The news hit everyone in the Broadway community like a brick – Broadway star Marin Mazzie, who appeared in over a dozen Broadway shows, had died at the age of 57, following a three-year battle with ovarian cancer. As Broadway tradition goes, the theatre lights would be dimmed in her honor. Mazzie and her husband Jason Danieley not only appeared together on Broadway (they were lead replacements in Next to Normal) but were frequent performers in New York’s cabaret rooms. In fact, their scheduled appearance at 54 Below this past June was cancelled due to Mazzie’s declining health.
The long-standing tradition began in the 1950’s when the house lights in all Broadway theatres were first dimmed in honor of Gertrude Lawrence, who died at age 52 in September, 1952, while she was starring in the Broadway musical The King & I. The second honoree, coincidentally, was Oscar Hammerstein II in 1960, when the theatre marquees dimmed in a Broadway blackout which had not been seen since World War II. The third honoree was the actor Alfred Lunt, in 1977.
A committee of the Broadway League, which is comprised of Broadway theatre owners and producers, decides who should get the honor. The marquees usually dim for one full minute at curtain time on a show night. It’s the ultimate recognition that a person has achieved a place in theatre history. Most of the honorees are actors, directors, playwrights, composers and producers, but also journalists, designers, agents, executives and restauranteurs, such as Vincent Sardi Jr. and Harry Edelstein, who ran the Edison Cafe. Ruby Dee, Robin Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lynn Redgrave, Lena Horne, Barbara Cook, Elaine Stritch, Debbie Reynolds and Neil Simon were among those recently honored.
On Friday, when the League announced in a press release, that “The Committee of Theatre Owners has decided to dim the lights” at only six Broadway theatres, the Hirschfeld, Broadhurst, Gershwin, Schoenfeld, St. James and Nederlander (currently housing Pretty Woman, starring Mazzie’s husband, Jason Danieley), the Twitterverse went wild. According to the League, the theatres were ones at which Mazzie had performed, with her Tony-nominated performances in Passion, Ragtime and Kiss Me Kate and her roles in Man of La Mancha, Into the Woods and Bullets Over Broadway. Oddly enough, her last appearance on Broadway was at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center, as Mrs. Anna in The King & I, the role created by the first honoree, Gertrude Lawrence.
The League ordered all Broadway lights be dimmed for one minute following the passing of other Broadway stars, so why not Mazzie? She was a three-time Tony nominee and a beloved member of the community. Not only that, Mazzie was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame at the Gershwin Theatre in 2017. What was the League thinking? How is this even a question? When Joan Rivers died, the League, which had first decided not to dim the lights of its theatre marquees for her, reversed itself after an outcry from individual theatre owners and artists. Actors, musicians and even producers tweeted that, like other stars who have gone before her, ALL Broadway theatres should dim their lights to honor Mazzie, not just the ones in which she performed, calling it a “disgrace,” “unacceptable” and an “insult to Mazzie, her husband and all those who respected and loved her.”
Publisher of NiteLife Exchange, Scott Barbarino, said that “It defies logic and disrespects tradition. If they want to save electricity, they can figure that out in the future, but it’s unacceptable that they are pulling the plug on her.”
Multi Tony Award-winning producer Daryl Roth tweeted that “We should dim the lights in all Broadway theatres.” Actress Audra McDonald was shocked, tweeting “How about all of them?”
“How disappointing that instead of honoring this legendary theatrical icon, the ‘selective dimming’ approach has wound up insulting her and the people who love her,” musical director and composer Georgia Stitt wrote. “Dimming is meant to inspire, not to create a feeling of being left out.”
Singer Keith Price wrote that “many of the producers in the League have profited” by her performances, adding “Just do it! How much does it really cost?” That answer came from singer Elena Bennett, “It costs nothing. Timers are set and no extra time is paid to house electricians. In effect, the League is telling theatres NOT to dim their lights!”
Because of the outcry, The Ambassador, Lyric, Samuel J. Friedman and Vivian Beaumont (Lincoln Center) theatres were added to the list over the weekend. But is that enough? Do people need to reach out to the League’s “Official Partners” like Chase, IBM, United Airlines and The New York Times to pressure the League to do the right thing? The League needs to get their act together and realize that talent like Marin Mazzie comes along once in a generation and they need to treat performers with the respect that they deserve.
Yes, I hope they will make it a true blackout for this truly wonderful talent, Marin.