Patrick Pacheco, the longtime author of New York Newsday's "Play by Play" theatre column, will leave the newspaper after the current season to edit Clear Channel Entertainment's new theatre quarterly, Show People.

"Play by Play" runs every Thursday in Newsday and is one of three major theatre columns which appear in the New York dailies. The others are the New York Times' "On Stage and Off," which prints every Friday and is currently written by Jesse McKinley; and Michael Riedel's Wednesday and Friday columns in the New York Post.

Newsday said it will continue the feature, but has not named a replacement for Pacheco. Sources have the paper hiring a writer from the Newsday's existing staff. Pacheco's final column will appear in mid-June. "Play by Play" will resume with the fall season.

In a related story, word has McKinley exiting his post at the end of the season. McKinley has authored the Friday feature for several years running. The Times did not return calls for comment.

—By Robert Simonson