"A New Deal For Broadway" abolishes all-white creative teams; includes commitments from Shubert, Nederlander, Jujamcyn to each rename theatres after a Black Artist — Page 2

This was the creation of Black Theater United and, in the document, it expressly states that their focus is on black theater professionals.

I think it's an excellent document that I encourage everyone to read. It sets realistic goals and time frames in which to make progress. I don't think it will be radical enough for some members of the community and far too pushy for others, which means I think they found the sweet spot of actually getting something done.

And though she may only have had three productions hit Broadway, doesn't The Hansberry just sound classy?

everythingtaboo said: "JDonaghy4 said: "this sorta tokenism-- everyone has to name one theater after a Black person, and then they will have fulfilled their obligation!- so insulting and so performative. Don't get me wrong, that August Wilson is the only Black artist to have their name on a theater is mortifying, but that seems like a symptom of non-inclusivity and not something to be remedied by making sure the Shuberts and the Nederlanders are forced to come up with more."

Going along with this: How about it not just be black artists? I'd say have the theatre owners choose a POC, not necessarily black, and rename a theatre after them. That way if there's a Latin person of note, or Asian, the wealth can be spread a little?"

oh, i didnt even mean to step on that grenade- yes I think that one of the nasty side effects of tokenism becomes then focusing on who gets the token. There should be more Black voices, more Hispanic voices, more female voices- and once that happens, God willing, you will see the result/symptom follow accordingly, ie more theaters named after those people.

For now, the less-performative thing to do is to identify people (not minorities in general) who have been slighted, marginalized, and calling for theaters to be named for them. But no one asked me. If this is the direction they want to go, there are a slew of theaters named after nothing, so have them hop to it (before we start stripping away names from Brooks Atkinson or whoever)

One other possibility is Andre De Shields (he's had quite a long career). Going outside names known primarily for theatre, Duke Ellington or Billie Holiday could be ideas. While completely not theatre-related, I wouldn't be surprised if Martin Luther King wasn't at least considered.

As to which theatres- as others have said naming a Broadway Theatre the "Broadway" always seemed a bit redundant. I really can't see the Shuberts or Nederlanders renaming their namesake theatres. (It makes no sense to have Jacobs and Schoenfeld theatres [named after important people in the Shubert Org., but not have one named after the organization itself). For the Nederlanders, my guess would be the Marquis (a theatre named after a....hotel) or the Minskoff (named after the people who built the building it is in). If Jujamcyn wants to rename a second theatre, its options are limited- makes no sense to rename the Hirschfeld this quickly and Eugene O'Neill is still considered a major playwright, so it would have to be the Kerr or St. James.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "JSquared2 said: "Since there is no sensible reason to have theaters named after Brooks Atkinson or Walter Kerr (critics?really??) -- it would be a nice start to rename those 2 buildings."

Walter Kerr had a successful career as a writer/director, too, with 6 Broadway credits. Though I agree that it seems more likely that Nederlander and Jujamcyn would rename those houses than, say, the St. James and the Palace, two iconic and storied houses."



I realize that Kerr wrote and directed a few plays before becoming a critic -- and I'd be astonished if more than 1 in 1 Million people could name a single one of them without Googling. Just seems sorta silly to have not just 1 but 2 theaters named after men who were predominantly critics.

fashionguru_23 said: "I don't believe Marriot is part of the name anymore, or question: was it ever officially?"

The hotel name is the Marriot Marquis. The theatre name is the Marquis Theatre. It has always been thus. The first performance there, in 1986, was Shirley Bassey.

Kad said: "I think renaming of the theaters is easily the least substantive of the things in the document.

Abolishing all-white creative teams is a massive and important commitment."



which has zero legal enforceability and is highly unlikely to happen

because it is illegal to dictate hiring practices in this country based on gender or race and in several states sexual preference

you can’t go “you can’t have a theater because your creative team is all (insert here)”

the NYT article pretty much says its a part that will be encourage by theater owners but its not necessarily something they will enforce

“Their pledges are not legally enforceable, but they agreed to “hold ourselves and each other accountable for implementing these commitments.”

so pretty much lip service and platitudes

also what roles are defined in that group?

also I understand that this was led by a black advocacy group But again it just feels like it’s leaving non-black nonwhite creatives on the fringe yet again

“One theater will be renamed after a black individual”

just like this slew of black plays on Broadway this fall, it all feels performative, where is the acknowledgement and production of work by hispanic, asian and native artists?

Why as someone pointed out doesn’t Chita Rivera have a theater named after her? Or why not David Henry Hwang who was the first Asian American whose work won best play?

Its good that more people will be at the table but this isn’t equity it is pushing other marginalized groups to the side in the process

Updated On: 8/24/21 at 02:00 AM

HogansHero said: "fashionguru_23 said: "I don't believe Marriot is part of the name anymore, or question: was it ever officially?"

The hotel name is the Marriot Marquis. The theatre name is the Marquis Theatre. It has always been thus. The first performance there, in 1986, was Shirley Bassey."

Correct. My question was more, that people keep referring to the theatre as the Marriot Marquis Theatre, and I was questioning was Marriot ever actually a part of the name, or were people just including it in the name because of its location within the hotel.

@lightsout, my quote made it less than clear but I was really only asking about the "highly unlikely" part. So you think it is platitudes, which is your right; I think there will be much-needed change because there is a recognition this is not a passing fad. Will everyone think it is enough? Of course not but I am convinced the important commitment is real, especially because the metric has been cast in stone. The rest of your post is about black vs BIPOC, a fine subject but not this one.

@Fosse76 You are wrong about the name of the theatre. The Nederlander's landlord is Vornado. This arrangement is much more complicated than anyone could imagine.

@fashionguru as noted, it has never been a part of the name and TBH I have been around for decades and I have rarely if ever heard anyone call it the Marriot Marquis Theatre. For that matter, I think most people in the Broadway community call the hotel the Marriot (sans Marquis) unless the context makes it unclear what Marriot is being discussed.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said:
(I do think now would also be a good opportunity to do some other renaming too...such as The HaroldPrince Theatre, The Michael Bennett Theatre, The Angela Lansbury Theatre, The Carol Channing Theatre)"

If the Majestic is ever renamed, of course it will be the Hal Prince.