The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, has announced its longtime president, Charlotte St. Martin, will step down. St. Martin will retire from the League effective Feb. 16. Jason Laks, the League’s executive vice president and legal counsel, will serve as acting president while the League board conducts an official search for a permanent replacement.
St. Martin joined the League in July 2006 as executive director (when it was known as the League of American Theaters and Producers). Under St. Martin’s tenure, the organization changed its name to the Broadway League, and she was named its first president in May 2015. During her tenure, St. Martin led the organization through many labor negotiations, several strikes, growth in audience attendance and a pandemic-induced industry shutdown. She has remained steadfast in her leadership, telling Broadway News in a 2023 three-part interview: “People need theater. They’ve needed it for 4,000 years. Broadway will always come back.”
St. Martin also spearheaded the League’s side of co-presenting the Tony Awards with the American Theatre Wing.
While St. Martin will conclude her presidential duties in February, she will remain on in an advisory capacity for special events through the 2024 Tony Awards in June.
"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,” St. Martin said in a statement. “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.”
"Charlotte's remarkable leadership over these past 18 years will have a lasting impact on the League and the Broadway industry,” said Kristin Caskey, chair of the League’s Board of Governors, in a statement. “She championed many of the League's remarkable initiatives, including Broadway Bridges and ¡Viva Broadway!, as well as expanded critical programs like the Jimmy Awards and Broadway Membership Fellows, among many others.”
St. Martin came to the League from the hospitality industry, having served as executive vice president of operations and marketing — and later, president and CEO — of Loews Anatole Hotel. She held tenures as chair of the New York Society of Association Executives, chair of Meeting Planners International and chair of Professional Convention Management Association Foundations. She is a current member of NYC Tourism + Conventions board. She is a 2019 Crain's New York Business Hall of Fame inductee.
“It has been the honor of my career to lead this organization,” noted St. Martin. “I am grateful for all that we have accomplished together.”
