Black Performers and Other Minority Alums of The Second City and The UCB Join Forces, Asking Their Theaters To Do better

So far this month, the longtime CEO of The Second City has announced his resignation and asked the legendary Chicago theater to name a replacement from the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) community, while the four co-founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade theaters in New York City and Los Angeles have announced they’re seeking to shift their theaters and schools to nonprofit status, and will cede their operational control to a diverse board.

Their own alumni think their theaters can, should and must do better.

Black performers who have come through Second City published an open letter last Monday.

Their Latinx colleagues followed suit in solidarity two days later.

Over the weekend, a group calling itself Project Rethink emerged with its own statement regarding the UCB. The Project Rethink coalition asks for broader consideration toward Black performers and other racial/ethnic minorities, but also performers from the LGBTQ+ community as well as those who are “Differently Abled.”

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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