Broadway dims lights for Joan Rivers in reversal of earlier decision

Broadway theaters dimmed their lights in honor of Rivers on Sept. 9 after many protested over the Broadway League's decision not to do so and some theaters said they would be going ahead with it anyway. Joan Rivers died on Sept. 4.

|
Dan Steinberg/AP
Joan Rivers greets the audience at the 'Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers' in Los Angeles in 2009.

Broadway recently dimmed its lights for recently deceased comedienne Joan Rivers, a reversal of its earlier decision.

The theaters have often done so in honor of those who were involved with Broadway productions, but according to the New York Times, Broadway League executive director Charlotte St. Martin originally said on Sept. 8 that she believed people associated Rivers, who received a Tony nomination for her work on the show "Sally Marr... and Her Escorts," among other theater work, with other mediums more than with her time on the stage.

“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,” St. Martin said. “We love Joan – she was very supportive of Broadway and came to a lot of show openings – but she hasn’t acted on Broadway in 20 years. When you say Joan Rivers, you don’t think comedy, television and Broadway. You think comedy and television. It’s certainly nothing against her.”

The Broadway League is made up of producers and owners of the theaters on the Great White Way.

However, some weren’t pleased with the decision of the group. Some theaters decided to dim their lights despite the verdict, with Jujamcyn Theaters deciding to dim the lights on its five theaters, according to Deadline. Jujamcyn president Jordan Roth said of Rivers in a statement, "When not on stage herself, she was often seen in the audience on opening nights, cheering for all and championing the Broadway she so loved," according to the Associated Press.

The example was soon followed by Disney Theatrical Productions, the Roundabout Theatre Company, the Helen Hayes Theatre, and Boston’s Wilbur Theatre all saying they would dim their lights on Sept. 9. In addition, a petition created by Off-Broadway producer Tom D’Angora supporting the dimming of the lights gathered almost 6,000 signatures.

Some took to Twitter to express their displeasure, with actress Audra McDonald of “Porgy and Bess” tweeting,

while actor and writer Harvey Fierstein wrote,

When the decision was reversed, according to the NYT, St. Martin said in a statement, “Joan Rivers loved Broadway and we loved her. Due to the outpouring of love and respect for Joan Rivers from our community and from her friends and fans worldwide, the marquees of Broadway theaters in New York will be dimmed in her memory tonight [on Sept. 9] at exactly 6:45 pm for one minute.”

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Broadway dims lights for Joan Rivers in reversal of earlier decision
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2014/0910/Broadway-dims-lights-for-Joan-Rivers-in-reversal-of-earlier-decision
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe