So...is Broadway not dimming its lights for Jan Maxwell?- Page 2

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 10:20am

MichelleCraig said: "You'd think they'd just know it is the thing to do."

Aside from the negative supposition starting this thread, no one has said they were or were not planning to do it yet.

[Miranda3]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 11:03am

I just phoned the 212 number for the League that Morosco provided.  A very pleasant woman answered on the first ring, listened to my plea that the lights be dimmed for Jan Maxwell, went away briefly to consult someone, and said that a decision has not yet been made.  She was very kind and listened to all I said and said that she would pass it on to the appropriate parties.  So I think calling might help!   I cited some of the arguments given above, including that the lights have been dimmed for performers who have had less to do with Broadway than did she. 

[AllThatJazz2]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:24pm

Broadway's Marquis Theatre Will Dim Lights in Memory of Jan Maxwell

[Robbie2]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:30pm

AllThatJazz2 said: "Broadway's Marquis Theatre Will Dim Lights in Memory of Jan Maxwell"

"A Class Act" on the part of the Nederlander's where she performed Follies ~ 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:43pm

Wow....I'm quite disappointed in the Broadway League.

[binau]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:44pm

F*CK them.

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:45pm

The press release sent out to theaters is a bit bizarre b/c it states "Broadway Community to Honor Stage and Screen Actor Jan Maxwell" but then immediately under it, its clear its not the entire community b/c its only the Marquis dimming the lights. 

A few other theaters will be following suit however (joining in of their own volition). But for whatever reason, the League has not mandated it for everyone. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:46pm

WTF?

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:47pm

I hope the rest of theaters follow suit.

That being said, this news made it for absolute certain I’m going into the city to see Dolly Wednesday night. What a wonderful thing to be able to see the lights dim and then see Bernadette.

[Miranda3]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:47pm

Very disappointed in the League.  What do they have to gain by withholding on this?  I don't understand. 

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:54pm

MTC's Friedman Theater and The New Victory Theater have said they will join the Marquis

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:55pm

n2nbaby said: "I hope the rest of theaters follow suit.

That being said, this news made it for absolute certain I’m going into the city to see Dolly Wednesday night. What a wonderful thing to be able to see the lights dim and then see Bernadette."

Hey, me, too!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 5:22pm

It’s DISGUSTING that the entire community isn’t doing it. Shame, shame, shame on the League.

I’m happy that other theaters are following suit on their own volition.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 5:23pm

Protest directly to Charlotte St. Martin herself. These cold-hearted decisions are hers and hers alone. 

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 5:24pm

[e-mail]

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 5:27pm

She is the president of the Broadway League.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 5:36pm

It is insulting that the league has not mandated this. Shame.

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 5:38pm

This is so unfair to the amazingness that was Jan Maxwell. 

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 5:39pm

PalJoey said: "[e-mail]"

Emailed.

[msmp]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 5:44pm

Utterly wrong for her not to receive the full tribute when performers who spent far less time on the Broadway stage received it. Very disappointing.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 5:59pm

PalJoey said: "These cold-hearted decisions are hers and hers alone."

 

Ok, don't shoot me, but I'm going to offer a controversial opinion: 

I know everyone here loved Jan Maxwell, and see her as completely deserving of this honor - myself included! But let's not be so hasty as to condemn the league, and call St. Martin "heartless." Many of you say that if Jan doesn't deserve it, no-one does. But that's pretty debatable. I'm sure it wouldn't be unreasonable for me to say there are many, many members of the Broadway community who are far more obvious candidates for a light-dimming than Jan Maxwell. I would argue than Jan Maxwell is right on the cusp in terms of her notoriety - a statement which I know will anger some here given the situation, but unfortunately there is no way to avoid being a bit insensitive when having these conversations.

The problem with the light-dimming, which we have faced time and time again, is how to determine who deserves it and who doesn't without coming across as disrespectful in such a delicate situation, when passions are high. Nobody wants to be the person who says "this recently-deceased person doesn't deserve this honor," but someone has to make that call if the practice is to remain a powerful gesture. Much like the standing ovation has lost all meaning through overuse, the light-dimming is at risk of going the same way. 

We can cite examples of people who were honored for equal or lesser contributions to Broadway, and we can praise Jan Maxwell until the cows come home. But at the end of the day, it's all subjective, and someone has to make the final call.

I loved Jan Maxwell. I hope they dim the lights for her. And I'm glad to see some theatre doing it already. But I understand why there is hesitation on the part of the Broadway league. 

 

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 6:02pm

I'll say it: HEARTLESS.

The League CLEARLY finds it "bad business" to turn Broadway into a funeral home.

I say that's heartless.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 6:04pm

PalJoey said: "The League CLEARLY finds it "bad business" to turn Broadway into a funeral home."


Can you clarify what you mean by that? 

 

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 6:12pm

Sorry, but no. If we dim the lights for the likes of Carrie Fisher, Robin Williams, and Joan Rivers but not Jan Maxwell, it becomes very clear that the League’s more interested in the positive publicity a light dimming will generate than they are in honoring a performer who dedicated her life to the theater and who turned in one universally acclaimed performance after another.

I concur with Pal Joey’s assessment of Charlotte St. Martin as a cold-hearted woman.

Do we need some kind of petition for this? I find it disheartening that there were hashtags and petitions in the community for Joan Rivers, but not for Jan.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 6:22pm

The response I got from Charlotte....

”I truly appreciate your thoughts.  Our committee continually struggles with these decisions.  I must admit, I would dim for everyone but at the end of the day, a dimming a week would take away from the specialness of the dimming would be gone.

As I’ve attended many dimming.....some at one theatre and some at all theatres, I love the ones where the family and the community join at one theatre together.  It’s the way we come together.  

I’m sorry we disappointed you with the committee decision.  KNow that we care.”

this is BS