Jesse Green

Jesse Green is the chief theater critic for The New York Times.

From 2013 to 2017 he was the theater critic for New York magazine, where he had also been a contributing editor, writing long-form features, since 2008. Before that, he wrote about theater and other cultural topics for the Arts & Leisure section of The New York Times while covering broader subjects for The New York Times Magazine. Articles he has written for these and many other publications have been recognized with nominations and prizes from the National Magazine Awards and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, among others.

His latest book, “Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers,” written with Rodgers, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Earlier books include the novel “O Beautiful” (Ballantine/Random House), which Entertainment Weekly called “one of the best first novels of the year,” in 1990. He is also the author of “The Velveteen Father: An Unexpected Journey to Parenthood,” a memoir published by Villard/Random House in 1999 that was named one of the best nonfiction books of the year by The Los Angeles Times Book Review, one of the 10 best memoirs or biographies of the year by Amazon, and one of the best parenting books of the year by Child magazine. It won the Lambda Literary Award for Biography or Autobiography in 2000. His short fiction and essays have appeared in many magazines and collections.

Before turning to writing, Mr. Green worked in the theater as a gofer, a copyist, and a musical coordinator on Broadway shows. He has also written cryptic crosswords and other puzzles for many publications. He is a graduate of Yale College, with a degree in English and Theater.