Jubilee Theatre, one of the oldest Black theaters in Texas, has named as its new managing director.
The theater, founded in 1981 by husband and wife Rudy and Marian Eastman, made a name for itself producing musicals, plays and original works focused on Black stories.
Jubilee survived the , a and the impact of the .
D. Wambui Richardson, the theater鈥檚 artistic director since 2018, is confident that Willis-Beard is the right person to have at its helm.
鈥淚t is a blessing that I have a partner whose vision aligns with where we鈥檝e been going and where we鈥檙e trying to go next,鈥� he said.
In an effort to keep the theater around for another 43 years, growth is a top priority.
Jubilee鈥檚 current space at 506 Main St. has 147 seats, but the theater has found success producing shows such as 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� at the W.E. Scott Theatre, where it consistently sold 90% of the theater鈥檚 468 seats, Richardson said. Likewise, the Jubilee sold 78.9% of Bass Performance Hall鈥檚 more than 2,000 seats at the end of its run of 鈥淒reamgirls,鈥� he reported.
鈥淲e know Jubilee might not be able to sustain a 2,000-seat theater,鈥� Willis-Beard said. 鈥淏ut what does it look like when we partner with a theater of that size? How many seats can we fill then? What stories draw in that size of audience?鈥�
Some productions also have supplemental programming. One such example is the whiskey tasting and panel discussion that will be paired with the upcoming production of 鈥淭houghts of a Colored Man.鈥�
Investing in educational programs through building a partnership with Fort Worth ISD and producing more original works are also high on the priority list.
鈥淗ow do we now start investing in local playwrights, local directors and local actors to start telling those new stories and developing the next generation of plays and musicals?鈥� Richardson said. 鈥淚f African American theaters don鈥檛 take the lead in telling our stories, somebody else will.鈥�
Anita Heiskell, chair of the board, said that Willis-Beard has hit the ground running and her background founding and running her own marketing firm is already paying dividends.
鈥淛ana茅 is out there in the community, out there in the public, letting people know, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檙e still here,鈥欌�� Heiskell said. 鈥淲ithin a few months, (she has) taken us to a level that we didn鈥檛 think we would get to this quickly. We are extremely happy to have Jana茅 here and have someone of her caliber and have someone of her expertise here to help grow this theater.鈥�
Her success wouldn鈥檛 be possible without a solid team at the theater and at home, Willis-Beard said.
鈥淲e have proven,鈥� she said, 鈥渢hat there鈥檚 a need for institutions like Jubilee.鈥�
Editor鈥檚 note: Willis-Beard鈥檚 title was updated in the photo caption at 5 p.m.
Marcheta Fornoff covers arts and culture for the Fort Worth Report. Reach her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board. Read more about our editorial independence policy.
This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.