Ed Matters| Meet Jim Weaver, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s New Education Director

By Ryan G. Van Cleave | Feature Photo by Sorcha Augustine | March 2022

Sarasota is blessed to have a more robust live theater community than anywhere except the largest, most culturally vibrant cities. While the Van Wezel and Asolo Rep quickly come to mind, it’d be a serious oversight to assume that other theater organizations aren’t offering top-level events and educational programming, too. By way of example, look no further than Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe (WBTT), which was started in 1999 by director and playwright Nate Jacobs. It’s the only professional Black theater company on Florida’s west coast, and one of only two in the entire state. Their mission is to produce professional theater that promotes and celebrates African American history and experience, engage a broad base of patrons and audiences, support the development of a dynamic group of aspiring artists, and build self-esteem in youth of color.

Their commitment to the latter two goals is why they recently hired a new Education Director, Jim Weaver, a long-time partner of WBTT. “This is going back a few years,” Weaver admits, “but I started off as an actor and singer, and I wound up being cast in productions at Florida Studio Theatre.” That’s what initially got him down to Sarasota. From there, a fellow cast member introduced Weaver to Nate Jacobs, and the two hit it off. In 2006, Weaver was invited to direct Fences for WBTT. The match proved so successful that Jacobs brought him back to help the theatre in one way or another nearly every season since.

Weaver has a lot to offer since he’s earned awards for his theatrical achievements that include appearing in numerous on- and off-Broadway productions, along with a host of experiences in regional productions, cast albums, voiceover recordings, and TV. He also has an MFA in acting, which led him to become Director of Theater Studies for Kent State University at Stark. But academic bureaucracy wasn’t a great fit. Proposing an idea and waiting while it went through committee after committee—sometimes for more than a year—was frustrating. “Whereas at Westcoast,” he adds, “I can go to  Julie (Leach), the executive director. Or I can go to Nate (Jacobs), the artistic director. And we’re on the same page right from the start. It’s a much more immediate way to get things done.”

The new job also suited Weaver’s passion for education. When he was young, a lot of his own acting and dance classes were provided for free. “The idea that Nate has about making similar free opportunities and training available to the students here was kismet. It was full circle for me,” Weaver says. “It also felt like I was coming home by being able to work with people that I already had a relationship with, and a history in terms of what I was doing directorially for them.” 

Weaver’s a big fan of WBTT’s Jazzlinks, an integrated arts experience that illustrates the role of African Americans in US history through music and theater. The Jazzlinks group perform at elementary, middle, and high schools, and they also respond in character to questions from the audience to make issues in history come alive. “Most recently, they did one dealing with the Harlem Renaissance,” Weaver explains, “so it featured jazz music and shared how that art form came about. I’m currently working on one about the civil rights movement called We Shall Overcome. It offers historical context to what happened in the 50s and 60s. We’re dealing with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. We’ll even be reenacting the Woolworth Lunch Counter protest!”

Another exciting WBTT program is Stage of Discovery, a summer musical theater intensive that’s provided for free to kids 13-18. Professionals like Weaver and his colleagues teach the participants singing, acting, dancing, and improvisation. It culminates in a big public performance of a musical that’s always a crowd-pleaser.

Since WBTT has a black box theater space—a basic indoor performance area suitable for all manner of performance or educational opportunities—Weaver wants to use it as a venue to offer a range of classes there to a wider audience. He’s thinking comedy, improv, and acting, but he’s open to other options as well, such as a high-powered acting seminar on the Stanislavski method, for instance. “I’m also hoping to incorporate a more intense dance program because right now, there’s kind of a focus on contemporary dance styles. In my thinking, if someone’s hoping to have a serious career in the business, we should offer them more foundational options—ballet, tap, jazz, modern.”

One of the things that surprised Weaver in his new role is how hungry young people are to express their creative side. “Once they finally put the toe in, they open up—there’s this light that goes off inside of them,” he says. And there are so many young people who want that opportunity, just like Weaver had when he was young.

In short, it was an easy sell for WBTT to get Weaver to take on the role of Education Director/Artistic Associate. “Everybody at the company is 100%, behind the expansion of the education program, and they’re willing to take all the steps necessary to facilitate that,” he says. “This will allow a broader range of young artists to be able to come in and receive the training and the experience. Being part of that is fulfilling and exciting. I’m so glad to be here.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, please visit www.westcoastblacktheatre.org or call 941.366.1505,