Nicki Hunter will be new Artistic Director of Manhattan Theatre Club as of Dec 1, 2025

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 11:28am

MTC has gone with an internal successor: Hunter started at MTC as an intern and has worked her way up. That model worked well for Playwrights Horizons, so hopefully it works well here too.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/theater/manhattan-theater-club-nicki-hunter.html

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 11:39am

Seems like things will carry on as ever, with little discernible difference. Like a royal family, with an anointed heir.

[BJR]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 11:41am

Nicki is wonderful and will be wonderful. 

Replacing founders isn’t an easy choice, so her history with the company should serve her well. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 12:13pm

Jay Lerner-Z said: "Seems like things will carry on as ever, with little discernible difference. Like a royal family, with an anointed heir."

I don't know Nicki at all, but seeing as the other Broadway nonprofits all went with external candidates for replacement (and one of the companies is supposedly having something of a pained transition), this seems like a totally solid choice!

Continuity isn't a bad thing. Nicki knows their donor base and subscribers, she has the institutional knowledge of what's worked well and what hasn't, and it means that the artistic development pipeline isn't totally upended by a new leader coming in.

She's also 38, so it's a generational shift. Lynne Meadow will be 79 at the time of her retirement.

An internal successor also looks really good for the outgoing AD: it shows that Meadow was able to effectively nurture a successor, in the way that the other major nonprofits did not.

Updated On: 9/25/25 at 12:13 PM

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 12:17pm

Oh, I agree. If I was in Lynne Meadow's shoes, I'd do the same thing. The ship sails on.

Updated On: 9/25/25 at 12:17 PM

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 12:52pm

MTC has by far been my favorite nonprofit for the last decade. 

[Idontwantthis5]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 1:08pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I don't know Nicki at all, but seeing as the other Broadway nonprofits all went with external candidates for replacement (and one of the companies is supposedly having something of a pained transition), this seems like a totally solid choice!"

What company is having a difficult transition?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 1:32pm

Idontwantthis5 said: "What company is having a difficult transition?"

The one that has a new artistic director, managing director, general manager, exec producer, producer, director of the secondary space, marketing director, and press agent.

Allegedly.

[Amy Archer]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 3:33pm

Nicki Hunter was promoted to Associate Artistic Director in 2019, and since that time, has had a strong hand in MTC's programming, including the recent string of artistic and critical successes at the Friedman Theatre. She's a perfect choice to lead the company. 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 9/25/25 at 3:42pm

BroadywayNYC2: MTC has by far been my favorite nonprofit for the last decade. 

Same.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/26/25 at 12:04am

Yeah, MTC has done a pretty remarkable job of diversifying itself while maintaining (and arguably improving) its quality of productions. And I bet Nicki had a lot to do with that. It’s felt like a much more natural evolution than at Roundabout and LCT.

Updated On: 9/26/25 at 12:04 AM