Let's Make a List of Diverse Broadway Professionals

[jeffinatx]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 12:25pm

Hey everyone.  I'm a high school theatre teacher, and over the summer I'd love to make a few posters to hang in my classroom that celebrate non-white Broadway performers, designers, directors, and professionals.  If you think of a name that should be included, reply to this post.  Thanks in advance!

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 1:02pm

Tarell Alvin McCraney - Academy Award winner for Moonlight and Tony Award nominee for Choir Boy.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins - 2-time Pulitzer Finalist for Gloria and Everybody

Michael R. Jackson - First Black musical theatre writer to win the Pulitzer for A Strange Loop

Jason Michael Webb - Won a Special Tony Award for his musical arrangements in Choir Boy.

Juanita Hall - First black person to win a Tony Award (Best Featured Actress in a Musical) for South Pacific in 1950.

Stew - First black person to win the Tony for Best Book of a Musical for Passing Strange in 2008

Charlie Smalls - First black person to win the Tony for Best Original Score for The Wiz in 1975

Joseph A. Walker - First black person to win the Tony for Best Play for The River Niger in 1974

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 1:44pm

This is such a lovely idea! Good luck with it!!

[jdrye222]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 2:55pm

I’ll stay off actors just for a second, as I feel it’s important to highlight those whose names we see but may not know who they are.

Kenny Leon - Director
Toni Leslie-James - costume designer
Daryl waters - orchestrator
Zane Mark - composer / arranger
Emilio Sosa - costume designer
Saheem Ali - Director
Clint Ramos - costume designer
Paul Tazewell - costume designer
Kai Harada - sound designer
Harold wheeler - music Director / orchestrator
Joseph Joubert - conductor / orchestrator
Shelton Becton - music Director / pianist

[fosterfan2]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 5:26pm

This is wonderful! Welcome to the board. You remind me of my high school Performing Arts teacher. And that's a big compliment.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 6:18pm

Not all of these people have worked on Broadway, but here are some non-white theatre artists who are significant to the industry today, and/or some of my underrated favorites. This list is obviously wildly incomplete, partly because I'm picking and choosing a bit, but also because I'm sure I forgot a ton of important examples. But here goes: 

Writers/Composers:
August Wilson
Adrienne Kennedy
David Henry Hwang 
Lorainne Hansbury 
Miria Irene Fornes 
Quiara Alegria Hudes 
Robert O'Hara (also a director) 
Suzan-Lori Parks 
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Mfoniso Udofia
debbie tucker green 
Qui Nguyen 
Lynn Nottage
Dominique Morisseau 
Mia Chung
Jeremy O. Harris 
Jackie Sibles Drurie
Ayad Akhtar 
Nassim Soleimanpour 
Luis Alfaro 
Donja R. Love
Lauren Yee
Young Jean Lee 
Celina Song 
Christopher Chen
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Michael R. Jackson
Dael Orlandersmith 
Anna Deavere Smith
Amiri Baraka
Danai Gurira
Eboni Booth
Larissa FastHorse 

Directors:
George C. Wolfe (also a playwright) 
Lileana Blain-Cruz
Leisl Tommy
Ruben Santiago-Hudson 
Robert O'Hara 
Kenny Leon
Chay Yew 
Saheem Ali
Awoye Timpo
Leah C. Gardiner 
Stevie Walker-Webb
Satoshi Miyagi 
Yukio Ninagawa 


Performers: 

Audra McDonald
James Earl Jones
Rebecca Naomi Jones
Joshua Henry 
Kelvin Moon Loh
Adrienne Warren 
Lindsay Mendez
Merle Dandridge 
Phillip Boykin
Nikki M. James
Raymond J. Lee
Ann Harada
Chita Rivera 
Krysta Rodriguez 
Telly Leung
Nicolette Robinson 
Kristolyn Lloyd
Mandy Gonzales
Cush Jumbo 
Sahr Ngaujah 
Amber Grey 
John Douglas Thompson 
Sophie Okonedo 
Ruthie Ann Miles
Ashley Park 
Zainab Jah 
Joel Perez 
Arian Moayed 
Karen Pittman
Brandon Victor Dixon
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Billy Porter
Joaquina Kalukango
Bryonha Marie Parham
Saycon Sengbloh
Jocelyn Bioh (also a playwright) 
Quincy Tyler Bernstine
Jason Tam
Lea Salonga
Ari'el Stachel 
Lilli Cooper
Chuck Cooper 
Eddie Cooper 
Andre de Shields
Eva Noblezada 
Phillipa Soo 
Lin-manuel Miranda
Leslie Odom Jr. 
Rene Elise Golsberry 
Daveed Diggs
Brian Tyree Henry 
James Seol
Titus Burgess
Condola Rashad
Phylicia Rashad 
Myra Lucretia Taylor
Vaishnavi Sharma 
Daphne Ruben-Vega
Ato Blankson-Wood
Jeremy Pope 
Mia Katigbak
Conrad Ricamora
Heather Alicia Simms
David Alan Grier
Blair Underwood 
J. Alphonse Nicholson 
Jelani Remy 
Taylor Iman Jones 
Ana Villafañe
LaChanze
Thom Sesma
Francis Jue 
Michael Benjamin Washington 
Derrick Baskins
Sean Carvajal 
Arinze Kene
Danielle Brooks
Javier Munoz 
Christopher Jackson
James T. Lane
Jin Ha
Nneka Okafor 
James Monroe Iglehart 
Jelani Alladin
Jasmine Cephas Jones
Patina Miller 
Liza Colon-Zayas
Starr Busby 
Priscilla Lopez 
Larry Owens 
Cynthia Errivo 
Tonya Pinkins 
Vanessa Williams 
Heather Headley 
Jennifer Holliday 
Leslie Uggams 
Norm Lewis 
Robin de Jesus
Ephraim Syskes 
Colman Domingo (also a playwright) 
Keala Settle 
Karen Olivo 
Anika Noni Rose
Sharon D. Clarke
(and many, many more) 

Updated On: 6/1/20 at 06:18 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 6:28pm

Audra McDonald

Brian Stokes Mitchell

Brandon Victor Dixon

I list these incredible performers in particular because they do amazing charitable work and seem like such amazing people besides being brilliant on stage. 

Great idea, by the way! 

[FlyHigh523]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 6:32pm

Brittney Johnson, first black Glinda (and truly one of the best Glinda’s wicked has ever had).

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 7:59pm

He's more of a movie star, but Denzel Washington won a Tony Award for his performance in Fences.

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 10:11pm

Ellen Stewart—Experimental theater impresario

Stephen McKinley Henderson—actor/director/educator

May Adrales—director

Sheldon Epps—director

Ntozake Shange—playwright

Mashuq Mushtaq Deen—playwright

Chay Yew—playwright/director

Katori Hall—playwright/Director

Griffin Matthews—writer/actor/composer/activist 

Yussef El Guindi—playwright 

Jordan E. Cooper—playwright/actor

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OffOnBwayHi]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 10:21pm

Great idea! Wonderful names so far.

Add the playwrights C.A. Johnson and Jocelyn Bioh

And the director, Whitney White.

All wonderful, challenging artists that are rising quickly in the industry.