The late Broadway artists who will be honored at the inaugural group Broadway marquee dimming ceremony鈥攕et for June 10 at 6:45 PM ET, as previously announced鈥攈ave been announced.
At this first ceremony, the artists being memorialized will include Marshall Brickman, Richard Chamberlain, William Finn, Athol Fugard, Helen Gallagher, Gene Hackman, Quincy Jones, Linda Lavin, Merle Louise, Ken Page, Joan Plowright, Tony Roberts, Charles Strouse, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett.
The June 10 ceremony will be the first in an initiative announced in March that will see all 41 Broadway theatres dimming their marquees quarterly on the second Tuesday of September, December, March, and June. The move follows a number of controversies around Broadway's marquee dimming ceremonies, considered one of the industry's top honors. Formerly coordinated by The Broadway League, the honor was bestowed on major theatre artists after their passing, with ceremonies in recent years given for Stephen Sondheim and Chita Rivera, among others. Controversies accompanied partial dimming ceremony announcements for Gavin Creel, Hinton Battle, and Adrian Bailey, among others. Online outrage prompted the Broadway League to upgrade Creel, Battle, and Bailey to full dimming ceremonies.
The program is now the work of the newly formed Broadway In Memoriam Committee. Those wishing to submit an industry member for inclusion in the ceremonies can do so at . Submissions require the individual's name, year of birth and death, a description of their work on Broadway, and a digital photo.
However, the new group memorials do not preclude a more traditional solo affair. The Broadway In Memoriam Committee is still able to honor single individuals with their own ceremony should they be deemed to have had "a profoundly significant and lasting impact on Broadway." The organized event also does not prevent individual theatre owners planning their own tributes at their own theatres.
