MTC Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Executive Producer Barry Grove Tonight

Manhattan Theatre Club celebrates Executive Producer Barry Grove's 40th anniversary with the organization tonight, June 15.

The event will begin at 7 PM with a tribute event at the Samuel J. Friedman (261 West 47th Street). Immediately after the Friedman event, a party will follow at the Hard Rock Café (1501 Broadway).

Proceeds from sales of tickets for the event and after party will benefit Manhattan Theatre Club. For more information or to purchase tickets online, visit www.manhattantheatreclub.com/barry-grove-anniversary/.

Under the dynamic leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has become one of the country's most respected theatre companies, having produced hundreds of American and world premieres. MTC productions have earned hundreds of awards including six Pulitzer Prizes and 19 Tony Awards. Grove's tireless efforts on behalf of MTC have seen it grow from a small Off-Off Broadway theatre company on the Upper East Side to a world class producer of new and contemporary works in its three stages. In 2003, Grove's ultimate vision for a permanent Broadway home for MTC was achieved with the re-opening of the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The theatre, long considered beyond salvation following years of neglect and damage, was reopened following an extensive two-year, $35 million renovation. In addition to the Friedman, MTC's operates two theatres at New York City Center, which has been MTC's Off-Broadway home since 1984.

BARRY GROVE has been Executive Producer of Manhattan Theatre Club since 1975. In partnership with Artistic Director Lynne Meadow, he has produced over 380 American and world premieres. Since its founding in 1970, MTC has grown from a prolific Off-Off-Broadway showcase into one of the country's most acclaimed theatre organizations. MTC productions have earned 19 Tony Awards, six Pulitzer Prizes, 48 Obie Awards, 32 Drama Desk Awards, as well as numerous Outer Critics Circle, Theatre World Awards and, in 2001, the Jujamcyn Award.

Among the numerous plays produced by MTC are Ain't Misbehavin', the Fats Waller musical; Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley (Pulitzer Prize); The Miss Firecracker Contest by Beth Henley (with Holly Hunter); Eastern Standard by Richard Greenberg; Putting it Together (with Julie Andrews); Playland by Athol Fugard (with Kevin Spacey); Pretty Fire by Charlayne Woodard; Love! Valour! Compassion! by Terrence McNally (Tony Award for Best Play); Sylvia by A.R. Gurney (with Sarah Jessica Parker and Blythe Danner); Fuddy Meers by David Lindsay-Abaire; The Piano Lesson by August Wilson (Pulitzer Prize); Proof by David Auburn (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play); The Tale of the Allergist's Wife by Charles Busch; Sight Unseen by Donald Margulies; Doubt by John Patrick Shanley (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play); Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire (Pulitzer Prize); Shining City by Conor McPherson; Translations by Brian Friel; Blackbird by David Harrower; LoveMusik, book by Alfred Uhry, songs by Kurt Weill; Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck; Ruined by Lynn Nottage (Pulitzer Prize); Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies; The Pitmen Painters by Lee Hall; Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire; Wit by Margaret Edson; Venus in Fur by David Ives; Commons of Pensacola by Amanda Peet; Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanley; and Constellations by Nick Payne.

Grove is a member of the LORT Executive Committee, the Broadway League Board of Governors, the Tony Administration Committee, and has been a trustee of the Equity-League Pension and Health Trust Funds for over 20 years. He served as President of the Off-Broadway League for over a decade and the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, as Treasurer of TCG, and as a Board Member of BC/EFA. He also served as President of the Off-Off-Broadway Alliance. He has served on numerous panels, including a term as Chairman of the theatre panel for both the NEA and the New York State Council on the Arts, and is a frequent speaker at the Commercial Theatre Institute. He received the 2000 Edith Oliver Award for sustained Excellence Off-Broadway, the Arts and Business Council's 1997 Arts Management Excellence Award, and a citation from the New York City Council, which declared June 4, 1990, "Barry Grove Day." Before Grove began his tenure at Manhattan Theatre Club, he was General Manager of the New Repertory Theatre in Rhode Island from 1973-1975.

A Dartmouth graduate, he is a current member and past Chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Hopkins Center/Hood Museum of Art. He is a past President of the New York Dartmouth Club and Alumni Association. Grove is an adjunct professor at both Columbia and Yale universities.