This Light of Mine

- [Announcer] This is a production of WEDU PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

This program was produced In partnership with The Community Foundation of Sarasota County With generous funding from The George J.

& Alice Pugh Donor Advised Fund (mid tempo music) - My name is Nate Jacobs.

- He said, "I wanna start a theater of my own "to talk about the African-American experience "in our community."

- African-American theater companies, it was unheard of.

- This is my theater.

- He was our only opportunity to get on stage and to really grow as an artist.

- You just fall in love with everybody involved with the theater.

- [Man] It's the passion that drives the company - This is my vision.

- No one can successfully tell the Black story like the Black theater can.

- [Nate] The more we understand each other, the more we're at peace with each other.

- There is no quitting.

There is no giving up.

- This is my story.

I was the fourth child of 11 siblings and most of the time I was lost in the crowd.

It was always a household full of life, and vitality and noise.

I don't know how I perceived myself.

I was just like wondering around in the world.

Nothing really caught my interest that much.

In school, mainly I remember high school, nobody would make necessarily special comments to me about anything I was doing except art class.

So that's why I majored in art at Florida A&M University.

In college, the theater bug bit me.

I had a passion for art, but it was different when it came to theater.

And it was in the theater that I finally getting confidence in myself.

I stepped out of my comfort zone into my calling.

In Sarasota, I earned the reputation of being a professional actor, but something was missing.

Roll out the barrel We'll have a barrel of fun Roll out the barrel - Sarasota, it's a very white community.

And it's sad to say you taking notice of someone who is different than everybody else and he was one of those few African-American performers who you would see.

You also took notice of him because he was extremely talented.

Seeing this world is such a cold cold place You said you would reach out To help make a change But the world will always be the same - Before he started spilling down and trying to help everybody else, he was already an amazing actor, an amazing singer and he can dance.

Good news - After three or four years in the theater, I became the black male actor of Sarasota.

He sings, he acts.

- Theater, I mean since the beginning has been a very elitist art form.

People performing for Kings and Queens and the wealthy community and I think an air of that lingers here in Sarasota.

He was well-known just for the sake that there weren't many Black actors who lived here.

They would fly actors here from like New York and different places, but of those who lived here, he was one of very few so he was well-known for that.

- I don't think he had the best opportunity for acting roles, probably playing small, small parts in older plays.

- I kept being called for servant roles.

I think all of them because in dated theater, who were Black people but servants and slaves?

- I remember I was pissed because we were sitting through what seemed like forever.

I'm waiting for my dad.

My dad comes out to pour water and said, "Here you go, sir," or whatever and walked off.

I was so pissed!

And I turned to my mom who was asleep and I was like, "Is that what we came to do?"

But that's just what was available.

- The thing that really got me more than anything was the lack of interest for diversity.

It was just something not right about it.

- Nate was an actor for me.

There were certain plays that I had heard about Nate.

I asked him to come and join the company which he did.

And so that's how Nate and I got to know each other.

Well, he was young and ambitious and talented, talented guy.

And one day he came into my office and he said, "I wanna start a theater of my own "to talk about the African-American experience "in our community."

- And I said, "I have to go start a theater "that celebrates people who look like me."

- So I'd rather be living in Buckingham Palace!

- In Black theaters, we are not the minority.

We don't have to fight to tell our stories.

We don't have to fight to be seen.

We don't have to fight to be heard.

And I think that is so important for especially a Black actor.

We don't have to be worried about being, filling the quota and being the one Black person in the cast.

- I am going to start a theater.

A theater that represents the whole community.

(upbeat music) This was Nate Jacob selling to this very educated theater audience that this Black theater was legit, it was essential and it had a place on the cultural landscape.

The Westcoast Black Theater Troupe was born.

- Of course, this Black man saying, "Hey, I wanna put on some shows in this community."

It was met with a little bit of resistance at first.

- Remember, I'm a Black man in the South starting something brand new.

Being Black in America is one thing, being Black in Southern Florida is another thing.

- The problem for me is when we introduce another perspective on American life.

American life is more than just one look.

It's more than the White man or the White woman's perspective.

They're Latinos, they're Asians, they're Black people and we all have an idea and a perspective on what this American experience is.

- The Black experience is an American experience.

It is a human experience.

The point to highlight and explore is to put it out there and let people know that this experience is real.

- I'll crack down and ease the judgment.

You aint nothing but a home boy Jimmy.

- You want them to come and experience all the different stories and learn more about the different worlds that are out there but people are gonna start at least by coming to see something that relates to them, I think.

- You's like a rare feather.

- He gave her his most killing look.

- He was just auditioning people and there's a lot of talented people in this area.

And I remember we were doing "Amen corner" or something like that.

Sure enough, we were gonna travel with this show and he took it to Baltimore.

And I remember one time we were traveling and he told me he was like, "Teresa, I think I wanna have a theater company."

From then, I remember him just putting shows together and trying to make it work.

And then I think the beauty of him realizing that all of us youth were just ready and eager to join him with his vision, it made it a lot easier because we were ready to be there for Nate because just Nate, Nate's just a good man.

My love is alive, way down in my heart Although we are miles apart If you ever need a helping hand I'll be there on the double just as fast as I can - We went on this vagabond journey, just appearing anywhere we could.

Aint no valley low enough - We didn't always have the money to put on these shows that you saw.

We didn't always have everything we needed to have the costuming and the beautiful wonder that the show becomes.

- When you don't have a home, you can't really set up shop.

Everyday is an experiment.

You don't have the best quality of lights because you can't rig anything.

It means you don't have the greatest set because it has to be easily moved.

- We would jump in his van and change our clothes in that van, put on our makeup in that van, that van has been the dressing room, rehearsal studio, but we made it work.

We made it work because we really believed in what he was doing.

- If you could imagine, you went to go find the costumes, you helped put together your set, you've sat in your lighting rehearsals, you're picking up all your actors, you're feeding them ok, you're taking them back home.

And then after they got to take your daughter home and come back and do it all over again every night.

(upbeat music) - All the scenery, props, risers chairs, everything had to be put down by the actors.

They'd put on a show and then they'd pack it all back up into a pod every night.

So that was very hard.

- It weighed on him very heavy and I could see it many times.

- Nate knows how to do a play, knows how to direct one, knows how to perform in one, is able to gather some fabulous, talented people around him.

They did wonderful work with nothing, with nothing.

- And then he was creating a lot of musical reviews at the time.

They weren't doing existing plays or musical for the most part because I don't think he could afford the rights to them.

He begged to go riding - There were times when I wanted to give up.

- I started to see it wearing on my father.

And he was just kind of saying like, "When is this gonna stop being such a struggle?

"When is this gonna stop being so hard?

"When am I gonna get support?"

I remember seeing him frustrated, sometimes completely pissed off and going on stage and doing a full two hour show.

Or, going with him to different theaters and borrowing costumes when they didn't want us there.

I remember there was one theater, they put up a sign, "Don't loan any costumes to Nate Jacobs Westcoast from Black Theater Troupe."

And they put it up so we could see it.

Everything you got When you got a tune to write Throw everything aside Sweet sister make it sweet - And that's when I really began to understand how important my father was to the community.

It wasn't just that these were entertaining shows.

He was our only opportunity to get on stage and to really grow as an artist.

- We still struggled, no funding.

People I guess, they never came to ask me, how are you putting up these shows?

Do you need any support?

Howard sat me down and said, "I need to tell you the missing link "of Westcoast Black Theater Troupe "is an executive director."

He said, "Nate, you need an executive director "like every arts organization in this town."

Hit me with the high note so they watch me - All I knew at the time was that they did not have a home to perform in.

I knew that they were $150,000 in debt and that they were considering an option of closing down the theater if they couldn't find someone to help them.

I'm gonna keep my hair up Hit me with the high note and watch me bounce - Christine was absolutely perfect for us.

When she decided to come on, she said, "You know I know nothing about the theater."

I said, "You know everything about money "and I know everything about the theater.

"Between the two of us, we'll help Nate "and we'll see if we can make this work."

- He gave the money way.

- Who gave away what money?

- My brother, [Indistinct], he gave it away.

- One of my earliest memories is the first year I joined them, we were so poor, we were paying our actors and singers $25 a week.

- In December of 2009, I was the first person that Christine Jennings hired whenever she took over as executive director.

- And we just started building from the bottom up.

- At that point in time, it was Christine, Nate and myself in a very small office on Main street.

We would hand stamp show dates on tickets because we didn't have a printer.

We didn't have a ticketing system.

We were the ticketing system.

Once I got to know Nate and then saw what he created on stage with little or nothing, at that point, I knew that this was it.

This was my calling because it was then and even more so now so much more than a job.

It's a mission and it's a conviction that we all have to make sure that Nate's vision is carried out.

- We got a late start tonight because of a wonderful reason.

That was a very difficult time because you're asking people to perform and rehearse months in advance, weeks in advance and then perform five and six nights a week for $25 a week, but they did do it.

- We were still in debt.

Christine was working diligently to get us out of debt.

- [Christine] We were still very much a struggling Troupe.

There was a lot of not being sure of what the future was going to hold?

What was going to happen next?

- We stayed afloat with the help of the community.

Aint no stopping us now - She pulled us out of that $150,000 debt in nine months.

- The community truly, truly gave all they could.

Foundations gave, individuals gave, all these contributions came.

And I think that itself is a story.

- To see him really have the relief of folks helping him to make this come alive, it was overwhelming to me.

- [Woman] We found this space here on 1012 North Orange and we set up a theater in there with folding chairs and a black floor and started performing there.

- The theater was just a metal frame building, open warehouse building.

We had to paint the ceilings, we painted the floor, we hung curtains.

- They transformed it from this very bland warehouse to a full functioning theater.

Quench my desire - Then it went into foreclosure.

We managed to purchase this whole campus for $450,000 which we had to work hard to raise that money.

And I would say from that point on, our trajectory financially just changed a hundred percent.

You love is lifting me higher Its lifting me higher - [Christine] ] Once we were able to secure the purchase of that building, there was a a celebratory and a very much relieved air.

For a theater to own home is own home is transformational.

We were able to keep most of what we earned either for ourselves with the theater or for our actors or rather than paying for rent.

- That moment solidified everything.

And I think that's what made us all realize that what we were doing was meant to be.

No no no no what I got you aint wanting it I say no no no no no - There's something about this place that creates a different level of excitement.

I think it's partly the performances which are often very exciting, but it's that nurturing attitude about what Nate is doing, that you know he's teaching, that people come in here and the performers come in here and have an opportunity they would never get anywhere else and they get to grow and we get to watch them grow.

What I do Please understand that I still love you so And I'm still your friend - They are learning the rules and the traditions of the theater so that when they get an opportunity to do something somewhere else, they're better prepared for it.

My heart forever - We're a very unique theater because there's very few theaters that do training of aspiring actors and actresses and singers alongside equity actors and actresses on stage.

So we are a small professional theater in the equity classification.

So we have union actors on stage that have many years of experience, some on Broadway.

And then they're working with sometimes just local folks from the community, some even very young on stage.

And they're learning those skills from these folks.

And a lot of the people that are learning on our stage don't have the financial capacity to go to a master's program at a state university or even with a scholarship.

So this opportunity is really foundational for them.

- He's got an eye for talent.

I mean, if you look at his record and you see the young people he brought up who are now all grown up and in California, and in New York and performing all over the world.

Hey oh - This didn't happen by accident.

He spotted talent.

- I would never be where I am without this platform.

This was the blessing that my journey was.

It would be totally disrespectful as a human being if I didn't look back and say thank you to all of those that sewn into my life.

I was blessed to be able to sing on "the Oscars" this year.

And I wouldn't be able to do that if I didn't have this groundwork in my life.

I guess I'll drown in my own tears Here without you I'm doing pretty well.

At the beginning of this year, I had the opportunity to perform with Beyonce at Coachella and that completely changed my career.

I've been blessed to perform with a number of people and not to mention that I think more people are now aware of my talent and my gift.

I was telling my dad, "I really wanna own my own production company "and create opportunities.

"As I was mentioning, for people of color, "not just Black people, but people of color truly "in Hollywood so people can see themselves."

- I started out as a performer here, but I shortly became the choreographer.

I'm originally from Memphis, Tennessee.

And a director by the name of Harry Bryce introduced me to Nate Jacobs.

They were getting ready to do a show called "Sophisticated ladies".

With lots of xses everything but you They needed someone to teach the Troupe how to tap so Harry Bryce invited me to come and teach the Troupe to tap.

(shoes tapping) Within two weeks, I had them tapping.

I mean, dancers who had never had tap shoes on their feet before, I had them tapping in two weeks.

And the show went up in four weeks and it was a great success.

(upbeat music) - And he put the true meaning in whenever he laid his head.

- Nate was my middle school and high school art and drama teacher, that's sort of where our journey began.

(upbeat music) When I was around 15 or 16, I was playing in the band pits for some of the plays and things that he would do.

I went off to college, got my degree in music and came back home.

I was engineering for all kinds of artists, doing big stadium type setups.

My passion for music grew.

When I was doing those things, I was always longing to be on the stage, but I got a call and they said, "Hey, we've got the show going on up in Ocala "and the music director "just does not have things under control.

"Could you come up and music direct this show this weekend?"

Now, I had never music directed anything at that point.

I'd been Assistant Music Director for different artists and things like that, but just sort of blindly saying yes, I was able to work with the musicians and we got that show up and running.

It was very successful.

And after that weekend, Nate approached me and said, "I don't know where the company is going "and we're sort of in a rebuilding stage."

And he said, "But I would love it "if you could be the resident music director "for the company."

- Jay Dodge on the bass.

- I think at 29 being the Music Director of a company in Sarasota, Florida, I don't know everybody's history, but I just know there's probably not a lot of people at that age that get that opportunity and are afforded that much weight on their shoulders.

(mid tempo music) - Theater is another way of exposing, educating and enlightening people at large.

And that's what a lot of our work does here.

- This Troupe is special because I've never seen a Black organization that can tell our story quite like we can.

- Man said to his woman, "I got me a dream."

And his woman say, "Eat your eggs."

- Typically when our stories are told, they're usually told in a negative, or stereotypical or a non impactful way.

Usually they're produced by someone or a team that who has absolutely no clue of what our story is.

No one can successfully tell the Black story like the Black theater can.

- I aint loan him nothing but $4.

- That's all right.

- They don't teach you about Black history when they talk about American history.

And I feel like theater is definitely a way to express that, but also to express the here and now and our present and how resilient we are.

And I don't think that anyone else can capture that, but Black people because we know our experience, we know our struggle.

- This beast is insatiable.

- I'm not in the mood to hear this tonight.

- And you are placing your head right into its hungry, gaping mouth.

- There is no beast mother!

- You have to be a Black person to have the Black experience.

And so to be able to put that out there for people who are not, who do not have that experience and maybe have questions about it or question it's like validity or something like that is important.

- This is the only way we can start that conversation is that we try to understand each other a little more.

The more we understand each other, the more we're at peace with each other.

(upbeat music) - When you go to other theaters and older shows or even current shows now, the kind of themes that they still have that are so offensive to people of color.

That's why you need people of color in the room to make sure that that kind of stuff does not happen.

- Get it all out.

(man sobbing) Give it all to me.

- When you have a Black theater that has a Black artistic director, you end up with a group who is invested in telling the true story of that work.

- Of course we've been met with prejudice.

I mean, our world is still so full of those things.

But I think that because you get to come into such a welcoming and loving environment, you know there's no other options, but for the walls of that separation to be torn down.

- Now, I come in that theater and I see a venue where this community come together as one.

They cry together, they laugh together, they smile together and they like it.

They love it.

They hug each other in our hallways.

- We definitely have the ability of bringing people together.

I think that's ultimately what this Troupe does the best is it's such a community that we literally bring the community into our family.

And the fact that we can do that and bring people together through song, and dance, and acting and whatever it may be, that in itself is just what sets this Troupe apart from all the other companies that I've ever been a part of.

- Now, it's very different.

I come home and I see these shows and other theaters have seen that there is great worth in telling stories, not just Black stories, but stories of people of color.

You can go to a lot of theaters and play real stuff like from Black playwrights and the whole culture has completely changed.

- We're able to show people that everybody can work together.

And that's a big part of what we do is just bringing everyone together to celebrate the art of what happens in our theater.

(upbeat music) - There's just an energy in the room when the lights come up.

And when we hear our five minute call or our places call from our stage manager, as a music director, there's nothing that's more thrilling to me than to be able to play a show and captivate audiences.

- There is nothing greater than that kind of exchange from you as a performer to the audience.

- People love what we do because we offer something that no one else in this city and I'd even go to say in the state provide.

- Go talk to him again.

Tell him if he don't pay up all his money, he'll never make another record of mine again.

Performing is my love.

This is my industry and I love it so much.

I've been in numerous productions here at Westcoast Black Theater Troupe from "The color purple" to "The wiz".

"Ma Rainey's black bottom", one of my favorite productions here and I was actually the title character Ma Rainey.

This theater, this city has been by far one of the best places to create in.

(drum beating) - Listen my Black brother.

- We hear you.

- Do you hear the waters bursting on the shores of our oceans.

- Overcome the fear.

- I tell the actors, "This is a privilege to have a gift that you can walk "into a venue and walk out on a platform.

"The lights come up "and you can touch the spirits and heart of people."

Do you ever bend down Do you light an engine and got no driving wheel But I'm not ashamed - There's a moment in every show that we do and all the cast and crew and everybody that works with this know, I am a cry baby.

And there's always something that touches me, be it a song or just a line of dialogue in one of the shows, But everybody that walks through that door, there is a moment during a production that touches them.

I've had a lot of those moments over the past years.

- That is the power of being a performing artists and having this amazing gift to affect people the way we can.

I see it as a great privilege and a sacred trust.

So I tell the actors, "Turn it on 'cause it's magic.

"Turn it on because it's a privilege.

"Turn it on 'cause everybody can't do it."

After years of challenges, success and we are determined to pay it forward.

Okay, just go back at the song again.

- We have a five week summer camp program with teenagers age 13 to 18.

They come here five days a week, six hours a day and work intensively on musical theater.

And at the end, we put on a big show.

Look at me let your heart bleed And my eyes are the portals of love - There you are!

Have I kept you waiting too long?

- Oh, you gotta be cute.

Now you're cute and you're the prettiest thing in the forest.

- Almost all the students that attend are very passionate about musical theater.

They all have to audition for the camp.

But in general, they've not had summer enrichment experiences like this before because either they're needed at home for work or they just don't have the money to pay for a program.

- So my job here with the artists that we work with, at stage of discovery is to make those opportunity more accessible to very talented people who may not, parents may not have had the money or the time to get them in these programs every two times, three times a week.

- We teach them how to audition for shows.

We teach them to sing.

We teach them to dance.

We teach them about acting.

And at the end of the summer camp, the kids put on a big show and it's always successful, always.

- Mr. Jacobs is great at working with children.

His patience is impeccable.

- There's something about his ability to recognize talent and nurture it and pull it out.

And sometimes I mean, it's literally like people don't realize themselves what they have inside.

- I get phenomenal fulfillment.

I get the joy of being attached to somebody else's journey and to be able to make a contribution to the greatness of another person.

(audience cheering and clapping) Maicy Powell, she represents the spirit of what we do here.

This place is a boat that'll keep me afloat And hope is a row that'll lead me ashore So I heard about Stage of Discovery and WBTT through a family friend, Jay Dodge.

He told me, "Hey, we have this summer program.

"A summer intensive for kids and you would be perfect "so you should audition."

- Her parents called me and said, "Maicy would like to set up an appointment with you."

And so of course, we gave her an appointment.

- I came in to audition.

It was really nerve wracking.

The only people here were actually Ms. Julie and Mr. Nate.

And I did my monologue, or I tried to do my monologue.

I was really, really nervous 'cause that was really the first time that I had ever really acted before.

you know I'm a singer I got love I got love - Maicy came in and she said, "I just wanted to be very clear with you."

She said, "I know you have a lot of students that come "to this program during the summer.

"You need to understand, I see you different.

"Everything you say, I grasp hold to "because I really wanna do this and I wanna do it well.

"So I don't just see you as a director.

"To me, you are my mentor.

"And I felt like you need to know that."

I said, "Well, people choose their mentors "so I respect that and I'm honored to be seen "by you that way."

Luck girl And for the first time in my life I'm someone in this world Bye bye blues Oh said I can't lose - Our journey began from there.

And she just blossomed into this flower.

I got love My young artist showcase called "The kid is all right", I performed it my senior year of high school.

I had just turned 18.

And I was very, very very excited when they told me.

It was my my last year of Stage of Discovery.

Mr. Jacobs called me in his office.

He was like, "We want you to do your own show."

And I was so excited.

I'm Black as hell.

It's an obligatory part Of every new musical It's the random Black girl singing the soul It was basically a show just about my experience as a young Black woman.

My experience with WBTT.

My excitement going into college.

It was definitely a show that celebrated my transition into being like a young adult.

And so I was really excited to be able to do that show at that time.

Anytime I ever have lines It's yes'm and yes sir and no sir I had two sold out shows so I was really excited about that and it was just an amazing experience.

Shake a hand make a friend now Shake a hand make a friend now Oh ooh ooh Everybody ooh (audience cheering and clapping) - Five, four, three, two, one!

(audience cheering and clapping) We just cut the ribbon to our new destiny and our brand new miracle theater everybody.

Let's hear it one more time.

(audience cheering and clapping) We celebrated our 20th anniversary in a beautiful new theater.

All was well.

And then 2020 struck, wow.

- Ooh.

- What a year.

A worldwide pandemic, a national reckoning with race.

- What 2020 has done, it has shone a light on how unfair things have been as far as diversity is concerned in the theater world.

- It's like now everybody's on the same level.

- There are certain things that have come to light because of COVID.

We've kind of been able to settle and take a break and pause and kind of look at the world that we live in.

Obviously, we're going through some extreme social injustices right now.

And so whenever or if COVID ends whenever that is, I think it's important to continue to have the conversations that we're having right now.

- The culture right now of America from police killings of unarmed Black men and women to systematic racism, all of these things are affecting the Black community.

And to have Black theater come to and tell these stories and say it's not okay, it would just be an extension of the culture.

- COVID-19 brought quite a difference in the way the world does theater and definitely the way we do theater here at WBTT.

- I'm the business half of the team you know so so instantly I was in a panic, what's gonna happen?

We've got almost $400,000 in ticket revenues out there for shows that aren't gonna happen now.

- We were able to get through a full run of our opening seasonal show, "Caroline, or Change."

We had closed that show and moved into "Your arms too short to box with God" which is another former Broadway piece by Vinnette Carroll.

And we had gotten three weeks in on the run.

And then the quarantine happened where we had to shut the theater down and close the doors.

And that was a very sad day.

- If Christ defeated Calvary, come on surely we can defeat corona.

(audience cheering) - The Westcoast Black Theater Troupe went dark.

(mid tempo music) - Well, COVID has changed a lot.

It has changed a lot of things, you know.

We live a different way now.

- I've lost every contract this year that I had from March through December, big change.

- Everything was closed down and we had to send our actors back home.

- I was trying to take it all in stride, but there were times it really truly bothered me.

But with my resilient spirit and attitude, challenge is something that I am accustomed to.

My mind went to work about, "Okay, now what do we do from here?"

We went into our summer camp with our teenagers stage of discovery and there we were again trying to figure out how we would move ahead with that.

- We realized that we had to go virtual so I switched the lesson plans and everything to adhere to that.

We're a lot further than week one yeah?

And brush up on your music theory too 'cause that's important.

And then me and Mr. Jacobs along with Donald Frison, we sat down and tried to figure out a way how to get the youth an ability to perform live.

- It was in the heat of the moment with Black Lives Matter.

So we did like a 15 minute music video with our kids kind of bringing consciousness to the Black Lives Matter movement.

- All right guys, thumbs up.

- I had to choreograph the routine through Zoom and I'd never done that before.

I figured out a way to do it.

And so towards the end of the camp, we had them come to the theater in groups, different groups to practice.

- I was fortunate to be doing it for my first year here just teaching the acting portion of it.

And I just taught the kids just different monologues, gave them different monologues, acting techniques and stuff like that.

Things to look for when looking at new scripts and how to like take direction and things like that.

- I was so amazed with those kids how they learned every move that I showed them on that Zoom video.

And I'm like, "How did y'all pick it up just like that?"

Doo too up a rat a tat boom I make the sound of a jet plane zoom Doo too up a rat a tat boom I make the sound of a fire You got to believe - They performed on the property socially distanced with live performance tracks and everything.

And we did it that way.

You got to believe in something Why not believe in me - That was a high point I think for the summer for me.

The stages were dark but we could still do our education program Come go with us to a place Doom doom doom doom Where we're not judged by color or race Where love and respect brings us together And we're only judged by our character - So we just had to modify a few things, but the kids had a great experience.

It was a great time.

A place where Black lives matter A place where we have equality A place where we can love each other And there's no police brutality Oh I'll take you there I know a place I'll take you there Aint nobody crying I'll take you there - Julie and I got with our production team and we all kind of put our heads together and came up with this phenomenal outdoor performance space.

(upbeat music) - [Donald] We have tables out there, small tables but they're all spread out.

We have them sitting in circles.

Everybody has a mask.

The way I choreograph the show, the guys are far apart.

- The patio of the theater is now our stage.

It was just my imagination running away with me - Crisis always present opportunities for new ideas and some could be very ingenious.

And we do feel our outdoor space has become a real true option for the way we present things here on our campus.

'Cause I can't get next to you baby I can't get next to you baby No matter what I do I can't get next to you Can't get next to you I can't get next to you baby No matter what I do I can't get next to you I can fly like a bird in the sky And I can buy anything That money can buy - I was going to get back to our people.

It was just going to happen.

If anybody in this world is going before an audience during this time, I feel why not us?

And to our incredible production team who are a group of phenomenally passionate people about this vision as I am came together and everybody put their hands together and we made it work.

Resiliency is a part and an attribute that any visionary and founder must have in order to realize that dream.

- Where there is a will, there is a way.

- 2020 has been a brutal teacher of shouldn't take things for granted because they can be taken away.

I've been so many places In my life and time - I hope we all remember how important theater really is and how we felt when we were sitting in a theater and watching a live performance and all of the emotions that come with that as someone who is a patron.

I hope we find ways to still support theater, whether it's sitting outside, whether it's sitting in a car and driving up and listening and watching, whether it's wearing a mask and doing whatever we have to do to stop the spread of COVID.

I hope that we will commit to do whatever we have to do to be back in the theater again and to turn that ghost light off and only have it on overnight until we come back the next day.

I treated you unkind It's in our blood to persevere someway, somehow.

- Nate has always been persistent in his vision and his journey for the company.

Everything that he's done, he's done with complete passion, whether he had the funding to do it or the backing of people or whatever it was.

If his mind was set to do it, he was going to pursue it.

It taught me precious secrets - He had this vision, he had this dream that he wanted to accomplish and he did it.

- Seeing that the buildings now are renovated, we have the dollars to outfit them you know to the best of our abilities now and upgrade things and make it a better experience for our audiences, for our actors, for our staff and everything, It's just, it's totally it's gratifying to see that.

(gentle music) - To be able to walk in this building, to be able to sit here right now, It's a I have no words to explain how grateful I feel.

- I know lot of our community is really proud of my father.

There are Black kids who can walk past that building and say, "a Black man did that," that's important.

A Latino can pass by here and say, "A man of color did that."

There's possibility for me, there's hope for me no matter what anyone tells me, no matter what anyone says, this is proof.

You can see it.

- This is it.

This was my purpose to make a difference and to make impact.

I do it through the performing arts.

That's how Nate Jacob changes this world and make it a better place for everybody.

- In retrospect I mean, I think we should all be thankful that Nate made the decision to come back here because he created something far bigger than his own career might've been.

He could've been who knows a major Broadway star and he certainly has the talent, but I don't think he would've had the opportunity to develop all the different talents he has.

He writes shows, he directs them, he performs in them, he coordinates all this stuff.

And now thankfully, he has a staff to help him with that.

- I do just fall in love with everybody involved with the theater, the actors, Nate, the mission.

It's something that grows in your soul and just keeps you attached.

- Having followed this theater and Nate's journey since the beginning, I just feel amazed sometimes about what has happened here.

It's heartwarming, it is thrilling to me to see a theater that didn't have a home, has a home that it now owns outright and had the ability to raise the money to to create an education and administration building.

And then to renovate a theater that they had created out of a warehouse.

- Patrons of Westcoast Black Theater Troupe have always been very passionate about the Troupe members, about Nate, about the mission, about his perseverance over the years.

- That faith, that determination he has is by far the greatest lesson he has ever taught me.

And he didn't teach me with words, he taught me with his actions.

There is no quitting.

There is no giving up, no matter how difficult it looks how hard it looks, how impossible at times it looks, I know that it's possible because I can look at my father and see he did what many thought was impossible.

This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine yes Never diminish your light for the sake of others.

When you fully shine your light, you give everyone else in the world the license to shine theirs.

Your light tower have to shine in order to draw every thing that should be drawn to secure the success of what you have been called to do, the people the money, the opportunities.

If you're not shining your light, the only reason you're not getting the things that you praying and hoping and waiting for, they don't see your light.

I used to be at one time in my life an introverted person.

I had no idea what was down the road for me.

You have to shine your light.

If people don't get to know you, sometimes they don't even know or connect to why they feel connected to you.

Shining your light illuminates the world and gives everybody else the license to say, "Wow, maybe I should shine my light a little brighter."

(mid tempo music) This program was produced In partnership with The Community Foundation of Sarasota County with generous funding from The George J.

& Alice Pugh Donor Advised Fund