NEW YORK CITY: The Coalition of Broadway Unions & Guilds (COBUG), representing workers both on and offstage in New York State and beyond, has released a statement condemning the self-described neo-Nazis who harassed theatregoers prior to Tuesday’s preview performance of Parade outside the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The involved extremist organization has been staging incendiary racist and antisemitic “protests” for decades, and is considered a hate group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“Antisemitism, vile hate speech, and censorship have no place on Broadway—or in American culture or society,” said COBUG co-chair Laura Penn, executive director of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), in a statement. “COBUG calls on all members of the theatrical community, all people of conscience, and Mayor Eric Adams to safeguard inclusive environments for everyone who participates in or attends theatrical events in New York.”
Parade is a musical dramatization of the 1913 trial, imprisonment, and 1915 lynching of Jewish American Leo Frank in Georgia. It features a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. This production stars Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond, and is directed by Michael Arden.
The Coalition of Broadway Unions & Guilds is a group of 18 member unions, including Actors’ Equity Association; American Federation of Musicians (international union); American Guild of Musical Artists; Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers, IATSE LOCAL 18032; Dramatists Guild of America;
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, AFL-CIO, CLC; International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 817; International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30; Associated Musicians of Greater New York (AFM Local 802); Mail Telephone Order Clerks, IATSE Local B-751; Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists, IATSE Local 798; Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ; Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, SDC; Theatrical Protective Union, IATSE Local One; Theatrical Wardrobe Union, IATSE Local 764; Treasurers and Ticket Sellers Union, IATSE Local 751; United Scenic Artists, IATSE Local USA 829; and Ushers, Ticket Takers and Stagedoor Persons, IATSE Local 306.
