Fountain springs fourth fundraiser for Dunbar Theatre

The fourth fundraising concert for the historic Dunbar Theatre is also about raising the profile of the theater, Injoy Fountain says.

“We’re just trying to keep awareness on the tip of everybody’s mouth,” said the Wichita performer, best known for her stint on NBC’s “The Voice.”

The concerts, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at the Crown Uptown Theatre, are called “Yellow Brick Road to Broadway is Back!” a nod to the group of young people Fountain has mentored in a program through the years.

“I have a bunch of up-and-coming actors who are so excited to showcase their talents,” she said. “In the cast there’s a sense of community and the chance to be on one of the best stages in town.”

Much of the program is Broadway show tunes, including a tribute by Fountain to Karla Burns, a Wichita-born Broadway performer and Fountain’s mentor, who died in June at age 66.

The 80-year-old Dunbar Theatre, at 1007 N. Cleveland in the McAdams neighborhood of north Wichita, was the only movie theater that served Black people in Wichita without segregating them. It closed in 1963 and has sat vacant since. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Renovating the Dunbar has a fundraising goal of $18 million for the planned five phases of the project. Gov. Laura Kelly helped break ground in June for a new community center that will be located adjacent to the theater.

“We need to keep raising money and keep people excited and used to the fact that the Dunbar will be having live productions as soon as it’s all finished,” Fountain said.

Fountain says she plans to go with her daughter to Los Angeles over Christmas vacation “to just put my face back out there.”

“It’s been two years since I’ve been in Hollywood,” said Fountain, who has two agents in California and a manager in Nashville. “I want to make sure they still know I’m here.”

While she’s in Wichita, though, she said her mind is on the Dunbar.

“As long as I’m here I just want to help,” she said. “I’m really up for a challenge. I do believe I was made for this.”

“Yellow Brick Road to Broadway is Back!” Dunbar Theatre fundraiser

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21

Where: Crown Uptown, 3207 E. Douglas Ave.

Tickets: $30, from 612-7696