Lynne Meadow


Lynne Meadow is an American theatre producer, director and a teacher. She has been the artistic director of the Manhattan Theatre Club since 1972.

Career

A cum laude graduate of Bryn Mawr, Meadow attended the Yale School of Drama.
In 1972, she joined the Manhattan Theatre Club as Artistic Director, and in that position, she has directed and produced more than 450 New York City and world premieres of plays by American and international playwrights, including Terrence McNally, Beth Henley, John Guare, Athol Fugard, Brian Friel, Harold Pinter, Alan Ayckbourn, and John Patrick Shanley.
Under Meadow's leadership, MTC has been honored with every prestigious theatre award, including 31 Tony Awards, seven Pulitzer Prizes for Drama, 49 Obie Awards, and 52 Drama Desk Awards, as well as New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, Outer [Critics Circle Award]s, and Theatre World Awards. In 2013, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Meadow's directing credits include Sally and Marsha, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Absent Friends and The Commons of Pensacola.
Meadow has taught at Yale University, Fordham University, NYU, Circle in the Square Theatre School, and Stony Brook University.
On June 26, 2025, Meadow announced her plans to step into the role of Artistic Advisor at Manhattan Theatre Club during the next season.

Personal

She is married to attorney Ronald Shechtman.
In 2008 Meadow made national headlines when an argument with a flight attendant led to her being detained and interrogated by the FBI. Meadow subsequently sued Continental Airlines and the flight attendant for "emotional distress and humiliation and for providing her with faulty equipment on the flight."

Education

Awards

  • Lucille Lortel Award for Lifetime Achievement
  • Lilly Award for Lifetime Achievement
  • Museum of the City of New York’s Auchincloss Prize
  • Lee Reynolds Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women
  • Manhattan Award from Manhattan magazine
  • Person of the Year from the National Theatre Conference
  • Margo Jones Award
  • Mr. Abbot award for Lifetime Achievement from the Stage Directors Foundation
  • She has twice been nominated for Best Director at the Drama Desk Awards: in 1996 for Leslie Ayvazian’s Nine Armenians and in 1988 for Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind with Stockard Channing.

Directing credits

Sources: Internet Off-Broadway Database; Internet Broadway Database

Selected world/New York premieres produced under Meadows' artistic direction

Sources: Internet Off-Broadway Database; Internet Broadway database