As reported by the Village Voice, John Sullivan has stepped down from his executive directorship of Theatre Communications Group (TCG). Described by the Voice as an unpopular figure at the organization, Sullivan was apparently seeing as being too theoretical in his vision for TCG. He also ruffled feathers when he fired longtime staffer Lindy Zesch.

According to Jim O'Quinn, editor of American Theatre (a TCG publication), an operations committee of the Board of Directors is running the organization until a new executive director is chosen in the spring. Vicki Nolan (managing director of Yale Rep), Kent Thompson (artistic director of Alabama Shakespeare Festival) and Judy Rubin are on the search committee.

O'Quinn assured Playbill On-Line that American Theatre was doing business as usual: 10 issues a year (including two double-issues), with a circulation of roughly 25,000. Upcoming plays to be published in the magazine include Insurrection by Robert O'Hara (February) and Three Days of Rain by Richard Greenberg (March).

"We're just fine," said O'Quinn (Dec. 29). The Village Voice story was about change of leadership, but nothing's changed as far as what we're doing."

The Voice quotes TCG Board president as saying "There is an impasse regarding the governance and future direction of TCG." He went on to praise Sullivan's financial acumen and admit the difficulty of anyone following in TCG founder Peter Zeisler's footsteps. O'Quinn declined to give his thoughts on Sullivan's tenure. Asked what he hoped for in a new TCG honcho, O'Quinn told Playbill On-Line, "I hope for good leadership. TCG is the professional organization for the national theatre. It has a service orientation; I hope that continues to serve the field and focus on the art."

Founded in 1961, TCG "provides a variety of artistic, administrative and informational services to theatres and independent theatre artists, and acts as a forum for the profession and a resource for the media, funding agencies and the public."

TCG, "the national organization for the American theatre," also created the National Theatre Artists Residency Grant in response to their 1988 study of the needs of individual artists seeking "The Artistic Home."). Writers work on-site at theatres for a minimum of six months (and up to two years).

-- By David Lefkowitz