List of deceased people who *didn't* receive a Broadway light dimming

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/5/24 at 1:45pm

I decided to do some digging, and my conclusion is that there is no logic, Broadway light-dimmings are a popularity contest that generally favor the people with the loudest friends, and the decision-making behind it needs to be entirely rethought to at least give a slight impression of equitability. (and for the sake of publicity, the Broadway League should probably remove itself from that conversation)

To be very clear, none of this is a knock to the people who ARE getting a dimming. Their contributions were major and I don't care if it's full or partial. I'm merely writing to show the disparity between who gets dimmed and who doesn't.

You may add to this list, but for the sake of simplicity, let's focus on people who died within the past 10 years, let's exclude those who've passed within the last couple of months (dimmings may still be in the works), and let's focus on people who contributed to numerous shows over the span of a decade+.

• How is a decision made to dim for Gavin Creel but not for his costar, Michael McGrath, who appeared in 15 Broadway shows and won a Tony Award. Like Creel, he received an outpouring of love from the community and his death came as a shock to his own family. Gary Beach, a similarly lauded and beloved man who died suddenly, was honored by just the New Amsterdam.
• How is a decision made to dim for Adrian Bailey but not for people like Sheila Smith, Linda Balgord, Pamela Blair, Merwin Foard, and Walter Charles?
• How is a decision made to dim for Martin Pakledinaz but not for Eugene Lee, Franne Lee, and Willa Kim?
• Where would the theatrical artform be without the work of Richard M. Sherman, Chris Durang, Leslie Bricusse, and Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt?
• How is a decision made to dim for Peter Hall and Nicky Martin but not for other directors like Peter Brook, Michael Blakemore, and Frank Galati, and multi-hyphenates like Bob LuPone, Tony Mordente, Maurice Hines, and Alan Arkin?
• Beloved actors like Frances Sternhagen, Charles Kimbrough, Paxton Whitehead, Janis Paige, Glenda Jackson, Treat Williams, Glynis Johns, Inga Swenson, and Carole Cook. None for Broadway's original "Kate" in Kiss Me Kate, Patricia Morison, who lived to 103?
• Offstage figures like Joanna Merlin, Edgar Lansbury, Bill Kenwright, Darren DeVerna, and Ira Bernstein. Music personnel like Bill Brohn, Don Sebesky, Red Press, Elliot Lawrence, and Gordon Lowry Harrell helped refine the Broadway sound. (Harrell didn't even get obits by most of the theatre publications.) These people lived and breathed Broadway.
• All those we lost in 2020 and 2021. Ann Reinking, Bernie Gersten, Christopher Plummer, Zoe Caldwell, Brian Dennehy, Diana Rigg, Nick Cordero, Hal Holbrook, Cicely Tyson, Olympia Dukakis, Orson Bean, Bob Avian, Margo Lion, Gerry Freedman, Patti Karr, Sam E. Wright, Brent Carver, Marge Champion, Paul Huntley, Howell Binkley, Pat Collins, Ming Cho Lee, Anthony Powell, Arthur Kopit. You could argue that "well, they died when Broadway shows weren't running." But the League still went out of their way to dim for Phil Smith and Terrence McNally when Broadway eventually resumed.

I could go on and on, but I think this is enough to make a point. Overhaul the system and be transparent, or end the tradition.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/5/24 at 1:54pm

I agree.  I just happened to see a list of theatres that are dimming for Creel and I can make very little sense of it.  He appeared in Some of the theatres, not others.  So arbitrary after all the storm-und-drunk.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/5/24 at 1:58pm

I personally take more issue with the idea of partial dimming as currently practiced, which most often occurs at seemingly arbitrarily-chosen theaters that usually have little significance to the deceased. It just feels rote more than respectful.

A full dim for icons or those with sudden, tragic deaths, a targeted partial dim of either theaters relevant to the deceased (ie where they worked) or a dim of theaters on a specific street for luminaries. But a scattering of a dozen theaters from LCT to 40th street just feels too diffuse to be seen as anything intentional.

Updated On: 10/5/24 at 01:58 PM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 10/5/24 at 2:32pm

Thanks for this list and analysis, point very well made. 

I think it should either be ended entirely, or when a Tony-winner passes away they should get one theatre they worked in dimmed for them. As it stands, there’s too much comparison and competition which really isn’t fair to the departed. 

Updated On: 10/5/24 at 02:32 PM

[joevitus]

Posted: 10/5/24 at 2:39pm

It probably is either arbitrary or political. But since there are so many people who make Broadway great, and they all have their strong supporters--yet obviously the lights can't be dimmed every time one of them dies--then likely the choice always is going to be arbitrary/political. I don't see any sort of solution. 

I also don't really see the significance of it anymore, honestly. When Broadway dimmed the lights for the first time to acknowledge the death of Oscar Hammerstein, that was obviously significant. He was a titan in his field who is largely responsible for reshaping the Broadway musical into its modern incarnation (even today his influence is felt, despite the fact that many musicals no longer resemble his kind of show at all). But titans are rare. Yet the practice seems to be routine. And when something is routine, it becomes less a gesture and more of a tic. 

 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 10/5/24 at 3:38pm

It is generally better when difficult decisions are driven by policy or principles rather than individual personalities and/or politics. People may still not agree with some of the decisions, but at least can understand why they were made.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/6/24 at 12:24am

JasonC3 said: "It is generally better when difficult decisions are driven by policy or principles rather than individual personalities and/or politics. People may still not agree with some of the decisions, but at least can understand why they were made."

This.

There is no way forward without a process of standardization, and obviously they cannot dim for every person who touched this industry.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 10/6/24 at 12:52am

This dimming has gotten out of hand, it’s now just a place for those seeking fifteen minutes of internet fame to post on social media accounts to say look I was there when. While Creel had a wonderful resume of shows, he was far from a being legendary status. 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 10/6/24 at 9:19am

I also wonder what ideas might surface if the conversation was broadened beyond dimming the lights to other possible memorializing moments or rituals.

Example, albeit not necessarily great ones: some sort of memorializing wall or structure in Times Square to which names could be added or a looping "In Memoriam-style" slide show tribute near the TKTS booth that is updated when anyone passes during a calendar year and then is reset on January 1.

I have to imagine the creative minds in the theater community could generate a very compelling list of ideas, many of which might be more visible and provide more lasting recognition than a one-time dimming of the lights, powerful as that can be to those who know by it is occurring.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/6/24 at 9:56am

As Paul Wontorek pointed out in a video the other day…dimmings are kind of anticlimactic. It’s usually not actually dark out, you still have a ton of other lights that don’t go off, it’s noisy from Times Sq, and there are hundreds of other people there seeing shows who have no idea what’s up. It might have been more impactful in the 1950s when it was first done.

The one plus of digital marquees has been adding a graphic of the deceased.

It would be nice if the Theatre Hall Of Fame was publicly accessible and not inside of the Gershwin, but Sardis also serves that unofficial purpose (and Gavin has a caricature there)

[JasonC3]

Posted: 10/6/24 at 12:35pm

^ thanks for the additional context and commentary. Much to chew on here.