# Talk:James Earl Jones Theatre

The Cort Theatre has never been called the "John Cort Theatre." I merged this. Mademoiselle Sabina 06:02, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

For "The Supreme Court of the United States issued two injunctions: one granting production rights to Jane, Our Stranger,[84] and another that canceled that production after four performances.[85]", the first source (New York Times) has the initial injunction granted by Thomas D. Thacher, a federal court judge, no mention of the US Supreme Court.  Thacher, note spelling,  was a Federal District Court, New York, judge, not a US Supreme Court justice much less the Court as a whole. The second source, Billboard, say "Judge Thatcher" of the US Supreme Court, note not the whole court, issued the second injunction.  There has never been a US Supreme Court Justice named "Thatcher".  My guess is the second article managed to get the court wrong and misspelled the judge's name.  Since this is a current item on the Wikipedia front page and I've not worked with this page before, I don't want to make the changes myself. --Erp (talk) 15:15, 5 December 2021 (UTC)

Not entirely sure what does/doesn't get changed in the article, so I'll leave it to more experienced editors. Either way, it seems that the theatre will be getting renamed for James Earl Jones. See more here. Magitroopa (talk) 21:13, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Just seeing that updating here has occurred- FYI to those curious with how I knew in advance/posted the above message yesterday, it appears that TheWrap put out their article about the news yesterday by mistake (and removed it later in the day). New link to their article is here. Magitroopa (talk) 16:38, 2 March 2022 (UTC)
Thanks for the heads up. I've combed through the article and replaced present-tense mentions of the Cort Theatre's name with the Jones name. – Epicgenius (talk) 13:46, 3 March 2022 (UTC)
Isn't it too soon to change the article? The theater hasn't officially been renamed yet. Not until later this year: https://playbill.com/article/broadways-cort-theatre-to-be-re-named-for-james-earl-jones And the official website still calls it the Cort: https://shubert.nyc/theatres/cort/ Tinmanic (talk) 15:01, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

@Tinmanic, The Broadway League already updated its Internet Broadway Database entry on the Cort to the new name. According to the IBDB entry, the theater was renamed yesterday. This is a slightly different issue from something like the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, whose new name was announced in October 2004; that theater's IBDB entry shows the name wasn't updated until May 2005. With the James Earl Jones Theatre, the issue is more that the theater's renovation isn't complete, so the dedication can't happen yet. The issue is a little academic, as the theater will be known as the Jones when it reopens anyway. – Epicgenius (talk) 16:27, 3 March 2022 (UTC)
@Magitroopa and @Epicgenius, can you cite any evidence from Shurbert Org itself that the Cort is currently named the James Earl Jones? I find none. Can you cite any reference which gives a date for the official name change? I can not. All articles I find speak of renaming it in the future, once renovation is complete in late 2022 or summer 2022, with no specific date given. I no not consider IBDB's assertion ('was renamed in 2022') as sufficient--there is no date, no reference--especially (and ironically) since the image in the IBDB record still shows the Cort marquee. To be clear, I am not disputing Shubert Org's decision, only suggesting that renaming this article was premature. Rbd001 (talk) 22:28, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
I personally do not know how Broadway articles/topics on Wikipedia work (when/when not to rename an article, reliable sources, etc.)- I mainly know mostly regarding WP:TV. Either way, what I could find is this article from Deadline Hollywood saying, "The Cort has been closed for extensive renovation and construction work during the Covid pandemic, with the work expected to be finished this summer. The renamed James Earl Jones Theatre will include a newly built wing when it opens for productions following the construction work. Shubert plans to hold a formal dedication ceremony at that time." Worth noting that the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, which announced its renaming today, still remains with the Atkinson name, though 1) The IBDB page has not yet been updated, and 2) As per the Deadline article, the renaming for that will be occurring in the fall.
Again though, not sure all the Broadway ins and outs on Wikipedia, nor do I know how widely IBDB is used as the basis for edits/page renamings here. Magitroopa (talk) 22:52, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
@Rbd001: I didn't get the ping (you have to include the User: prefix in the username, like this: @Epicgenius). The difference with the Atkinson is that it is an active Broadway theater and it is planned to be officially rededicated in the future. I'm also verifying Magitroopa's observation that the IBDB page hasn't been updated for the Atkinson. Presumably the Nederlanders are still going to distribute playbills with the Atkinson's name on it until that theater is rededicated.Since the former Cort is currently closed for renovation, it presumably will be rededicated when it reopens. Like I said in March, the issue is that the theater's renovation isn't complete, so the dedication can't happen yet; an official renaming will probably happen when the theater is reopened. On the other hand, the Shuberts aren't going to distribute playbills with the "Cort Theatre" name on it when the theater reopens. My opinion is that this is kind of a gray zone in regards to naming - it won't be known as the Cort Theatre anymore, but it won't be officially called the Jones until the renovation is finished. I usually don't use IBDB as a source for renaming, not because it's unreliable (on the contrary, it's the official site of the Broadway League, which dictates whether a production is considered a Broadway show), but because there are typically other reliable sources from the exact day that a theater is renamed. – Epicgenius (talk) 00:41, 10 June 2022 (UTC)
@Epicgenius, I think you've summed it up perfectly ("it won't be known as the Cort Theatre anymore, but it won't be officially called the Jones until the renovation is finished"). I'd have preferred to see the wikipedia article stay as "Cort" until the official dedication, but it's certainly not worth reverting the name and all the edits at this point. Thanks for your reply (and for yours, @Magitroopa). Rbd001 (talk) 05:36, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

The article says the theater had an organ instead of an orchestra pit, but has that changed? The theater has staged a number of modern-era musicals; I'm doubtful they were accompanied by an organ. 71.128.242.202 (talk) 01:24, 10 September 2024 (UTC)