:   It’s totally valid for an AAD to go to their boss and point out an issue. But the *way* that a leader responds is the key!

Calmly saying “Thank you for your input, the creative team and I chose to do it this way for XYZ reasons but you’re right we should be more mindful on future shows” isn't gonna get anyone in trouble. Throwing a hypothetical fit or responding to criticism in a less professional way could certainly be grounds for losing your job, especially if it’s not an isolated incident.

It could also be that the Board proposed an alternative, the AD disliked it, and chose to resign instead. We’ll probably never know, and I have no behind the scenes knowledge of this specific situation.

A nonprofit leader will always be at the mercy of the Board, as we saw with 2nd Stage earlier this year. Leaders who don’t want to report to a board should form their own for-profit company where they are the majority shareholder.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/13/24 at 9:39am

Yes, one incident like the one described does not get an AD forced out, particularly at a fairly ossified company like the York. 
 

Fresh leadership would only be good for the company, imo. It’s become a stagnant afterthought in NYC’s theatre world. It‘s a venue that’s out of the way for many, in the sub level of a church basement that feels like it’s deep in the Earth’s mantle, and whose facilities look like they haven’t been touched since Clinton’s first term- they need to do more to get people interested in schlepping over there again.

Updated On: 10/13/24 at 09:39 AM

[Marco Drift]

Posted: 10/13/24 at 11:28am

Jim was such a big part of it. Just to see how they bounce back, but yeah… things look shaky right now.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 10/13/24 at 11:34am

The shows at The York did not lack diversity, that's just silly. 

Since Morgan is out the company should clean house, top to bottom, and start over with new AD and AAD etc.  The way things were handled by both AD and AAD were not good.  A completely fresh start is needed here.

Updated On: 10/13/24 at 11:34 AM