Debbie Allen: From Fame’s Footlights to a Nation at a Crossroads

Debbie Allen, the dancer-turned-director known for Fame and Grey’s Anatomy, reflects on her ascent from Houston to Broadway and television, recalls meeting a young Donald Trump in the 1980s, and discusses how today’s political divides affect the arts; she’s returning to Broadway with Joe Turner’s Come and Gone by August Wilson, highlights her long influence on U.S. culture through the Kennedy Center and Amistad, and urges resilience, joy in craft, and a multiracial coalition to sustain American culture.