Lincoln Center Theater Completes Executive Leadership Team

Maria Manuela Goyanes (Photo Courtesy Lincoln Center)

 

Lincoln Center Theater Completes Executive 

Leadership Team

Maria Manuela Goyanes Named Artistic Director of LCT3 & Producer; Mike Schleifer Appointed Managing Director

Lincoln Center Theater has finalized its new executive leadership team in preparation for the 2025-2026 season. Maria Manuela Goyanes, currently the artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, has been appointed Artistic Director of LCT3 and will also serve as a Producer. Mike Schleifer, managing director of the Alliance Theatre, has been named Managing Director of Lincoln Center Theater.

Goyanes and Schleifer join Lear deBessonet (Artistic Director), Bartlett Sher (Executive Producer), Nicole Kastrinos (Producer), and Naomi Grabel (Executive Director of Development & Planning) to form the institution’s senior leadership team.

Expanding the Vision for LCT3

As Artistic Director of LCT3, Goyanes will oversee new works by emerging theater artists, with an expanded programming vision for the Claire Tow Theater. While LCT3 will continue its mission of bringing fresh voices to the Lincoln Center stage, the initiative will also extend to alternative spaces inside and outside the building, incorporating concerts, comedy, and community-driven events.

“The Claire Tow Theater is a jewel box—a brave space for vulnerability and courage,” Goyanes said. “I am deeply honored to build upon the incredible foundation of LCT3 and bring bold, adventurous storytelling to this next chapter.”

Incoming artistic director Lear deBessonet and executive producer Bartlett Sher praised Goyanes’ dynamic energy and passion for new voices, calling her appointment “transformative for LCT3.”

Strengthening LCT’s Future

As Managing Director, Schleifer will oversee financial and operational strategy, ensuring Lincoln Center Theater’s long-term sustainability and growth. His role includes strategic planning, union relations, budgeting, and capital planning, while also developing new revenue opportunities to support LCT’s artistic mission.

“Lincoln Center Theater represents the pinnacle of artistic excellence,” Schleifer said. “I am thrilled to help build its next chapter alongside visionary leaders like Lear deBessonet and Bartlett Sher.”

DeBessonet and Sher emphasized Schleifer’s deep experience in both nonprofit and commercial theater, calling him “a leader with wisdom, sharp instincts, and a contagious spirit that uplifts everyone around him.”

Transition & Future Programming

Goyanes and Schleifer’s appointments coincide with the transition of longtime artistic director André Bishop, who will step down following LCT’s 40th Anniversary season. The theater will soon announce its 2025-2026 programming lineup.

Current productions include:

• Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts – New version by Mark O’Rowe, directed by Jack O’Brien (Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater)
• Adam Guettel’s Floyd Collins – Book, additional lyrics, and direction by Tina Landau (Vivian Beaumont Theater, previews begin March 27)
• Caitlin Saylor Stephens’ Five Models in Ruins, 1981 – Directed by Morgan Green (Claire Tow Theater, previews begin April 19)

For more information, visit www.LincolnCenterTheater.org.