Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe announces 2013/2014 Season

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe has announced its upcoming season.

“It’s an exciting lineup with what we consider the right mix to showcase our talents,” says Nate Jacobs, founding artistic director of WBTT in a prepared statement. The season called “Rhythms of Change” spans years 1865 to 1965 with music that tells the African American story.

It opens with musical “Purlie,” about a traveling preacher who returns Georgia when sharecroppers were still under Jim Crowe laws. The show runs from Nov. 13 through Dec. 15.

Next on the lineup is “The Whipping Man,” from Jan. 2 to Feb. 2, 2014. It’s a drama by Matthew Lopez about freedom centering around a wounded Jewish Confederate soldier set in the time following the Civil War.
The third is a WBTT premiere created and adapted by Nate Jacobs, “Harry and Lena,” a musical revue tribute to Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne running from Feb. 19 through March 23, 2014.

The season closer is Loften Mitchell’s three-time Tony-winning “Bubbling Brown Sugar” featuring a revue of music from the Harlem Renaissance featuring favorites of Cab Calloway, Due Ellington, Benny Goodman and Billie Holliday.

Season subscriptions are already available for $80 and may be purchased online at wbttsrq.org or by calling the box office, 366-1505.