Historical Dictionary of African American Theater by Anthony D. Hill

Author:Anthony D. Hill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2012-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

JUBILEE THEATRE

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, for more than 35 years, Jubilee Theatre provides black theater of high quality to the people of Texas. Rudy and Harriett Eastman founded Jubilee (1981) with Rudy serving as its artistic director.

For the first five years, Jubilee performed in churches, lobbies, and schools. By 1986, it had made great strides in obtaining 501(c) 3 nonprofit status and obtaining an Actors’ Equity contract. This enabled Jubilee to bring in professional actors, to merge with its resident company, and to elevate the quality of productions. Most of the productions were traditional plays such as God’s Trombones, Langston Hughes’s Christmas spectacle Black Nativity, and the original musical The Blues Ain’t Nothin’.

In 1993 and 1995, Jubilee held two successful fund-raising campaigns, which the administrators used to enlarge office space and increase staffing. They also began to produce more challenging work by staging Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage, Cookin’ at the Cookery by Marion J. Caffey, and Home by Samm-Art Williams.

The 2003–2004 season marked another turning point. They increased the seating capacity to 150 seats, renovated the lobby, and increased dressing room and lobby space without going into debt. Jubilee also launched an educational outreach program in the school system that involved more than 38,000 students. The theater has seen its audience rise each year and serves an average of 12,000 patrons yearly.

Unexpectedly, artistic director Rudy Eastman passed away in 2005. A year later, a nationwide search produced his successor—Professor Edward Smith, a theater veteran with an impeccable record. The transition has been seamless, with Smith introducing a program of staged readings in the 2006–2007 season, along with A Love Song for Miss Lydia by Donald T. Evans and August Wilson’s epic journey Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.

In the fall of 2010, Jubilee was renovated with the aid of the Christian Mission Concerns, musician David Crowder, the Greater Waco Council of the Arts, and community members. The interior was enhanced with a larger stage, new curtains, technology, and access to the World Cup Café. By October, Jubilee had participated in the annual Jubilee Music Festival with its offerings of plays, dances, concerts, and activities for children and adults.

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