In 2013, Jacqui Cross, Billy Harden, Carla Nickerson, and Janis Stinson – all familiar from their work with Zach Theatre, State Theatre Company, Austin Playhouse, and ProArts Collective – founded Spectrum Theatre Company. One of the major goals of the company is to illustrate the many facets of the African American experience, by producing high quality theatrical productions that can serve as springboards for discussion, education and community building. Each of the seasoned stage pros took on a top administrative role, and Reginald Brown, seen recently in Austin Shakespeare’s As You Like It, was there first artistic director (a role he filled previously at the similar Ensemble Theatre Company in Newark, N.J.). Spectrum debuted with Once on This Island, by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the musical team behind Ragtime and Seussical and Joseph A. Walker’s 1974 Tony Award-winner The River Niger.