Broadway Power Brokers Promises Diversity Changes as Theaters Reopen


“This is a movement to create change and we are happy to be a part of it,” said Robert E. Wankel, president and CEO of the Shubert Organization.

The signatories commit to making changes that will affect many aspects of the theater industry, from casting to hair care. But Broadway is a highly unionized workforce, and the only unions that have signed the deal are unions representing actors, stage managers, makeup artists, and hairdressers.

This leaves some glaring loopholes – for example, there is widespread concern about low diversity among Broadway stagehands, musicians and design teams – and Black Theater United leadership has said that this will happen, even though the band has received approval from people working in these areas. Keep working to gain more corporate support for the document.

Actress NaTasha Yvette Williams said she expects more groups to embrace their call for change. “It’s only a matter of time before they arrive,” he said.

Director Kenny Leon admitted his disappointment that his union, the Association of Stage Directors and Choreographers, was not a signatory. “I’m disappointed that my management union hasn’t signed yet,” he said. “But as a Black member of that troop, I will continue to fight for it.”

The union’s chief executive, Laura Penn, said the organization was “deeply committed to the principles” of the agreement, but chose not to sign it because most were “outside the union’s scope”.

Jeanine Tesori, a composer, said she hopes the various professions represented in a show’s music section are jointly committed to creating more opportunities in a hard-to-enter field. “We should invite newcomers in,” he said.



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