Broadway theatres are to dim their lights on 3 August in memory of Gore Vidal, who died this week aged 86, and the cast of his play The Best Man, currently on at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, will dedicate the next week of performances to his memory.

The Broadway League said the lights would be dimmed for one minute at 8pm. Executive director Charlotte St Martin called Vidal's work both "timely and timeless".

The second revival of The Best Man opened in April to strong reviews, whith a stellar cast that included James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, John Larroquette, Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack, Michael McKean and Kerry Butler. The show currently stars Cybill Shepherd, John Stamos, Kristin Davis, Mark Blum and Elizabeth Ashley, in addition to Larroquette and Jones.

"I'm honoured to have been able to call Gore a close friend," Shepherd said in a statement. "Speaking his witty and eloquent words every night only reinforces for me what a genius he was."

Producer Jeffrey Richards said there would be an announcement before each show that it was being dedicated to Vidal; at curtain calls, photos of Vidal would be shown on the monitors.

"Gore Vidal was an original," Richards said, hailing his "grace, distinction, style, wit and wisdom". He added: "For his contribution to American culture, we will always be in his debt."

Set in Philadelphia during a fictional 1960 national convention, the play pits two candidates vying for the presidential nomination and sees how far they will go to win. The play has been extended twice, and will close on 9 September. "It is filled with poetry about what it means to be human," said Davis. "We will think of him and everything he contributed to life."