Such a great pick me up for something that is long overdue! Lena Horne will become the first black woman to have a Broadway theater named in her honor. Horne was a Tony winning singer, actress, and civil rights activist who starred in five Broadway shows and more than a dozen movies throughout her career. The Nederlander Organization, who owns the theater, announced the name change last week. The Lena Horne Theater is on West 47th Street and was previously named for theater critic Brooks Atkinson. Organization president James L Nederlander remembers seeing Horne perform as a young man when his father was producing a show for her. “She’s such a legend, and her time is overdue,” he says. “This felt really right.” Horne’s granddaughter, TV showrunner and producer Jenny Lumet, says the family is excited about the renaming. “That people might find a spark of creativity in a space that has her name on it - that’s all you can ask for,” she says. “I couldn’t be prouder.” The theater’s new marquee bearing Horne’s name is expected to go up sometime before this fall.
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