So...is Broadway not dimming its lights for Jan Maxwell? — Page 4

A Charlotte St Martin reply that someone posted on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MsAshleyMich/status/964706983059206146

again with "it would take away from the specialness,"

But, what does "But know that the League doesn't have the authority to mandate, we coordinate." mean? That the theatre owners and producers on the committee that decides this voted no? Reminder, according to NYTimes, A committee of the Broadway League, a trade association of Broadway theater owners and producers, decides who should get the honor

The League obviously doesn't take dimming the lights in honor of a performer seriously so it makes me wonder... why does The League have to have any authority on when the lights get dimmed?

Why not remove that responsibility from them entirely?

Let the theater community decide on their own. Let the stage managers or house managers or equity deputies or company managers volunteer to coordinate a date a time through an email database or some app. Then on that date someone goes and switches off the marquee for a few minutes. This is not rocket science. There is not a lot of work or time associated with coordinating this. And those who are working in the theater world would definitely have the passion to honor a colleague.

TAKE THE LEAGUE OUT OF THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS. ALLOW THE THEATER COMMUNITY TO TAKE CHARGE.

morosco said: "why does The League have to have any authority on when the lights get dimmed?
Why not remove that responsibility from them entirely?"

and

"ALLOW THE THEATER COMMUNITY TO TAKE CHARGE."

I think it's important to note that it appears the League does not have restrictions in place regarding limiting a theater's choice to dim its lights. If that were the case, the Marquis and the Music Box theaters would be facing consequences from the League. (The Samuel J. Friedman theater is associated with The League of Resident Theaters, rather than The Broadway League.)

Because that appears to be true, the theater community can take charge and, in three cases, already has taken charge.

I see parallels to the structures in place for when to fly the US flag at half-staff.

On a national level, the President can issue an executive order for the flag of the United States to be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States government, as a sign of respect to their memory (with the League's instructions being comparable to a Presidential order).

Governors of US states (with individual theaters being comparable to US states) can also order all U.S. and state flags in their jurisdiction to be flown at half-staff as a sign of respect.

I see nothing wrong, or harmful with the League being allowed to continue in their current capacity regarding dimming the lights - as long as they do not restrict theaters from making that choice on their own.

Updated On: 2/17/18 at 01:34 PM

It is a failure of integrity on Jordan's part. Reading through the tweets on the #DimForJan hashtag is heartwarming:



#DimForJan

JBroadway said: "Alright - I stand by what I said earlier in the thread about the task of choosing who should receive a dimming ceremony being difficult and thankless.

But now with this outpouring of support for Maxwell on social media, from both Broadway fans and stars alike, I will concede that it’s a no-brainer. The community has spoken, and the League’s silence does speak volumes. "

I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they haven’t said anything yet, because it’s still the weekend.

Hmmm

https://twitter.com/CaraJoyDavid/status/965435338817712128

lovebwy said: "I did catch the drift that, while she is the public face of the dimming, it simply has to do with the theater owners."

That has been implied since the time it was published that The Marquis, The Music Box and The Samuel J. Friedman theaters would all dim their lights.

I think it also might be correct (who knows for certain?) to say that each individual theater - not necessarily restricted by, or under instruction from the theater owners - can make the choice to dim their lights.

The Marquis is a Nederlander theater, The Music Box is Shubert, and the Samuel J. Friedman is owned by The Manhattan Theater Club (helmed by Lynne Meadow and Barry Grove, and associated with The League of Resident Theaters rather than The Broadway League). It seems that those three theaters have made the choice to dim their lights even though other Shubert and Nederlander theaters have not (yet...).

I think it might be time to let go of the notion that The Broadway League and/or Charlotte St. Martin are singularly "in charge" of whether/not a theater dims its lights for Jan Maxwell, or that permission from The League or Charlotte St. Martin is required to do so.

Updated On: 2/19/18 at 11:13 AM

Before they decided to dim the lights for Joan, look at the rationale:

"According to the Times, executives at the League determined that [Joan] Rivers did not meet the criteria for Broadway's lights to be dimmed. "Under our criteria people need to have been very active recently in the theater, or else be synonymous with Broadway – people who made their careers here, or kept it up," the Broadway League's executive director Charlotte St. Martin told the Times in an interview.

St. Martin stated that while Rivers was supportive of the theatre community, hers was not a name that was synonymous with Broadway, adding that the decision not to dim the lights of theatre marquees in her memory was not intended as a slight." - playbill.com

Updated On: 2/21/18 at 12:46 AM