James Earl Jones Theatre Coming To Broadway As Shubert Organization Renames 110-Year-Old Cort
02.03.2022 - 18:25
/ deadline.com
The great stage, film and TV actor James Earl Jones will once again see his name up in lights: Broadway’s 110-year-old Cort Theater is being renamed in Jones’ honor.
The Shubert Organization announced today that the venue will become the James Earl Jones Theatre “in recognition of Mr. Jones’s lifetime of immense contributions to Broadway and the entire artistic community.”
The Cort has been closed for extensive renovation and construction work during the Covid pandemic, with the work expected to be finished this summer. The renamed James Earl Jones Theatre will include a newly built wing when it opens for productions following the construction work. Shubert plans to hold a formal dedication ceremony at that time.
In a statement, Jones said, “For me standing in this very building sixty-four years ago at the start of my Broadway career, it would have been inconceivable that my name would be on the building today. Let my journey from then to now be an inspiration for all aspiring actors.”
Though Jones’ first Broadway casting was as an understudy in 1957’s short-lived The Egghead, his breakthrough came the following year at the Cort Theatre in Sunrise at Campobello, Dore Schary’s play about Franklin Delano Roosevelt starring Ralph Bellamy. In all, Jones has appeared in 21 Broadway productions, including his Tony-winning performances in The Great White Hope (1969) and Fences (1987).
Just since the turn of the century, Jones has starred on Broadway in On Golden Pond (2005), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008), Driving Miss Daisy (2010), Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (2012), You Can’t Take It With You (2014) and The Gin Game (2015). In 2017 he was awarded the Tony’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and over the course of his career has received the