Broadway musicals don't return to Bass Performance Hall until October — but thanks to another local theater, the stage lights are coming on a little earlier.
Jubilee Theatre, in partnership with Bass Hall's management group Performing Arts Fort Worth, will reopen the downtown venue with a live, in-person performance of "Southern Boys: Sons of Sharecroppers." The show will play July 29 – Aug. 15, with streaming shows continuing through Aug. 29 via jubileetheatre.org.
Written by Kathy D. Harrison and directed by D. Wambui Richardson, with musical direction by Steven A. Taylor, "Southern Boys" takes place during America's post-slavery era, telling the stories of newly emancipated slaves and their free children as they look to follow their dreams. The show has been highly acclaimed, receiving a nomination in 2020 for Best Musical at the New York Theatre Festival.
"Southern Boys" serves as the finale to Jubilee's 40th season. The theater plans to announce its 41st season lineup in September.
"What a tremendous culmination to a 40th Anniversary Season in pandemic mode," Jubilee Theatre managing director Christie M. Howard said in a statement. "Jubilee Theatre is elated to have the opportunity to perform our work on the Bass Hall stage. Sharing a story about perceived victory, surprising challenges, and unyielding perseverance is more than timely as these are the themes that are resonant in the very spirit of Fort Worth's rich performing arts community ... the stage is no longer dark."
Ticket information is available on Jubilee Theatre's website as well as basshall.com.
