Source: Dia Dipasupil / Getty
Lena Horne is the first Black woman to have a Broadway theater named in her honor.
Located on 256 W. 47th Street in Manhattan, New York, the establishment now tributes Horne for her contributions to the world as a singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist.
The theater was built in 1926 and originally named the Mansfield Theatre, according to CNN.
Renaming the establishment as a testament to Horne’s legacy precedes the Broadway theater initially being renamed in 1960 after a drama critic for The New York Times named Brooks Atkinson.
Refurbished in 2000, the city site sits just under 1,069 visitors and is currently running the musical “Six.”
The Lena Horne Theatre
Horne started at the Cotton Club in Harlem at just 16 years old.
The entertainer went on to star in several Hollywood films, such as 1943’s Cabin In The Sky and Stormy Weather.
Awards the talent received included four Grammys, an NAACP Image Award and two Tonys.
One of the Tonys was for Horne’s 1957 starring role in the musical “Jamaica,” and the other came in 1981 for her one-woman Broadway show “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.”
The celebration of the Lena Horne Theatre took place on Nov. 1.
The day before, Jenny Lumet, the star’s granddaughter, shared her thoughts on the theater’s renaming in Horne’s honor.
“I didn’t realize how emotional it was gonna be, and now I’m kind of weeping buckets,” Lumet told PEOPLE on Oct. 31.
“My grandma’s a Bed–Stuy girl, and we’re a New York family. So to have her always be in New York City in the theatre district, it means everything.”
The Nederlander Organization, which owns the Lena Horne Theatre, is also excited about honoring the entertainer in such a special way, Broadway Direct reported.
“We chose Lena Horne because she is such an important part of the fabric of Broadway and of the fabric of Nederlander,” said Christina Selby, Nederlander’s Vice President of Production and Touring, in a statement.
“She had very close ties to Jimmy [Nederlander] Sr., because he produced her show at the Nederlander Theatre. This is a family company first and foremost, and we wanted to honor someone who was a part of the family.”
Horne passed away in 2010 at the age of 92.
RELATED CONTENT: “Did You Know Janet Jackson Was Supposed To Portray Lena Horne In A Biopic?”
