Black Theatre United has partnered with Christina Alexander of Alexander Consulting Group to create a digital training resource for the theatre industry covering unconscious bias and equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging. The resource is the partial fulfillment of the goals set out in BTU's New Deal for Broadway, itself the culmination of a five-month summit composed of industry leaders.
BTU hopes the training program will be finalized and released in spring 2023, with the specific launch date to be announced.
BTU was founded in June 2020, against the backdrop of protests in the wake of the killing of Black individuals at the hands of police, by a cohort of Black theatre artists including Billy Porter, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Allyson Tucker, and Vanessa Williams. Its mission is “to help protect Black people, Black talent, and Black lives of all shapes and orientations in theatre and communities across the country.”
The New Deal has also been effective in recent months at establishing Broadway theatres named for Black artists. The plan set a goal for each of Broadway's major theatre owners to have at least one theatre named for a Broadway venue, with only Jujamcyn's August Wilson Theatre then in place. In the time since the deal's release, Shubert has announced the Cort Theatre will be re-christened the James Earl Jones, and Nederlander revealed that its Brooks Atkinson Theatre will become the Lena Horne.
BTU's founders include Lisa Dawn Cave, Darius de Haas, Carin Ford, Capathia Jenkins, LaChanze, Kenny Leon, Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald, Michael McElroy, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Wendell Pierce, Billy Porter, Anna Deavere Smith, Allyson Tucker, Tamara Tunie, Lillias White, NaTasha Yvette Williams, Schele Williams, and Vanessa Williams.
Visit BlackTheatreUnited.com.
