Ruby

After two painful delays due to COVID-19, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe is thrilled to finally bring to the stage the world-premiere musical, “Ruby.”

The show is a musical retelling of the true story of a shocking killing of a White doctor in Live Oak, Fla., and the Black woman, Ruby McCollum, accused of his murder. “Ruby” is a homegrown affair: the book was written by WBTT Founder/Artistic Director (and show director) Nate Jacobs and his brother, Michael Jacobs. In 1952, when the killing happened, Ruby and her husband, Sam, were quite prosperous for the time and place, due in part to gambling and liquor sales. Ruby was, in fact, described as the wealthiest Black woman in town and the couple was well respected in the community. It was one of their four children that Ruby McCollum later said was the product of a forced relationship with the shooting victim, Dr. C. Leroy Adams. She claimed that the reason for the killing was because Adams refused to leave her alone. But there is more than true crime to this story, which became so notorious that famed writer Zora Neale Hurston was sent by the Pittsburgh Courier to cover the trial.

In addition to its show sponsors, the production is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.