PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Several Philadelphia-area theaters are taking up a Broadway tradition and dimming their marquee lights Thursday night to honor a local publicist and champion of regional theater who died last month.
Carrie Gorn ran public relations for many local theaters over the years, including Quintessence, Curio, EgoPo, Philadelphia Theatre Company and The Wilma Theater. People who worked with her said she was a fierce advocate for small theater groups, the arts and social justice.
She was passionate about every aspect of the theater, from box office staff to producers.
Gorn died suddenly on Jan. 29. She was 49.
“She was a real cheerleader, especially for the regional theater scene,” said Bryan Buttler, Gorn’s friend and colleague. “She was very encouraging of a lot of younger, talented individuals who maybe weren’t hearing that they were talented and that they had skill. She always reminded them of that.”
Gorn’s teenage daughter, Rosie — also a theater lover and performer — reached out to Buttler to organize a memorial across the region.
“Rosie and Carrie were literally connected at the hip,” said Buttler. “Rosie explicitly asked, ‘Do you think the theaters would be willing to do a light-dimming for my mom?’
“I don’t think anything like this has ever been done in Philadelphia. This will be very special.”
Participating theaters — including Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre Company, Sedgwick Theatre, Theatre Exile, and The Wilma; Hedgerow Theatre in Media; and Theatre Horizon in Norristown — will dim their lights for one minute on Thursday starting at 7 p.m. in Carrie Gorn’s memory.
Other theaters that don’t have marquees are sharing a GoFundMe campaign that supports Rosie Gorn’s college fund.
In addition to her daughter, Carrie Gorn is survived by her husband, Chad; her stepfather, Tim McDermott; and her sisters, Stacy Graves and Emily McDermott.