The Billie Holiday Theatre

The recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Obie and AUDELCO Award-winning Billie Holiday Theatre is a state-of-the-art creative campus located at Restoration Plaza in the historic Black cultural mecca of Bedford Stuyvesant, home to such artistic luminaries as Lena Horne, Max Roach, Eubie Blake, Stephanie Mills, Ben Vereen, Jay Z, Yasiin Bey, and more and the only multi-platform performing arts center with a 22-year old education program led by, for, and accountable to people of African descent in the heart of the largest African American community in the nation: Central Brooklyn. For 50 years, The Billie has elevated and promoted the critical voices of Black artists, and the stories of the complex journey toward freedom for people of African descent, a journey that is far from over. 

In 1981, BHT made history when it transferred the hit play Inacent Black to Broadway with fifty percent of the financing being derived from the Black community; a first in the theatre world (as cited in The New York Times), and unheard-of prior to Inacent Black.

Many of today’s successful actors, writers, designers, and musicians developed their craft at The Billie Holiday Theatre. Actors such as Samuel L. Jackson, Debbie Allen, Tichina Arnold, Bill Cobbs, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, Carol Woods, Elaine Graham and Ebony JoAnn to name but a few.

The legendary William “Smokey” Robinson had his first musical, Raisin’ Hell, produced at BHT, while other notable authors whose debut plays were produced at BHT include: Samm Art Williams, legendary jazz musician Weldon Irvine, and John Henry Redwood (The Old Settler).

The goal of the Billie Holiday Theatre is to provide audiences with complete and authentic portrayals of the experiences of people of African descent across the world. To provide artists of African descent with pure and unapologetic artistic freedom. We do this by producing and presenting all forms of art, and by challenging unjust systems that would prevent artists, institutions, and communities full access to world-class arts, creative spaces, and resources.

Who We Are

The Obie and AUDELCO Award-winning Billie Holiday Theatre is a state-of-the-art creative campus located in the heart of Bedford Stuyvesant, home to the largest African American community in the nation and recently named one of the 40 Coolest Neighborhoods in the World by Time Out Magazine. A thriving cultural anchor to the Black community since its inception in 1972, The Billie is one of the last remaining theaters forged in the aesthetic and sociocultural kiln of America’s Civil Rights/Black Arts Movement. Today, The Billie stands as a beacon for world-class art rooted in social justice, and the only multi-platform performing arts center with a presenting, institutional residency, and education program led by, for, accountable to and near people of African descent in New York City. For close to half a century, The Billie has elevated and promoted the critical voices of Black artists, and the stories of the complex journey toward freedom for people of African descent, a journey that is far from over. Indeed, as our community struggles amidst two converging pandemics: COVID-19 which has left communities of color bearing the brunt of hospitalizations, fatalities and financial hardship, and entrenched racial injustice that has plagued our nation since its inception, The Billie once again boldly stands on the frontlines as a rigorous artistic space that tackles injustice, offers healing, presents new and unapologetic voices, and imagines a world where all people can flourish.