New Line Theatre first posted its official "Commitment to Diversity" statement more than ten years ago. For more than twenty years, New Line has been committed to working toward promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in all forms and to battling racism and other prejudices in our community and throughout the St. Louis metropolitan region. Because we believe our company should reflect the community we serve, New Line has worked with other arts and cultural organizations for years toward increasing diversity in our casting, in our audiences, in our staff, and on our board of directors. Most recently, one of our board members joined the Latino Arts Network as a representative of New Line.
New Line is dedicated to breaking down the barriers around race – our region’s major problem – and also religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, age, ethnicity, and other identity issues which tend to divide us. We are proud that for our entire history, almost all our shows have had diverse casts, and our board is racially diverse. We've also made great strides in recent years in hiring more musicians of color and more women musicians. But we can and will do even better.
We make this commitment with help from the Latino Arts Network, the Regional Arts Commission, the World of Difference Institute of the Anti-Defamation League, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the United States Attorney’s Hate Crimes Task Force for the Eastern Division of Missouri and the Southern District of Illinois.
We invite you to help us in our efforts in three ways. First, the next time you come to a New Line show, invite someone different from you to come along. Second, let us know how we can make New Line Theatre more welcoming to people of diverse groups. Please read about our Cultural Partners initiative. You can email us at NewChaz64@aol.com. Third, make yourself more aware of these issues and make a commitment to increasing diversity in our community, our government, and our cultural institutions.
For more info on the various cultural and ethnic groups in St. Louis, check out the International Institute of St. Louis.
