Arts & Culture Magazine - November/December 2007 - (Page 40)

WESTCOAST BLACK THEATRE TROUPE By Chris Angermann For Nate Jacobs, the birth of Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe eight years ago came as something of a surprise. “It called me, I didn’t call it,” he says. “I saw the need and felt it in my heart. I was looking for a platform for diversity in this community, and I just stood back watching as it identified itself for me.” Jacobs was a popular performer in Sarasota already, acting and singing at various theaters around town and directing shows at the Players Theatre. One day, he was talking with the people heading what was then Theatre Works (now the Gompertz Theatre of Florida Studio Theatre), and they offered him Sunday and Monday, their dark nights, for performances. Jacobs agreed before he even had a play, actors, or money to put on a show. “I could not say no to the opportunity,” he says. After a visit to New York, he decided to do a musical review about the Cotton Club, the legendary Harlem night club where many of the greatest African American entertainers performed during the Prohibition era. Using two of his students from the Westcoast school and two local singers he hired by phone, Jacobs rehearsed for a couple of months. They borrowed costume scraps from other theaters, and found two tuxedos for the men. The set was leopard skin cloth draped over the flats of a set for another show to suggest the exotic interior. Prior to opening, the head of Theatre Works took Jacobs aside and told him, “This is a new venture. Don’t be surprised if no one shows up.” That Sunday night, 100 people came to watch the premier of Cotton Club Cabaret. Monday night brought the same number. The following weekend the theater was packed; the weekend after that it was sold out. “It just took off like spitfire,” Jacobs recalls, “so when they offered me to do more shows, I was crazy enough to say yes.” The following season included A Raisin in the Sun, Eubie! and Cotton Club Two–this time with costumes and a small set designed specifically for the show. Those works continued the success of the inaugural show. “It kind of scared me,” Jacobs says, “I had anticipated it to be a much harder climb.” When Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe left Theatre Works after three seasons because the rental costs were too high, it performed at various venues, including the Booker High School auditorium and the 40 : : arts and culture magazine

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Arts & Culture Magazine - November/December 2007

Arts & Culture Magazine - November/December 2007 Contents Extra! Extra! Modern Times Gallery Interview - Jopseph Caulkins Exhibitions Dodi Reifenberg and Bradley Wester Profiles Center Stage Carnevale Horse Feathers Grill & Lounge Dancing on the Stage of Life Gallery Guide Calendar of Events

Arts & Culture Magazine - November/December 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.