Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe (WBTT) has been recognized with its third invitation to perform during the National Black Theatre Festival, which takes place every other year in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. WBTT will perform How I Got Over: A Gospel Musical, a show that WBTT Founder and Artistic Director Nate Jacobs created and adapted, which debuted as How I Got Over: A Tribute to Mahalia Jackson during the summer of 2016 with gospel greats such as Travelin’ Shoes and When The Saints Go Marching In combined with current hits such as Oh Happy Day and His Eye Is On The Sparrow. Artists performing in the show include Ariel Blue, Brian L. Boyd, Ashley Brooks, Earley Dean, Derric Gobourne, Jr., Tarra Conner jones, Elaine Mayo, Michael Mendez, Neyce Pierre, Joshua Thompson and Topaz von Wood. WBTT will bring its live band as well, including music director Robert Henderson, Jamar Camp, Matthew McKinnon and Donald “Snoopy” Watts. The National Black Theatre Festival is the international outreach program of the North Carolina Black Repertory Co., founded in 1979. The festival has been held biennially since 1989 and attracts thousands of national and international patrons, theater professionals, and scholars.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe