There are certain words that can trigger a visceral reaction when someone hears it. It can make you turn off your ears and refuse to hear anything that came after that word, because now you are on the defensive. It doesn’t matter what the context of the conversation was, you’re no longer listening. You’re just waiting to respond. Working in DEI a word that I’ve seen cause the conversation to either screech to a halt or get derailed is the dreaded P word……PRIVILEGE. 

Be honest, how many of you rolled your eyes, and uttered the phrase “well I’m not privileged. I didn’t grow up with money.”.  For some people, the word privilege is synonymous with money. However, privilege simply means unearned access or advantages granted to specific groups of people because of their membership in a social group. In other words, it’s something we all have, and it can show up in a variety of ways. It can be based on anything from your religion, ability status, age or even educational level.   

An important thing to remember about privilege is that it’s not inherently bad.  I’m not a bad person because I’m right-handed and the world caters to right handedness.  I can however ensure that I have left-handed scissors available, or make sure if I sit next to a left-handed person, I’m sitting in a way that doesn’t make them uncomfortable. Also, did you know privilege can change, it’s contextual.  What serves as an unearned benefit in one situation can be a disadvantage in another. A few years ago, I was enrolled in an ASL/English Interpreters program. As part of the curriculum, we had to go to a Deaf Night Out, which consisted of the interpreting students signing badly to the Deaf participants. As I watched the hands of the Deaf community signing away, totally at a loss for what was being   communicated, I realized my hearing wasn’t such a privilege anymore.

When someone says that you are speaking from a place of privilege, they are simply saying that this is not your lived experience, so you don’t understand where they’re coming from. It is not to say that you do not have hardships in your life; it’s saying that this particular aspect of your identity doesn’t cause you an added burden. So next time you hear the word privilege take a breath and try to hear what is being said. 

​On April 10th, 2024, The James Earl Jones Theatre was an honored recipient of the NY Landmark Conservancy’s  34th Annual Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award for its recent restoration and expansion project amongst several other esteemed honorees from across the five boroughs of New York City. As the Conservancy’s program states: “The Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards are the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s highest honors for outstanding preservation” and include recognition of organizations, architects, individuals, craftspeople, and building owners who are committed to preserving the architecture and visual history of our city. To emphasize the gravitas this honor carries, the conservancy’s president, Peg Breen, opened the ceremony by welcoming us all to “the Oscars of Preservation,” and so it was.
 
Several members of the Shubert Facilities Department attended the sold-out ceremony held at the Plaza Hotel. Also present were representatives from some of our project’s contractors and consultants including: Kostow Greenwood Architects, McLaren Engineering, Façade Maintenance Design, and NYCCODE, LLC.  Facilities’ Senior Vice President John Darby accepted the award on behalf of the Jones team and The Shubert Organization, Inc. (the company’s second award in this category; the first being the Longacre in 2008).
 
After thanking the entire project’s team including our colleagues, architects Francesca Russo and Kostow Greenwood, and the many consultants and tradespeople who helped us on the project, John rightfully observed the Jones Theatre’s restoration and expansion was a special one. It was the largest project Shubert had ever taken on and notably occurred during a harrowing time period of Covid-19 where our industry was all but shut down with a very uncertain future ahead.  To see its vigor restored and its usability for modern audiences improved was, and is, a continued thrill to behold and to have been a part of.
 
With a smile, John recalled James Earl Jones’ visit to his newly christened theatre where he reflected back to when he made his Broadway debut there in the 1958 production of “Sunrise At Campobello” in a bit part role. Mr. Jones chucklingly revealed that he had flubbed the one line he had and quipped he had always struggled with a stutter, leaving his audience at the time (and ours at the Conservancy) both agape with incredulity and admiration of the man known in the acting world for his booming, articulate, and characteristic voice. It was made clear Jones’ relatability, relevancy, and humanity remains securely intact.
 
Although only one of our number could approach the podium, I know I speak collectively with our many team members and collaborators, that we are honored and humbled to accept this award. The Jones’ restoration is truly remarkable and provides a unique example of a historical theatre conceptualized to expand in order to accommodate and increase accessibility for modern audiences as we march ever forward toward a more diverse and equitable future in the theatrical world for audiences and artists alike. It is a triumph and I am quite proud to have played my own “bit role” in the process.
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Maura Gaynor, Head Usher at the Schoenfeld Theatre, was discovered by Amy Schumer while working at the Belasco Theatre.  She was asked to appear in her next adventure. Next time you see Maura, be sure to ask for her autograph.  

​As an employee of The Shubert Organization and a fellow entertainment professional, did you know that you can sign up for free programs and services through the Entertainment Community Fund?

The Entertainment Community Fund (fka The Actors Fund) is a national human services organization built to address the unique needs of people working in the performing arts and entertainment community. You can register on their online client portal to gain access to their workshops, programs and services, which address topics such as emergency financial assistance, affordable housing, health care and insurance counseling, and career development. I took it upon myself to register for their portal, and thought it would be a great piece of information to share with other members of the organization, who may not know that these resources are available!
 
You can register to have access to the Entertainment Community Fund Portal here.
 
Once you have access to the Portal, click on the subscribe button at the bottom of the dashboard, and follow the instructions on how to receive emails about their workshops, groups and seminars. You can also click here to subscribe.
 
I find that being subscribed to the emails helps me keep track of upcoming workshops, groups and seminars with my busy schedule, though you can also view the events directly on the Portal website if you would prefer less emails in your inbox! So far, I have attended “Finding the Best Mental Health Support Workshop” and I felt it provided some helpful information on the subject in an easy and accessible way. After the workshop, the workshop presenter followed up with me and provided additional resources. I plan to attend more events and workshops in the future, and while I am currently interested in the health workshops that they can provide, it is nice to know there are many more topics that are available for me to sign up for.
 
I hope you all are able to find this information helpful as a useful tool in your daily lives!

​Twenty years ago, the goal was to not see color. That made you a good person. It wasn't rare to hear someone say, “I don’t care if you're red, purple, pink or orange". While it may sound good, not seeing color hasn't gotten us very far as a society. Failure to acknowledge how society plays upon our perceived race will have you attributing personal factors to a situation instead of societal factors. Black women still earn 1/3 less than their white male counterparts. Hispanic women fare worse, earning only 65% of what their white male counterparts earn. That’s not because we gravitate towards lower paying jobs. Ethnic sounding names on resumes are 50% less likely to get a call back. It’s not that people don’t want to work. They aren’t even getting called in for an interview.  
 
Not seeing color doesn't allow you to see how rules are not applied equitably. You might not see how all the Black and Brown students are being disproportionately punished when compared to their white counterparts. You may chalk it up to “well those kids are just bad. What can you do?” The studies would prove that a fallacy. This is something I can personally attest to. In elementary school, 6th grade, two friends and I were called to the principal’s office because we had been reported for bullying. The lunch monitor who reported us said “we were excluding the white girls from playing with us, which was a form of bullying.” Never mind that they also didn’t include US in their play.  All the lunch monitor saw was us not opening up our friend circle. The principal never asked us what happened. We were three students who had been in that school since first grade, and never got in trouble before. All of that went out of the window. We were threatened with suspension and being kicked off the cheerleading team. We didn’t get suspended, but can you see how the adults in the situation saw two groups of girls behaving the same way, but attributed malice to only one? Pushout by Monique Couvson details more of this phenomenon.
 
We understand what the intention of saying “I don’t see color is.” You don’t want to reduce a person to just their color, but acknowledging someone’s race is never a bad thing. As columnist Porter Braswell stated “Racial bias is real. Racism is real. The history of racial oppression is real. Blinding yourself to color doesn’t make any of them go away.”