Community Conversation: From Brooklyn to Broadway

In celebration of National Black Theatre Day, The Billie will launch its 2026-2027 season with a special edition of its community conversation series.

Presented in collaboration with black theatre aficionado Marcia Pendelton of Walk Tall Girl Productions, From Brooklyn to Broadway will explore Brooklyn’s connection to Broadway and the many performers and creatives who call the borough home. The conversation will examine how Brooklyn has shaped or inspired individual artists while offering a behind-the-scenes look at some of the shows heading to Broadway this season.

Panelists will include singer, songwriter and Broadway actor Marcus Paul James, whose credits include RENT, Motown: The Musical and In the Heights; Tony Award-winning actress Adriane Lenox, recognized for her performances in Doubt and After Midnight; two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and Tony Award-winning Broadway star Lillias White, celebrated for her acclaimed performances across Broadway.

About the moderator: Marcia Pendelton is the founder and president of , a boutique marketing, audience development, and group sales agency for the performing arts. She specializes in bringing communities from the African Diaspora into performance spaces. She lives in Brooklyn.

The Billie Holiday Theatre on Broadway The Billie made history in 1981 with the play Inacent Black, transferring the hit to Broadway with fifty percent of the financing derived from the Black community — a first in the theatre world, as cited in The New York Times, and unheard of prior to Inacent Black. The "heaven-sent comedy" by A. Marcus Hemphill featured Melba Moore.

About National Black Theatre Day National Black Theatre Day (officially September 17) marks the anniversary of the 1821 opening night of the African Grove Theatre — the first known professional Black theatre company in the United States.