The James Earl Jones Theatre was built by John Cort and originally named after him. Cort was the 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 renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre in 2022 in honor of the celebrated actor who made his Broadway debut at the playhouse in Sunrise at Campobello in 1958.