The Billie Holiday Theatre ( the "Billie," or the "BHT,") is an AUDELCO and Obie Award-winning theatre that aims to provide "complete and authentic portrayals" of the African diaspora experience, as well as "artistic and institutional residencies and ... educational programming to people of all ages."
Founded in 1972, with roots in both the Civil Rights and the Black Arts Movements, the Billie has been called "one of the nation’s premier Black playhouses." In 2023, it was recognized with a National Medal of the Arts, the nation's highest arts award. U.S. President Joe Biden called the theater "an incredible place ... nurturing a new generation of Black playwrights, performers.”
The first Black theatre to transfer a hit play to Broadway, along with 50 percent of the financing from the Black community, the Billie has cultivated some of the "[n]ation’s most renowned Black actors, writers, designers, and musicians," including Lena Horne, Smokey Robinson, Ben Vereen, Samuel L. Jackson and Jay-Z. In 2020, the Billie was awarded a $5 million-dollar "Black Seed" grant by the Mellon Foundation to help Black theatres nationwide "forge national partnerships and new commissions." In 2022, the New York State Senate marked the Billie's 50th Anniversary with a commemorative resolution in recognition of its contributions.
History Franklin A. Thomas, the first Black President of the Ford Foundation, used his position to revitalize his hometown neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant through the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, America's first community development corporation, resulting in the 218-seat Billie.Hill, Errol, and James Vernon Hatch. A History of African American Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.Johnson, Kimberle' "Community Development Corporations, Participation and Accountability: The Harlem Urban Development Corporation and the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 594th ser. ANAALS.AAPSS (2004): n. pag. Sage Journals. Web."Billie Holiday Theatre at Restoration Plaza". Time Out New York.
Thomas’ vision for the Billie was “to expose the second largest black community in America to the arts while providing an outlet for local talent.” Marjorie Moon was appointed the theatre's executive director. Under Moon, the "theatre built a community audience by placing Bedford Stuyvesant citizens on the theatre’s board.”
Renovation
In 2015, the theatre moved to Fort Greene for two years while the Bedford-Stuyvesant location was being renovated. The renovations to The Billie Holiday Theatre were designed by MBB Architects. The newly renovated theater reopened in May 2017 at 1368 Fulton Street, inside the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's Restoration Plaza, and is part of a $6 million superblock in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which is slated to eventually house an ice-skating rink and a supermarket, in addition to the theatre.
Notable performers
Debbie Allen Tichina ArnoldTNJ Life, ed. "The Billie Holiday Theatre." The Network Journal Magazine Version (September 2008): n. pag. Sept. 2008. Web. Obba Babatunde Yasiin Bey Eubie Blake Bill Cobbs Elaine Graham Lena Horne Weldon Irvine Samuel L. Jackson Ebony JoAnn Stephanie Mills John Henry Redwood Max Roach William “Smokey” Robinson Rondell Sheridan Phyllis Yvonne Stickney Samm-Art Williams Carol Woods Ben Vereen Jay Z
References