Jubilee Theatre, one of the oldest Black theaters in Texas, has named Janaé Willis-Beard 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 death of its founder in 2005, a string of successors and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on live theater.
D. Wambui Richardson, the theater’s artistic director since 2018, is confident that Willis-Beard is the right person to have at its helm.
“It is a blessing that I have a partner whose vision aligns with where we’ve been going and where we’re trying to go next,” he said.
In an effort to keep the theater around for another 43 years, growth is a top priority.
Jubilee’s current space at 506 Main St. has 147 seats, but the theater has found success producing shows such as “The Color Purple” at the W.E. Scott Theatre, where it consistently sold 90% of the theater’s 468 seats, Richardson said. Likewise, the Jubilee sold 78.9% of Bass Performance Hall’s more than 2,000 seats at the end of its run of “Dreamgirls,” he reported.
“We know Jubilee might not be able to sustain a 2,000-seat theater,” Willis-Beard said. “But 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?”
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 “Thoughts of a Colored Man.”
Investing in educational programs through building a partnership with Fort Worth ISD and producing more original works are also high on the priority list.
“How 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?” Richardson said. “If African American theaters don’t take the lead in telling our stories, somebody else will.”
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.
“Janaé is out there in the community, out there in the public, letting people know, ‘Hey, we’re still here,’” Heiskell said. “Within a few months, (she has) taken us to a level that we didn’t think we would get to this quickly. We are extremely happy to have Janaé here and have someone of her caliber and have someone of her expertise here to help grow this theater.”
Her success wouldn’t be possible without a solid team at the theater and at home, Willis-Beard said.
“We have proven,” she said, “that there’s a need for institutions like Jubilee.”
Editor’s note: Willis-Beard’s 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 policyhere.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.