Every year, The American Theatre Wing hands out a series of special Tony Awards to people who have achieved greatness in the theatre, maybe not onstage, but behind the scenes. This year, one of the recipients of a special Tony is Irene Gandy. Gandy has worked as a press agent in the theatre for more than five decades, which is impressive enough. But the fact that Gandy, an African American woman, started her career at a time when many states wouldn’t allow her into box offices, that makes her life’s work truly remarkable. Irene Gandy joins "In Focus" to talk about her special award (she actually won a Tony in 2012 as producer of “Porgy & Bess”), but also about the often difficult road she took to get here, in a business where she is one of very few African Americans. Gandy’s career featured a series of glass ceilings smashed, and battles against racism both personally and for the shows she’s represented. She talks about her belief that many shows feature Black casts and writers and telling the stories of African Americans received very short shrift when it came to promotion and publicity, but from the day she started as an intern with the Negro Ensemble Company, she determined to make sure every show got the attention it deserved.
Theater icon Irene Gandy talks about fighting racism to become a legend
PUBLISHED September 19, 2021 @2:35 PM