Returning to Detroit by popular demand, 'RUBY The Musical' 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 work will be performed at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts Feb. 26-27.

Adapted for the stage by Florida's Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, the story was originally reported by famed novelist Zora Neale Hurston in 1952, writing for The Pittsburgh Courier. It tracks the tale from through a series of trial reports that highlighted Ruby’s life and gripped the public's attention throughout the period.

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.