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!
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
Posted: 6/1/20 at 1:44pm
Posted: 6/1/20 at 2:55pm
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.
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
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!
Posted: 6/1/20 at 6:32pm
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.
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
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.
