Gillian Russo

Gillian "Gil" Russo is the editor of New York Theatre Guide. She joined the editorial team in 2021 as an assistant editor after graduating Fordham University at Lincoln Center that year with an honors degree in journalism and theatre. She is based in Manhattan.

Originally from Connecticut, Gillian began taking dance lessons at age 3, and her desire to do even more dancing (especially tap) eventually led her to theatre. She knew her turn as Frau Schmidt in The Sound of Music wouldn't lead to a performance career, but she still loved the art form, and a Journalism 101 class at a local theatre that was producing Newsies introduced her to the world of theatre journalism.

Gillian's arts writing has since appeared in Broadway News, Backstage Magazine, Plays To See, The Fordham Observer, and more, and she is a member of the Outer Critics Circle and GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. Her full portfolio of writing and multimedia work is here, and occasionally, she remembers to share her work on social media.

When she's not doing this job, you can find Gillian hosting Upper West Side bar trivia and leading outdoor workout classes. In her free time, she enjoys jigsaw puzzles, word games (especially The New York Times Spelling Bee), game shows, cooking and baking, and choreographing dance routines in her living room. Her favorite musicals, in part for sentimental reasons, remain Newsies and The Sound of Music, and her favorite play is Our Dear Dead Drug Lord. She saw it eight times in two months and would love for you to ask her about it.