Pictured: Derric Gobourne Jr. at WBTT's "The Greatest Entertainer". Photo by Sorcha Augustine.

This Monday on May 16th, Derric Gobourne Jr. of the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe (WBTT) will take the stage in the first showcase of the year for WBTT’s Young Artist Program - an initiative in its ninth year designed to propel the careers of young black artists. The show, titled SH!NE, after Gobourne’s latest album which will be dropping the same day, will pay homage to the music-collective Parliament Funkadelic’s frontman George Clinton.

“One of George Clinton’s most famous was Starchild, the savior of Funk. Our tribute to Parliament Funkadelic is Starchild’s national museum of Funk - a virtual museum. We have Starchild, the guide of the museum, taking you through these virtual spaces and the history of funk music. We’re recreating these songs from James Brown, Michael Jackson, and Prince which is the first half of the show. The second half is more of my personal life and relationship with new jack swing - my album SH!NE will also be dropping the same day and we’ll be playing some tracks from that as well as some tracks from my debut album,” says Gobourne Jr.

The show will feature multiple guest artists as well as dancers from the WBTT. Gobourne produced the music tracks for the show and plays most of the instruments and artist Fancy Karema will play the drums. The production is an undertaking that requires rigorous preparation.

“I’ve been working on it before they even confirmed the show since this past September. For me and everyone else in the WBTT it’s been tough sometimes managing 2-3 shows at once,” attests Gobourne Jr.

Gobourne Jr. is a new jack swing artist - a genre originating from the late 1980s that blends hip-hop with R&B. Some of his biggest influences include Stevie Wonder, Parliament Funkadelic, Prince, and Michael Jackson.

Dubbed by his peers as “The new King of New Jack Swing”, Gobourne Jr. has found much of his success internationally, especially in Japan, where his debut album Supremacy was re-released by the P-Vine label in 2018. Although COVID-19 nixed plans to tour in Japan in 2020, Gobourne Jr. hopes that the self-released SH!NE will find similar international success and lead to a small tour in Japan.

Young Artist Program showcases take place in The Donelly Theatre at WBTT (1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota). Tickets are $27/general admission; sponsor tickets, which include reserved preferred seating and playbill recognition, are $102 (prices include ticket fees). For more information call: 941-366-1505 or visit westcoastblacktheatre.org.

Pictured: Derric Gobourne Jr. at WBTT's "The Greatest Entertainer". Photo by Sorcha Augustine.

For more information or to purchase tickets click here.