Episode #128
128. Artistic Director Mini-Series: Curating with Care & Clarity
Curating with Care & Clarity
What does it look like to lead a major cultural institution with courage, care, and a commitment to collective transformation? In this episode of our Artistic Director Mini-Series, Jennifer chat with director, writer, community organizer, and Artistic Director of New York Theatre Workshop, Patricia McGregor, about how her full identity shapes her leadership. She shares how she curates using a funnel model rooted in collaboration and grounds her programming in rigor, risk, and relevance. From building an “artistic compass” to reframing fundraising as a meaningful invitation, together they also candidly discuss burnout, tools for leading with purpose while centering people, and why leadership isn’t about holding power, but holding space. Whether you’re stepping into leadership, shaping your own practice, or dreaming of systemic change, this episode offers grounded inspiration and tools for how to lead artfully and live your values out loud.
About Our Guest
About Patricia: Born in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Patricia McGregor (she/her/hers) is the Artistic Director of New York Theatre Workshop. Throughout her tenure at NYTW, she has championed a range of visionary artists, producing five world-premiers and countless workshop sharings. She has secured key funding to innovate the community engagement and education programs. Centering both virtuosity and accessibility, Patricia has renewed NYTW's standing as a place of belonging for adventurous artists and audiences alike. Patricia is a renowned director and writer working in theatre, film, dance, and music. She has twice been profiled by The New York Times for her direction of world premieres. Her productions include The Refuge Plays (Roundabout Theatre, NYTW); The Last of the Love Letters (Atlantic Theater Company); Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout Theatre); Blood Dazzler (Harlem Stage); Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole (co-writer and director; Geffen Playhouse, People’s Light, upcoming NYTW); Sisters in Law (Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts); Shakespeare: Call and Response, Krapp’s Last Tape, What You Are, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Measure for Measure (The Old Globe); Skeleton Crew (Geffen Playhouse); Good Grief (Center Theatre Group); Hamlet (The Public Theater); Place (Brooklyn Academy of Music ); The Parchman Hour (Guthrie Theater); The Refuge Plays and Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout Theatre Company); brownsville song (Lincoln Center Theater); Indomitable: James Brown (Apollo Theater); Holding It Down (The Metropolitan Museum of Art); A Raisin in the Sun, The Winter’s Tale and Spunk (California Shakespeare Theater); Adoration of the Old Woman (INTAR Theatre); Blood Dazzler (Harlem Stage); Four Electric Ghosts (The Kitchen); and the world premiere of Hurt Village (Signature Theatre Company). McGregor also served as director for HBO’s emerging writer’s showcase, and as tour consultant to Raphael Saadiq and J. Cole. She was associate director of Fela! on Broadway, and for many years has directed The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway. She co-founded Angela’s Pulse with her sister, choreographer and organizer Paloma McGregor. McGregor attended SMU, where she was a Presidential Scholar, and the Yale School of Drama, where she was a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow and artistic director of Yale Cabaret.
Patricia's IG: @patriciamcgregor
New York Theatre Workshop Website: nytw.org