The Cort to become The James Earl Jones Theatre?

The Wrap tweeted today:

"New York City's Cort Theatre is getting a name change. The Shubert Organization will rename the long-standing Broadway theatre for the legendary James Earl Jones later this year."

https://twitter.com/TheWrap/status/1498767038642274304?s=20&t=BOhpit6tgXlDqinPOgmdDA

The article the tweet linked too has since been deleted.

I’m just gonna call it The Mufasa.

“I hate this only because I hate naming theaters after people. I love Court, The Palace, etc. Especially since it's engraved on the building.”

The Cort IS named after a person. John Cort was a theater owner known for The Cort Circuit at the turn of the 20th Century.

bwayboy22 said: "The Cort IS named after a person. John Cort was a theater owner known for The Cort Circuit at the turn of the 20th Century."

You beat me to it. I'm all for updating the names of theaters that are named after people already. I agree, leave names like The Palace and The New Amsterdam intact, but when a theater is names for somebody like John Cort, a name update is fine. In a few years, it'll be time to rename the Schoenfeld, Jacobs, and Atkinson too.

EDSOSLO858 said: "Hoping the Palace gets renamed upon reopening as well."

Palace should be renamed the Liza Minnelli theater.

If there is ANYONE that deserves a theatre named after, it's Hal Prince!

The Jones Cort Theater, has a nice ring to it.
Why erase one person for another?

bjh2114 said: "bwayboy22 said: "The Cort IS named after a person. John Cort was a theater owner known for The Cort Circuit at the turn of the 20th Century."

You beat me to it. I'm all for updating the names of theaters that are named after people already. I agree, leave names like The Palace and The New Amsterdam intact, but when a theater is names for somebody like John Cort, a name update is fine. In a few years, it'll be time to rename the Schoenfeld, Jacobs, and Atkinson too."

Right, I think tons of theatre names that are christened after people have lost their significance, except maybe the Shubert and Nederlander Theatres. I think the Minskoff is one that could use a change. Surprised Schumacher hasn’t petitioned the Nederlanders to change it to the Walt Disney Theatre.

I think a nice idea would be nice for a theatre name to be “(theatre name) in memory of (so and so)”

like, the new Amsterdam theatre in memory of Jason Raize and Samuel E. Wright

or The Majestic Theatre in memory of Hal Prince

Updated On: 3/2/22 at 10:24 PM

Thank you all for clarifying, and honestly, that makes total sense. I think it's because they didn't use his full name so The Cort still sounds prestigious. In LA they renamed the arena TheCrypot.com arena and it's just... gross.

Why not "The Jones Theatre?" Is the full name thing just something new?

I just feel like it'll be weird with his name still engraved at the top, but James Earl Jones is a legend so I'm here for it.

Well the Sondheim still has Henry Miller's engraved on top.

If people (myself included) are constantly b*tching about the Helen Hayes being shortened to The Hayes, then I'm sure they'll have even more of a problem if the James Earl Jones Theatre name got shortened. The point of the renaming is to spotlight his name; calling something The Jones isn't the same as calling something The Spielberg or The Schwartzenegger or The Streep.

RippedMan said: "Thank you all for clarifying, and honestly, that makes total sense. I think it's because they didn't use his full name so The Cort still sounds prestigious. In LA they renamed the arena TheCrypot.com arena and it's just... gross.

Why not "The Jones Theatre?" Is the full name thing just something new?

I just feel like it'll be weird with his name still engraved at the top, but James Earl Jones is a legend so I'm here for it."

Why not The Jones Theater? Jones is simply too common a name, and doesn't speak to this particular man.

As someone else said, I doubt any of the engraved/molded names will be removed, nor will any new names be added in the same way.

OhHiii said: "A lot of these comments suggesting white artists instead of a prolific Black actor are….suspect."

Suspect of what? Giving their opinions? None of these people are saying No to James Earl Jones. Suspect would be someone saying Jones doesn't deserve it, and please think about the white people who have been "egregiously overlooked".

fashionguru_23 said: "OhHiii said: "A lot of these comments suggesting white artists instead of a prolific Black actor are….suspect."

Suspect of what? Giving their opinions? None of these people are saying No to James Earl Jones. Suspect would be someone saying Jones doesn't deserve it, and please think about the white people who have been "egregiously overlooked"."

If you think bias only looks a certain way, you should probably check your own.