The James Earl Jones Theatre was built by and originally named for John Cort, general manager of the Northwestern Theatrical Association, a theatre circuit centered in Seattle with playhouses scattered throughout the western US and British Columbia. A fugitive from a vaudeville comedy team called Cort and Murphy, Cort moved from performing to management in the 1890s. The Shuberts acquired the theatre in 1927, two years before Cort’s death.  The theatre was rechristened the James Earl Jones in 2022 in honor of the celebrated actor who made his Broadway debut at the playhouse in  Sunrise at Campobello  in 1958