Theater News

Broadway to Dim Marquee Lights in Honor of Rodger McFarlane on May 19

Broadway marquees will be dimmed on Tuesday, May 19 for one minute at exactly 8 pm in tribute to Rodger McFarlane, the founding executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and a pioneer in the fight for gay and lesbian civil rights and the HIV/AIDS movements. He passed away in New Mexico on Friday, May 15.

During his tenure as executive director of BC/EFA, the organization’s annual revenue increased from less than $1 million to more than $5 million, while also leveraging an additional $40 million annually through strategic alliances with other funders and corporate partnerships. BC/EFA received the 1993 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre during his tenure.

He was also the first paid executive director of Gay Men’s Health Crisis and a founding member of ACT-UP, and later the executive director of the Gill Foundation. He was the author of several books, and in 1993 he co-produced the Pulitzer Prize-nominated production of Larry Kramer’s The Destiny of Me.