Jesse Green Named Theatre Critic for New York Times | Playbill

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News Jesse Green Named Theatre Critic for New York Times Green succeeds Charles Isherwood.
Jesse Green
Jesse Green, who is currently the theatre critic for New York Magazine, will join Ben Brantley as a co-chief theatre critic for The New York Times in May.

Green will succeed Charles Isherwood, who had been the second-string critic of the Times since 2004. Isherwood was let go from the position earlier this year.

Read: CRITIC CHARLES ISHERWOOD DEPARTS THE NEW YORK TIMES

Michael Paulson, a theatre reporter for the Times, revealed the news via Twitter, writing, “Breaking news here at @nytimestheater: @JesseKGreen has just been named co-chief theater critic, joining Ben Brantley. He starts May 1.”


Green posted on his Facebook page, “As of May 1, I will be starting a new job as co-chief theater critic, along with Ben Brantley, at The New York Times. Ben and I will be working together on an equal footing, much as Tony Scott and Manohla Dargis do in film, and Holland Cotter and Roberta Smith do in art. I will continue to write for New York Magazine through the end of April, thus finishing the current Broadway season.”

The New York Times also posted a memo that was sent to its staff by culture editor Danielle Mattoon, who stated, “Jesse is a wonderfully gifted thinker and writer who contributed memorably to The Times for years before becoming one of the leading critical voices at New York magazine. Incisive, deeply knowledgeable, warm and funny, Jesse’s criticism conveys an infectious love of the theater that grabs readers whether they are regular theater goers or keep track from afar.

“In addition to maintaining a regular reviewing schedule at New York, Jesse has seized opportunities to connect theater to cultural moments beyond the stage. In recent months Jesse wrote brilliantly about Donald Trump’s depiction of theater as a safe space and deconstructed why a great stage show like Hairspray fell flat on TV; he cleverly analyzed songs cut from Hamilton and other shows; and he beautifully eulogized Edward Albee and explored his legacy. He is also an accomplished and versatile feature writer, delivering memorable profiles of theater luminaries such as Mike Nichols, Tony Kushner, Arthur Laurents and Audra McDonald, while also writing movingly about everyday people, from the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island to the parents of young transgender children, and the unexpected journeys they embark on.”

Critic Brantley added, “Jesse has one of the warmest, savviest and most individual voices in theater writing, steeped in both deep knowledge and equal affection for his subject. I look forward to sharing a beat with him, and to engaging in dialogue with someone as in love with the theater as I am.”

Green has been a contributing editor to New York Magazine since 2008. He has previously written for The New York Times and Vulture and is the author of O Beautiful and The Velveteen Father: An Unexpected Journey to Parenthood. He is currently working on Shy, a book about composer Mary Rodgers Guettel.


 
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