In recognition of Lena Horne’s contribution to the theater world and as a civil rights activist, the former Brooks Atkinson Theater has been renamed the Lena Horne Theater, becoming the first Black woman to have a theater named in her honor.
The Nederlander Organization that owns the venue had a renaming ceremony on November 1st out front of the 47th St theater.
The idea of renaming the theater in honor of Lena Horne was first raised in 2020 when the Nederlander Organization teamed with the Black Theatre United and wanted to rename several venues to honor the contribution some Black actors have made to Broadway over the years.
Horne had a strong connection with the Nederlander Organization. James M. Nederlander, the father of the current President of the organization, was the lead producer of Horne’s 1981 Broadway show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. Horne went on to win a special Tony and two Grammy Awards for this production.
Coincidentally, the Shubert Organization recently decided to rename the Cort Theater the James Earl Jones Theater to honor the great actor’s work.
Lena Horne, born in Brooklyn in 1917, was a trailblazer breaking down multiple barriers throughout her stellar career as a singer, dancer, actor, and civil rights activist. Her parents were a banker and an actor who supported her decision to leave school at 16 and perform at the famed jazz venue, the Cotton Club, in the 1930s.
She soon moved to Los Angeles and began a career acting in the Golden Age of Hollywood. She starred in such films as Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather.
Throughout her career, Horne refused to perform for segregated audiences or play a maid or other servant-type character in films. She joined the Council for African Affairs and the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee and worked alongside Eleanor Roosevelt to lobby Congress to enact anti-syncing legislation.
In 1942 Lena Horne was the first Black woman to sign a long-term contract with a major film studio. In 1958 she was the first Black woman to be nominated for a Tony Award as a Leading Actress in a Musical. She was also the first Black person to join the Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors.
Lena Horne, a long-term resident of New York, passed away at 92 in 2010.
It only seems fit that Lena Horne is honored for her outstanding work as a performer and activist.
The Lena Horne theater is home to the long-standing musical Six, about the six strong and very independent wives of Henry IIIV.