{"id":819093,"date":"2026-10-30T22:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T22:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/819093\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T22:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T22:00:09","slug":"broadway-director-daniel-sullivan-announces-retirement-after-55-year-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/819093\/","title":{"rendered":"Broadway Director Daniel Sullivan Announces Retirement After 55-Year Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDaniel Sullivan<\/a>, the Tony-winning Broadway<\/a> director of Proof, The Heidi Chronicles, Glengarry Glen Ross and numerous other acclaimed productions, has announced his retirement after a 55-year career in the theater.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe unexpected announcement \u2013 Sullivan was scheduled to direct next spring\u2019s Manhattan Theatre Club<\/a> production of David Hare\u2019s Montauk<\/a> starring Laura Linney<\/a> \u2013 was made by MTC today. The non-profit theater company also announced that British theater and opera director Jonathan Kent<\/a> will step in to direct the much-anticipated world premiere production.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt has been a privilege to bring stories to life alongside the most brilliant artists in the theatre, but I feel it\u2019s time for me to step into a well-earned retirement,\u201d Sullivan said in a statement. \u201cI am proudly passing the directorial honors of David Hare\u2019s new play to Jonathan Kent. He is a visionary of immense talent, and I have absolutely no doubt he will do a masterful job bringing this extraordinary new work to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNo specific reason for the retirement\u2019s timing was announced.<\/p>\n

\n\tLynne Meadow, MTC\u2019s longtime artistic director who stepped down from the role last year, said, \u201cThere is no director with whom I have worked more closely than the great Dan Sullivan. Our collaborations and deep friendship for over 25 years have been among the greatest joys, honors and blessings in my five-decade role as MTC\u2019s Artistic Director. In addition to his many exquisite shows for our company, he has been and will continue to be a special advisor. And his brilliant world premiere productions will endure as legends of the American theatre. We are forever grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSullivan has directed 20 shows for MTC, both for Broadway and Off Broadway. He won the Tony Award in 2001 for directing David Auburn\u2019s Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning play Proof, as well as such acclaimed MTC productions as Donald Margulies\u2019 Sight Unseen and Time Stands Still; David Lindsay-Abaire\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole and Good People; Lillian Hellman\u2019s The Little Foxes; and Auburn\u2019s Summer, 1976. He also served as MTC\u2019s Interim Artistic Director during Meadow\u2019s 2007-08 sabbatical. <\/p>\n

\n\tSullivan\u2019s other Broadway credits include I\u2019m Not Rappaport; The Heidi Chronicles; Conversations with My Father; The Sisters Rosensweig; Ah, Wilderness!; A Moon for the Misbegotten; Morning\u2019s at Seven; Julius Caesar; The Merchant of Venice; and Glengarry Glen Ross. <\/p>\n

\n\tAmong Sullivan\u2019s Off Broadway credits was Hare\u2019s Stuff Happens for the Public Theater in 2006. The play used actual words from members of the Bush and Blair administrations regarding the Iraq War.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOne of the most unforgettable nights I have had was when Dan Sullivan\u2019s forensic production of Stuff Happens electrified the Delacorte Theater in Central Park after a lively run downtown,\u201d Hare said today. \u201cThe way Dan staged the process leading up to the Iraq war created theatre as civic forum in a way I have rarely seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHare added that \u201cit\u2019s a sadness for me that Dan is retiring,\u201d but that \u201cno-one could step into his huge shoes better than Jonathan Kent.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAlmost thirty years ago,\u201d Hare said, \u201cJonathan and I started collaborating on plays by Pirandello, Chekhov, Ibsen and Brecht. His all-day celebration of Young Chekhov, with stunning productions of Platonov, Ivanov and The Seagull, first at Chichester, then at the National Theatre, changed the way audiences and academics see a once-romantic writer. I can\u2019t wait to crack on with Jonathan on Montauk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMontauk is set to begin performances on Tuesday, March 30, 2027, opening Monday, April 19, 2027, at MTC\u2019s Broadway venue the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.<\/p>\n

\n\tKent is the former joint Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre from 1990 to 2002, and he directed hits including Medea starring Diana Rigg and Hamlet starring Ralph Fiennes. His major West End credits also include Gypsy starring Imelda Staunton and Sweeney Todd , and on Broadway he directed revivals of Long Day\u2019s Journey into Night, Faith Healer, Man of La Mancha, and MTC\u2019s The Height of the Storm. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWorking with David is always a profound joy,\u201d Kent said in a statement. \u201cHis writing is as vital, witty and razor-sharp as ever, and delving into a world premiere play of his is exhilarating. To collaborate as well with Laura Linney is an exquisite gift. She possesses an emotional depth that perfectly aligns with David\u2019s writing, and I cannot wait to explore this extraordinary piece together in the rehearsal room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe synopsis for Montauk reads: \u201cSince his first and most famous show, the abstract painter Jared Speight has known the catastrophe of early success, which has left him both revered and angry, living alone towards the wilder end of Long Island. Roxy Margaux (Linney) is a popular essayist, whose gift for elucidating complicated modern art has sent her books rocketing up the best-seller lists. When Roxy first visits Jared\u2019s studio, the two embark on a relationship which will test both their strategies for survival to the limit. Funny and intelligent, Montauk asks far-reaching questions about our passions and the sacrifices we make for them.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdditional casting for Montauk will be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daniel Sullivan, the Tony-winning Broadway director of Proof, The Heidi Chronicles, Glengarry Glen Ross and numerous other acclaimed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[15000,6491,268773,96,268774,93477,268775,268776,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-819093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-broadway","tag-celebrities","tag-daniel-sullivan","tag-entertainment","tag-jonathan-kent","tag-laura-linney","tag-manhattan-theatre-club","tag-montauk","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}