WBTT’s April Fools’ Fête a Soulful Success

April 4, 2025 | Sarasota

Each year on or around April 1, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe holds its spring fundraiser, the April Fools’ Fête. With a more casual feel and delicious home cookin’, the Fête offers the opportunity to shine a spotlight on WBTT’s impact on young and/or rising artists.

This year was no exception. With over 300 in attendance at The Ora and armed with $50,000 in matching funds from dedicated supporters of the Troupe, the popular arts organization blew past its original fundraising goal and has raised more than $277,000 in support of its education programs.

This year’s Fête, with a “Family Reunion” theme, featured special video tributes and live performances by five Stage of Discovery students and alumni, all accompanied by WBTT’s sizzling live band. When the formal program ended, guests stuck around to dance to the hottest Motown tunes, performed by the WBTT band and some fan-favorite WBTT professional artists.

The young artists featured during the event included Anthony Jackson, Hadara Porter, Maicy Powell, Zion Thompson and Sammy Waite. WBTT’s Education Director/Artistic Associate Jim Weaver talked a bit about the Stage of Discovery program and introduced each of the young artists.

WBTT’s education programs include: the Stage of Discovery summer musical theater intensive program, which is free to participants thanks to generous community support; the Jazzlinks and Rhythm & Tales school outreach programs; WBTT Voices Community Forums, an ongoing series of free community forums about issues impacting society, explored through an African American lens; and workshop opportunities. The funds raised also support WBTT’s deep investment in mentoring and offering a stage for young, aspiring artists and playwrights of color through programs such as the Young Artist and Independent Artist programs.

“Many of our students go onto artistic careers, and some pursue other dreams, but either way educators know that students who receive training in the arts do better in school, stay in school, and go on to attend college at higher rates than those that don’t have those experiences,” said WBTT’s Executive Director Julie Leach during the paddle raise.

Leach noted that there is little federal or state grant funding available for education programs and the one state grant that has previously helped to support Jazzlinks was eliminated when the Florida legislature cut all of the funding for all arts organizations throughout the state last year.

“Most of you in this room know that I started WBTT about 25 years ago but you may not know I started this journey with five teenaged students who I had taught in my art and drama class; now we are training some of their children,” added WBTT Founder/Artistic Director Nate Jacobs. “Working with students and building a platform for Black artists to showcase their talents as well as our Black history and stories was – and still is – my inspiration!”

Event co-chairs were Kimberly Parris and Lynne Ross. Major sponsors for the event were Dona and Sam Scott, The Community Foundation of Sarasota County, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, the Brunckhorst Family, Penelope Kingman, Marian Moss, Charlie Ann and Jim Syprett, and Lee and Lydia Rainer.

For more about WBTT, visit westcoastblacktheatre.org.