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The Virginia Theater on West 52nd Street will officially be renamed the August Wilson Theater in honor of the recently deceased, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright on Sunday, October 16 at 8pm. The renaming ceremony will be open to the public; this is the first time that a Broadway theater will be named after an African-American.

The ceremony will include the unveiling of a new marquee. Among those scheduled to be on hand for the event are Tony Award-winning actors Charles S. Dutton and Lillias White; cast members from the Broadway production of Wilson's Seven Guitars; and Jack Viertel, creative director of Jujamcyn, which owns the theater. Jujamcyn has announced plans to produce Wilson's last play, Radio Golf, on Broadway during the 2006-2007 season.

Wilson died from liver cancer at the age of 60 on October 2. His plays include Fences, The Piano Lesson, and Gem of the Ocean, which played on Broadway last season and is currently being performed at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey with Phylicia Rashad reprising her role of Aunt Ester.