The theater world was in shock Tuesday, as the president of the Broadway League—the powerful trade association that represents Broadway theaters and producers—announced she was stepping down from the position.
In a statement announcing her unexpected resignation, effective Feb. 16., Charlotte St. Martin said: “While there is never a good moment for an executive who has spent a great deal of time in their role to resign, it is the appropriate time for me.
“It is truly the most difficult decision as I love the League, the staff, and of course, the industry that we have supported. I am very proud of our League team and the successes we have shared and know they will continue to provide the League with the highest level of commitment for which they are known. It has been the honor of my career to lead this organization, and I am grateful for all that we have accomplished together.”
The League said St. Martin would continue to serve in an advisory capacity for special events through the 2024 Tony Awards. Jason Laks, the organization’s executive vice president and general counsel, will serve as acting president while the Board of Governors conducts an official search for her successor.
One member of the Board of Governors, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Daily Beast they and other colleagues had been surprised to read the news of St. Martin’s resignation Tuesday. There had been no pre-warning, or even rumors circulating within the League of her move. “If she had been planning to do this and told others, it must have been a very small group of people,” the broad member said.
St. Martin guided Broadway through a vexed post-pandemic world, in which Broadway audiences have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, and where production costs remain high. The League’s 700-plus members include theater owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers in North American cities, as well as suppliers of goods and services to the commercial theater industry.
The board member paid fulsome tribute to St. Martin’s leadership, not just when it came to the pandemic, but also her stance when negotiating with unions, and “insisting” on change, on stage and off, when it came to racism and racial equity in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
“Charlotte reached out, reached across, reached down, reached up, she was open to it all,” the board member said. “I don’t think people know how collaborative she was. She met it head-on, step by step, all the time. She did a lot of active listening and active application, including hiring Gennean Scott in May 2021 as the first director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and setting up active conversations with advocacy groups. She was really responsive. That was not because Broadway League members or anyone else insisted, it was because Charlotte insisted.”
In a May 2020 interview with The Daily Beast, St. Martin said that Broadway was losing an average of $35 million a week as the pandemic continued. The following year, as Broadway prepared to reopen, St. Martin estimated that lost revenues will amount to $3 billion in ticket sales, and $22 billion when it comes to the wider economic impact on New York City.
St. Martin told The Daily Beast: “A lot of people have spent the last year without any revenue, any income, many without health insurance and certain protections. Lots of dreams and heartbreak came together at the same time. The theater is more than just making money for everyone, it’s a life’s passion. It has been a traumatic time, seeing all these shows not able to open, wondering if they will ever get to open, and seeing all the pain and suffering.”
Given there were six not-for-profit theaters on Broadway, St. Martin was asked if she wanted Broadway to receive the kind of city, state, or federal financial support, such as theater receives in countries like Britain and Germany.
“Yes, it would be nice to get some support, seriously,” said St. Martin. “We get absolutely not one penny from the city or state or federal government unlike London and most other places. We provide a $14.3 billion economic impact in New York City alone. Wouldn’t it be nice to get a little of that back?”
Had St. Martin ever asked or lobbied for such money for Broadway?
“Of course.”
And the response was?
St. Martin laughed. “No,” she recalled bluntly of the response she had been given. “I think one mayor said, ‘What are you going to do? Move?’ This was a long time ago.”
A man walks past the Richard Rodgers Theatre, home of the popular musical “Hamilton.”
The board member told The Daily Beast that St. Martin’s announcement came at a time when many well-known theater names—like André Bishop, head of Lincoln Center Theater—had announced they were also stepping down. “There’s a lot of change afoot in the industry at large, the board member said.
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Every job runs its course. I pray for anyone who takes on running the League, because that job has a target on its back. It’s so difficult to run an organization with members who have such different ideas on how to do things, as well as people outside the organization who also have different ideas, who you have to listen to and engage with.”
The board member said St. Martin’s successor would likely be an outside candidate. “It’s the only way to provide neutrality to the existing association and the theater community at large.”
The board member said St. Martin’s greatest achievements were “navigating relationships with unions and non-members, and having healthy conversations with everyone in the theater world when she didn’t have to. Also, her leadership through the pandemic, and negotiating the SVOG (Shuttered Venue Operators Grant), which we still have today, and requiring unconscious bias training for all board members at the League.” The board member paused. “And I’m not even hitting all her achievements.”
The board member said St. Martin was “well-liked” within the organization. “We were united behind her. Within any tenure there are moments that are not great, but those moments should not take away from how generally great her tenure was. I hope people remember Charlotte as an open, loyal, communicative leader and the bar we all should aspire to.”
St. Martin’s passion for theater was notable—and, she insisted to The Daily Beast during the pandemic, her belief in Broadway remained undimmed by the challenges it faced.
“People love to say, ‘Broadway is going to die, ‘Broadway is dead,’” she said. “Two years ago, we had only 15 plays, and the headlines were ‘The play is dead,’ ‘Broadway is dead.’ The next year we had the biggest play season in history. I think Broadway will survive.”
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