LaChanze: It's one thing to go back and do a revival of an amazing musical, but it's another thing to write a musical that features the stories that you want to see.

One of our missions in Black Theatre United is to continue to cultivate audiences that look like people that are on the stage.

So while we've always had several diverse members performing onstage, largely, the creative teams, the producing teams, the general managers have been predominantly one race.

But now, because of BTU and the work that we're doing, along with so many of our partners, like Broadway Theater Coalition, we're looking to really make sure that people see the value of us onstage so that when they come into the theater, they'll see themselves, which is what representation is all about.

We are here not only to guide, but also to be reached out to.

So if there are issues in the community that we can help and amplify, that's why we're here, and to make change.

Our inaugural gala for Black Theatre United is to lay out the future, what we plan to do.

We're talking about the importance of Black dollars and the importance of Black dollars in musicals and theater and the commercial Broadway scene.

It's been magical to be on the ground level of something like this.

BTU was put together to be a conduit to the community at large.

We only grow and we only get better when we tell the truth.

It's just exciting because we get to celebrate what we've done, where we've been, and also where we're going.

And we hope to be known nationally very well, because our work is already national.

We're working in theaters all over the country.

We firmly believe that it takes a village, and that village is inclusive of everyone.

We're building.

We're growing.

Those who may be, you know, watching, viewing from afar, all that support is critical, and we're so appreciative.

Jenkins: This is where we belong.

This is what we've been working towards.

And just to have a space where everyone is included, everyone feels like they belong, right, that's a big deal.

There's nobody left out when you are united.

We add another leaf to the table.

We don't get rid of anybody.

It's that collectiveness of thought, heart, strength, mind, and passion that goes forward to create a better tomorrow.

We need to tell our stories if we really want to understand our journey in humanity, no matter who we are.

The more specific you are, the more universal your impact becomes.

So if we are lifting up exclusion and not inclusion, then we are missing out on the true scope of the American diaspora, right, and the human diaspora.

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