A new musical coming to Detroit tells the true, scandalous story of Ruby McCollum, a successful Black woman from a small town in Florida whose 1952 trial for the murder of a white doctor revealed the harsh realities of the Jim Crow South. The play, “Ruby – The Musical,” will be performed at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts Feb. 7-9. It’s presented by the Michigan Chronicle and The Knight Foundation.  

The Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe in Florida produced an original adaptation of the story, which was first covered in 1952 by The Pittsburgh Courier and Zora Neale Hurston, through ongoing trial reports that highlighted Ruby’s life. 

Real Times Media, which publishes both The Pittsburgh Courier and The Michigan Chronicle, provided archives to help brothers Nate and Michael Jacobs create the play. As executive producer, Real Times Media marks its first venture into bringing “untold” Black stories to the stage.

Host Stephen Henderson sits down with the play’s director Nate Jacobs to learn how he came across Ruby McCollum’s story and how audiences in Florida reacted to its premiere. Plus, Henderson talks with Hiram Jackson, CEO of Real Times Media, about bringing the production to Detroit and his company’s efforts to tell Black stories.