Brooklyn's Home for Black Theater & Performing Arts

The Billie is one of the few remaining theaters (the only one in Brooklyn) forged in the aesthetic and sociocultural kiln of America's civil rights/black arts movements.

The Billie Holiday Theatre is more than just a legacy theatre. It’s a cultural center that fosters an inclusive and innovative creative community where artists flourish, young people see the arts as a viable path, and dialogue, civic engagement, and community connection are sparked through the transformative power of the arts.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to convene unapologetic, authentic voices to make American Black Theater and other performing arts a rigorous space to disrupt and foster social change. We present, preserve, and promote Black theater and culture by nurturing artists, producing bold new work, and engaging audiences from all walks of life. Our core values center community, integrity, equity, and inclusion.

OUR STORY

The Billie Holiday Theatre, The Obie, AUDELCO, and National Medal for the Arts recipient, is the only multi-platform performing arts center with a presenting, institutional residency, and education program led by and for the nation’s most prominent African American community of Central Brooklyn. Located in the heart of Bed-Stuy, we provide unparalleled access to world-class arts and cultural programming — rooted in social justice — for one of the most historically underrepresented communities in NYC. Birthed out of necessity for cultural preservation and resistance in 1972, The Billie became a cultural beacon of Black artistic excellence for Central Brooklyn and beyond. Luminaries, such as Pauletta Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Ruby Dee, Ruben Santiago Hudson, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Debbie Allen, have graced the stage and produced works by Lynn Nottage, Dominique Morriseau, and Sonia Sanchez.

For bold and daring artists and audiences from around the corner and around the world who look to The Billie as a rigorous artistic space that tackles racial injustices, presents new and unapologetic voices, and imagines a world where all people can flourish...welcome home!

OUR BOARD

Dr. Durell Cooper

Chair

Founder & CEO, Cultural Innovation Group, Adjunct Professor, New York University, Creator, Executive Producer, and Host of the PBS network series Flow with Dr. Durell Cooper and the Podcast Fluency

Taneshia Nash Laird

Treasurer

Inaugural President & CEO, Greater Roxbury Arts & Cultural Center

Antonia “Toni” Yuille Williams

Member

Former Director of Regional and Community Affairs, Con Edison, Creator and Executive Producer, Brooklyn Savvy TV and Art Movez_ Radio/Podcast

Rasu Jilani

Member

Executive Director, Brooklyn Arts Council Member

Blondel Pinnock

Member

President & CEO, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation

Wendell Pierce

Member

Actor, producer and businessman.

Roger Lee

Member

Founder & CEO, Roger Lee Arts, LLC

Marilyn Nyanteh

Member

Associate Director, Affiliate Finance Operations at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Octavia Taylor

Member

Senior Counsel for CBS Media Ventures

MAY 2026

Dear Billie Family,

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of The Billie. Every time you show up for a performance, exhibition, or community gathering, you help carry this work forward. Your presence continues to remind us that The Billie is not just a theatre, but a living home for Black expression, memory, and imagination.

This month, we’re excited to welcome you into a lineup of programs that speaks directly to that spirit. We begin with "Happy Birthday Malcolm & Lorraine", a powerful tribute to two visionaries whose words and legacies continue to shape how we understand ourselves, our history, and our collective power. We’ll also gather for DanceAfrica Community Day with BAM, a joyful celebration of family, culture, and community that holds special meaning this year as we honor the 30th anniversary of The Billie’s Youth Arts Academy participating in DanceAfrica.

Later this month, we’re thrilled to present Brooklyn Unplugged with The Brooklyn Mavens, a one-night showcase of raw talent and rising voices from across Brooklyn. It’s the kind of event that reminds us just how much brilliance already exists within our community—and how important it is to make space for it to be seen, heard, and celebrated.

Lastly, we continue to nurture emerging & mid-professional thespians who seek an intensive program to connect to our stories, our truths through The Billie's Black Arts Initiative. The application for the 2026 summer intensive is now open.

Thank you for continuing to believe in The Billie and in all that this space can hold. We hope you’ll join us this month as we honor legacy, uplift young artists, center our place in the American Black Theater cannon, and celebrate the power of community in motion.

With gratitude,

Shadawn Smith
Executive Director, The Billie Holiday Theatre