Broadway League Stepping Away From Light-Dimming Announcements

The Broadway League will no longer be involved in announcing the dimming of marquee lights to memorialize the deaths of performers, writers and other members of the Broadway community.

The announcements will now be made by an outside press spokesperson for the Broadway Theatre Owners Committee, the group of theater owners that oversees decisions regarding the light-dimming tributes. Previously, the group’s announcements were released by the League – the trade organization representing theater owners and producers – despite the fact that the League has no participation in the tribute process.

The shift follows recent controversies over the Committee’s decisions – since reversed – to dim lights at only select theaters (rather than all Broadway theaters) for the actors Gavin Creel and Adrian Bailey. Since those decisions were announced by the League’s in-house communications team as a service to the Owners Committee, the trade organization itself was associated in the public’s mind with the decision-making process. (Despite what the word “committee” might suggest, the Owners Committee operates independently of the League.)

Although no formal announcement of the Committee’s communications practices has been made, two recent light-dimming announcements – one last Friday for Maggie Smith and this morning’s announcement for Creel – were released by Polk PR, a publicity firm specializing in Broadway clients. The announcements were attributed to The Broadway Theatre Owners Committee, with no mention of the Broadway League.

Deadline has confirmed that the League will no longer participate in the dimming announcements.

The Broadway Theatre Owners Committee consists of representatives from each of the major Broadway theater owners, including Nederlander, Shubert, ATG Entertainment, Disney, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theater Company, Second Stage Theatre and Circle In The Square.

Last Friday’s announcement setting November 7 for the Smith tribute stated that “The Broadway Theatre Owners Committee continues the tradition of Broadway dimming its lights as a gesture of respect and tribute to honor the passing of a prominent figure in the theatre community. When an actor, director, playwright, or other influential figure passes away, Broadway’s theatre owners select a date to dim their venues’ marquee lights, typically for one minute before the evening’s performances. This tradition, dating back to the early 20th century, symbolizes the individual’s contribution to the world of theatre and acknowledges the profound loss felt by the community. It’s a moment for both theatre professionals and audiences to reflect on the legacy and impact of the artist.”

Today’s release by Polk PR on behalf of the Committee set December 3 as the dimming for Creel.

Last month, the Broadway League came under considerable public criticism when the Owners Committee determined that Creel, a Tony winner with numerous stage credits and a devoted following of fans and peers, and Bailey, an actor who had appeared in 15 Broadway productions but retired from performing in 2008 following a devastating onstage accident, would be honored with dimmings only at select venues – one venue from each of theater owners.

The partial dimming decisions prompted Time Out New York theater critic Adam Feldman to start a Change.org petition calling for full tributes – a petition signed by more than 22,000 people in less than a week. Actors’ Equity, the union representing stage actors and stage managers, also weighed in, issuing a statement expressing concern “about the practice of dimming the lights of only a few theaters in memory of those we’ve lost.”

While the establishment of partial dimmings has always been intended as a way to broaden the scope of honorees beyond the more obvious “superstar” deaths such as Stephen Sondheim or Chita Rivera or James Earl Jones – the practice has often been interpreted as a value judgement on a performer’s merit or talent. That interpretation reached something of a tipping point with the September 30 death of Creel, one of Broadway’s most popular leading men of musicals and much beloved for his LGBTQ+ activism.

The Committee’s October 9 announcement to reverse the partial dimming decision and provide full tributes to Creel and Bailey was released by the League’s in-house communications department, the last dimming announcement to be distributed by the League. That announcement also stated that “the Committee is reviewing their current dimming policy and procedures.”

While light-dimmings date back to the early 20th Century, the tradition began in earnest in 1952 with the death of actress Gertrude Lawrence. The tributes remained relatively rare occurrences until more recent decades, and along with the increased frequency came increased controversies: Following the death of Joan Rivers in 2014, the Committee initially ignored fans’ pleas for a dimming at all – Rivers was known primarily as a TV star, with only three Broadway credits – but finally reversed its decision after individual venues got in line with the public’s wishes.

Four years later, partial dimmings for actresses Jan Maxwell and Marin Mazzie angered many in the Broadway community, and last March after the Committee initially announced a partial dimming for the actor Hinton Battle, a pioneering actor of color who had starred in The Wiz, a social media outcry prompted a tribute that included all 41 Broadway theaters.