Hundreds of theater workers demand change in Times Square

NEW YORK — Hundreds of theater workers marched down Broadway on Thursday, rallying to demand more inclusion in the industry, protesting producer Scott Rudin and to call for greater transparency from the Actors’ Equity Association union. “I believe that a consistently safe work environment in the theater is possible.” Organizers had several demands, including finding how 2020 Equity dues were spent and what percentage is used to help conversations around diversity. In response, the union issued a statement, stating that “diversifying Equity leadership is an important step for the union to become an antiracist organization, and that work is ongoing.” The union also noted that its council had just selected Wydetta Carter as a new first vice president, the first Black person in over 40 years. The homemade signs at the march ranged from the blunt — “Burn It Down” and “Black Trans Artists’ Lives Matter” — to the theatrical, including “We Got Trouble” and “This is Literally the Plot of ‘Newsies.’” Some in the crowd wore “Cats” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” hoodies. “This must change before we return to work.” Actor Ryan J. Haddad lamented that disabled and deaf actors are often invisible in the theater community.