Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe 2023-2024

Sarasota News Events: The Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe has set the bar in Sarasota for musical venues. They were one of the first venues to introduce local talent with an abundance of vocal and dance abilities. The talent is so good you think you are at a Broadway show!

Once On This Island: Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe Review

Get ready to strap yourself tight into your seat for this spectacular show. It abounds with all of the ingredients of an outstanding musical. First off the stunning costumes of the four Gods are amazingly elaborate. The remaining cast is in Carrebian garb. Kudos to the costume designers.

The musical is set on a Caribbean Island and has all the trappings of love, heartbreak, amends, and resurrection. Make no mistake all of the cast is full of exceedingly talented actors who perform songs and dances of Broadway quality. The actors were successfully judged by their acting ability to pull your mind and soul into the musical!

We even overheard Nate Jacobs the founder and creative director of WBTT jokingly say ‘even he enjoyed it.’ Now playing through November 19th. We suggest getting your tickets now before they sell out. WestcoastBlackTheatre.org

Current Season & Special Events

Once on This Island

OCTOBER 11 – NOVEMBER 19, 2023

Set on a Caribbean island, this Tony award-winning musical will move and exhilarate you, as the story of a peasant girl searching for love and her place in the world unfolds. This sweeping production is based on the novel “My Love, My Love” by Rosa Guy and showcases Caribbean rhythms and instruments as it deals with complicated social issues of race, class and affairs of the heart.

Learn More

Harry Belafonte: King of Calypso

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29 @ 7:30 PM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30 @ 7:30 PM

Written and Directed by Nate Jacobs

Music selected and adapted by Michael Mendez and Nate Jacobs

WBTT is excited to present Michael Mendez starring in the one-man show, Harry Belafonte: King of Calypso, an original music revue written and directed by WBTT Founder and Artistic Director Nate Jacobs.

Please note: This event is not included as part of our subscription series.

Learn More

Groovin’ on the Soul Train 2

SATURDAY – NOVEMBER 11, 2023 6-10 PM

WBTT celebrates the history of the television show Soul Train with our 2023 Gala. Join us as we shimmy on down the Soul Train line and get our groove on with hits from the 1960s, 70s and 80s performed by WBTT favorites Ariel Blue, Tarra Conner Jones, Michael Mendez, Raleigh Mosely II, Maicy Powell, Leon Pitts, Sheldon Rhoden and more after enjoying a delicious meal by Michael’s on East. Finish off the evening by singing along and shaking your booty to classic songs that you love from era’s gone by.

*LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE*

Learn More

Joyful! Joyful!
NOVEMBER 29 – DECEMBER 30, 2023
Celebrate the season with high-spirited, uplifting songs as only Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s singers, dancers and musicians can perform them! A blend of new takes on traditional holiday, gospel-infused and pop songs, the production offers a joyful, soulful twist on your favorite seasonal music.
Please note: Joyful! Joyful! is not included as part of our subscription series.
Learn More

A Soldier’s Play

JANUARY 18 – FEBRUARY 18, 2024
This Pulitzer Prize-winning drama is set in the segregation-era South of 1944. On a Louisiana Army base, two shots ring out. A Black sergeant is murdered. A series of interrogations triggers a gripping barrage of questions about sacrifice, service, and indentity in America. One persistent investigator must race against his white leadership to unravel the crime before they unravel him.

Learn More

Ruby – A World-Premiere Musical

FEBRUARY 28 – APRIL 7, 2024

On August 3, 1952, the unthinkable happened: a Black woman murdered a white doctor in Live Oak, Florida, guaranteeing a conviction for the woman bold enough to commit such a shocking crime and bringing celebrated writer Zora Neale Hurston to town to cover the story for a northern newspaper. A powerful and haunting world-premiere musical.

Learn More

Marvin Gaye: Prince of Soul

APRIL 17 – MAY 26, 2024

Sheldon Rhoden, one of Sarasota’s favorite WBTT troupe members, reprises the role of Marvin Gaye in the most-requested WBTT show. This original musical begins in the 1950s at the start of Gaye’s career with Motown and follows its twists and turns until his untimely death in the mid-1980s. A gifted and innovative talent, Gaye blazed the trail for the continued evolution of popular Black music.

JOIN MAILING LIST