Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe Awards Scholarships

August 9, 2024 | Sarasota

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe is proud to announce it has, for the sixth consecutive year, awarded WBTT Artist Development Scholarships to deserving students. This year, WBTT has provided five young, aspiring artists – four continuing students and one receiving a new award – with scholarships of $2,000 each.

This year’s recipients are: Miracle Deveaux, a recent graduate of Booker High School who is studying Music Production at the University of North Florida – Dr. Robert Mayer and Dr. Jody Beresford Scholarship; Astrid McIntyre, who will be completing her studies in Commercial Music at Southeastern University in the coming school year – Marian Moss Scholarship; Amillia Samuels, who is entering her second year of studies in Contemporary Commercial Music at the University of South Florida – Steve and Shari Ashman Scholarship; Zion Thompson, who will complete his studies in Theatre at State College of Florida in the coming year – Charles and Susan Wilson Scholarship; and Canela Vasquez, who will complete her studies in Digital Communications/Multimedia Journalism in the coming year – Kitty and John Cranor Scholarship.

All five of the scholarship recipients participated in WBTT’s Stage of Discovery musical theatre intensive program. McIntyre has returned for the past several years as a teacher in the Stage of Discovery program; Deveaux served as an intern with WBTT; Samuels has performed in various WBTT community outreach programs; and Thompson and Vasquez performed in several WBTT mainstage productions.

“Through our youth training programs and professional performance opportunities, we are honored to help young, aspiring artists to hone their skills and receive guidance and support to assist them on their educational and career journeys,” said WBTT Founder/Artistic Director Nate Jacobs. “We are very grateful to the supporters who have made it possible for us to contribute financially to the education of these students and look forward to seeing their achievements in the years ahead.”

Since the inception of WBTT’s scholarship program in 2019, eight have graduated from college thus far.

To be eligible for a scholarship, a participant must be majoring or minoring in a performing arts field and have performed on the WBTT stage in at least two productions, worked at the theatre as an intern, performed in community outreach programs and/or been a participant in the Stage of Discovery summer musical theatre intensive program. Funds are disbursed directly to the educational institution the awardee is already attending or will be attending in the fall.

For more about WBTT, visit westcoastblacktheatre.org or call 941-366-1505.