CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, September 14, 2021

‘It’s the balm we need right now’: how Broadway fought its way back

Broadway | The Guardian: When Ruben Santiago-Hudson walks on stage at the Manhattan Theatre Club on Tuesday night, the electric charge between actor and audience will spark back to life. Then the healing will begin.

1 comment:

John Alexander Farrell said...

For the last 18+ months, Broadway theaters have been on mandatory shutdown (the longest shutdown in history), and while this has indirectly affected those involved in the industry (in its majority through economic challenges), it has also fostered a time of self-reflection. Now, with DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) at the forefront of the “renewed and reinvigorated” Broadway Association, theatres in the heart of Manhattan seem to be healing.

That being said, I do found it quite infuriating that it took this long for people high-up in the chain of command to notice said issues. For one, it wasn’t until the Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd that white liberal America began reflecting on the racial injustice weaved into our systems. I mean, we’ve always known the Black community remains at the margins of society. Whatever the case may be, however, the theater industry is having difficult conversations and attempting to confront decades of racial oppression (amongst other issues).