Nick Stewart - Ebony Showcase Theatre

Ebony Showcase Theatre

He and his wife, Edna Stewart, also founded Los Angeles' Ebony Showcase Theatre, which provided a venue for numerous black performers, including John Amos, Nichelle Nichols and Isabel Sanford.

Founded in 1950, and first located on Crenshaw Boulevard, then at Washington and Jefferson boulevards in Los Angeles, Stewart filled the seats with quality productions. The couple did all remodeling of the building themselves, with the help of salvaged lumber from the CBS Television City construction site. Stewart hosted a variety show called Ebony Showcase Presents on KTTV from the theatre in 1953. Because CBS believed Nick Stewart's work with his theater was impairing his ability to perform on Amos 'n' Andy, he was notified that his contract would not be renewed; this was shortly before the decision to take the show off the air. By 1964, the Ebony Showcase had grown and moved again, this time to the Metro Theater near Washington and La Brea. Around this time, Nick Stewart wrote his own musical called Carnival Island. In 1973, Nick and Edna Stewart were honored by Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and the California Museum of Science and Industry's Advisory Board for their work with the Ebony Showcase theatre. During his years in vaudeville, Stewart and Milton Berle often worked together; Berle was a frequent visitor to the Ebony Showcase.

The Stewarts lost the theatre building in 1992 and it was later demolished. The couple used two homes they owned as collateral for a loan meant to save the theatre; both were lost. One of the issues which led to the theatre's financial problems was a Los Angeles law requiring all older brick buildings to meet current earthquake standards.

Stewart was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP. He also received the Living Legend award from the National Black Theatre Festival in 1995.