Activists from the Broadway community are coming together to combat racism and inequality in the theatre industry for March on Broadway: Broadway Fights Back on Thursday, April 22 at 1pm beginning at Columbus Circle, and marching to occupy space in multiple locations. The March on Broadway was put together in direct response to the The Hollywood Reporter cover story on Scott Rudin, and how the industry 'handled' the situation.
Organizers Nattalyee Randall and Courtney Daniels said, “We do not want this to be actors vs the union, we DO want the union to do its job and keep us safe. We ask that Scott Rudin be removed from the Broadway League. If he is not removed from the Broadway League, we want restoration. We want Scott to publicly choose 20 BIPOC run theatres and donate a LARGE SUM of money to them. We want a full list of organizations that AEA is working with to help Black, Indigenous, and POC feel safer. We want a full report of how the 2020 Equity dues were spent and what percentage is being spent to help conversations around diversity. We want to achieve greater inclusion for trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming artists. We want visibility on how the AEA national council votes for policies. We also want efforts to improve diversity within the council. We want to achieve greater inclusion for artists with visible and nonvisible differing abilities.”
The organizers have put together a list of demands that will be championed at the March on Broadway and they include: 1.Scott Rudin to be removed from the Broadway League - If he is not removed from the Broadway League, we want restoration. We want Scott to publicly choose 20 BIPOC run theatres and donate a LARGE SUM of money to them. 2.A full list of organizations that AEA is working with to help Black, Indigenous, and POC feel safer. 3.A full report of how the 2020 Equity dues were spent and what percentage is being spent to help conversations around diversity. 4.Achieve greater inclusion for trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming artists. 5.We want visibility on how the national council votes for policies. We also want efforts to improve diversity within the council. 6.We want to achieve greater inclusion for artists with visible and nonvisible differing abilities.
Speaker Eden Espinosa shared on Instagram, “Interesting how the theater publications picked up that Karen Olivo wasn’t returning to Moulin Rouge in LESS THAN AN HOUR. And needed to be called out into publicizing ANYTHING about the abuse that human beings suffered at the hands of Scott Rudin.”
There will be guest speakers from all facets of the theatre community including the organizers Nattalyee Randall and Courtney Daniels, along with Broadway star Eden Espinosa, Hamilton’s Ryan Vasquez, James Pierce III, Brandon Michael Nase, Jaime Cepero, Dear Evan Hansen’s Diamond Essence White, Sis, Paige Levy, Mean Girls’Ashley De La Rosa, and the organization Everybody Black. The lineup is subject to change.
For additional materials, please visit Linktr.ee/MarchOnBroadway and on social #BroadwayFightsBack, @50MileRunForJusticeProtest, @RandomBlackGirllll