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Five of Broadway’s 40 theaters will dim their marquee lights at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday to honor Joan Rivers, following an outcry among some theater producers and others that Rivers — a Tony Award nominee for best actress in 1994 — deserved the tribute.

Jordan Roth, the owner of Jujamcyn Theaters, which operates the five houses, took to Twitter on Monday night to announce the move “in memory of the legendary Joan Rivers.”

Mr. Roth acted several hours after The New York Times reported that a committee of the Broadway League had decided not to dim the 40 marquee lights for Rivers. The league is the trade group of theater owners and producers, whose members include Mr. Roth.

The league committee had concluded that Rivers was not closely associated enough with Broadway to deserve the honor, even though she had performed on Broadway three times — and received a Tony nomination — and was a champion of the industry. Soon after the committee’s decision was disclosed, the Off Broadway producer Tom D’Angora started an online petition calling for a reversal of the decision; by Monday night more than 1,700 people had signed it.

Mr. Roth’s theaters include the homes of the hit musicals “Kinky Boots” and “The Book of Mormon” and the 2014 Tony winner for best musical, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder.”

Source: New York Times

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