Talbert, David E. 1964(?)–

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Talbert, David E. 1964(?)–

PERSONAL: Born c. 1964 (some sources say 1966), in Washington, DC; married; wife's name Lyn (an actress). Education: Morgan State University, B.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—Sherman Oaks, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Novelist, playwright, and director. Urban Broadway theatre series, artistic director and executive producer, 2001–. Director of films, including A Woman like That, and of music videos. Recordings include His Woman, His Wife, Gospo Centric Records, 2000. Radio broadcaster in San Francisco Bay Area.

AWARDS, HONORS: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Best Playwright Theater Award, five-time recipient; Urban World Films Award for best dramatic feature, for A Woman like That.

WRITINGS:

Tellin' It like It 'Tiz (play), produced in Berkeley, CA, 1991.

The Fabric of a Man (play), produced in Los Angeles, CA, 2001.

(And director) Love Makes Things Happen (musical play), produced in Los Angeles, CA, 2002.

Baggage Claim (novel), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.

Love on Lay-a-Way (musical play), produced in Los Angeles, CA, 2004.

Love on the Dotted Line (novel), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

Author of plays, including He Say She Say, but What Does God Say? (musical) 1996; Mr. Right Now (musical), 1999; His Woman, His Wife (musical), 2000; A Fool and His Money; What Goes around Comes Around; Talk Show Live; and Lawd Ha' Mercy.

ADAPTATIONS: He Say She Say, but What Does God Say? was the basis for the television situation comedy Good News, UPN, beginning 1997.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Things That Happen When Grandma Prays, a play; writing and directing First Sunday, a comedy film.

SIDELIGHTS: Novelist and playwright David E. Talbert is also a producer and director of "several successful musicals that were sometimes tagged as gospel theater, but which he preferred to call 'soul' plays," commented a biographer in Contemporary Black Biography. The great-grandson of a Pentecostal preacher, Talbert offers both inspiration and entertainment with his religious-themed plays.

After attending a performance of the musical Beauty Shop, Talbert determined that he could write a play that was not only funny but which was also thought-provoking, spiritually aware, and refined. He began writing his first play the very night he returned from the theatre and in 1991 Tellin' It like It 'Tiz premiered in Berkeley, California. "The story and its focus on relationships between a group of African-American men and women [is] set in a women's clothing store and a barbershop," noted the Contemporary Black Biography contributor. The play was successful and features spiritual ideas, but is considered for mature audiences only.

Other plays, some with a more conventional spiritual message, have followed. He Say She Say, but What Does God Say? premiered in 1996. In the play, the pastor of the debt-encumbered True Vine Full Gospel Church watches helplessly as a local drug kingpin acquires enough real estate to force the church out of existence. However, when the drug dealer is shot during a bad deal, he repents and graciously gives the pastor enough money to save his church and his ministry. This play served as the basis for Good News, a situation comedy that aired on the UPN network in 1997. A Fool and His Money focuses on the effects of too little self-control in handling a financial windfall. Mr. Right Now demonstrates how a sincere woman can make bad choices in searching for her perfect mate, and how perfect choices can sometimes be overlooked because they are so close at hand. The Fabric of a Man relates how romantic success can still elude someone who is increasingly successful in business.

Talbert's debut novel, Baggage Claim, concerns the unique dilemma of Montana Moore, a flight attendant who has to find a husband in thirty days in order to save face with her family. Growing up in an old-fashioned family setting where most women are married by the age of twenty-five, the thirty-five-year-old Montana is considered an aberration and a woman who is dangerously close to beyond hope. Though she has enjoyed her life of far-ranging travel, and has met more than one interesting, eligible man in her life, a spate of marriages of people close to her has made her reconsider the single life. Two of her friends have recently gotten married; her mother has just entered into her fourth marriage; and her younger sister has recently announced her engagement. Echoes of wedding bells have made her determined to find a suitable fiancée to show off at her sister's upcoming wedding party.

With the help of her fellow flight attendants, Montana manipulates her schedule to put her on planes carrying former boyfriends. All the while, faithful friend William watches with bemusement as Montana moves with skill and grace among her potential suitors. Despite Montana's efforts, however, none of the men are suitable. "Talbert's flair for storytelling and comedic timing make his debut novel a page-turner," commented Melissa Ewey Johnson in Black Issues Book Review.

Morgan and Marcus, the lead characters of Talbert's second novel, Love on the Dotted Line, are unmarried, but are a serious couple nonetheless. Contract lawyer Morgan and investment banker Marcus are young, good looking, and prosperous, and share what Morgan thinks is a solid relationship. However, one day Morgan spies the tennis bracelet she thought was to be her birthday present decorating the arm of another woman. Her only conclusion: Marcus is cheating on her. Though she refuses to stay down for long, the breakup still comes as a shock. When she meets former pro athlete Charles and their interaction seems destined to move toward the more serious, she wants him to sign a pre-relationship contract that guarantees he will remain faithful to her. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented favorably on the novel's "thin but amusing plot."

Talbert sees his novel writing, in relation to his dramatic work, as "less of a transition, and more of an expansion," as he stated in an interview on the Morgan State University Spokesman Online. "I was never one to be boxed in. The theater will always be my first passion, but gifts and talents are transferable."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 34, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2002.

PERIODICALS

Back Stage West, May 17, 2001, Lori Talley, "Keeping It Real," profile of David E. Talbert, p. 3; May 2, 2002, Lori Talley, "Making Things Happen: David E. Talbert's Latest Musical Has Attracted the Talents of Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds," p. 2.

Black Issues Book Review, January-February, 2004, Melissa Ewey Johnson, review of Baggage Claim, p. 51.

Ebony, February, 2004, review of Baggage Claim, p. 26.

Essence, June, 2000, Ytasha L. Womack, profile of David E. Talbert, p. 66.

Jet, April 1, 2002, review of Love Makes Things Happen, p. 56.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2003, review of Baggage Claim, p. 1043.

Publishers Weekly, April 11, 2005, review of Love on the Dotted Line, p. 34.

Video Business, April 18, 2005, Krystal Hunt, "With a Little Faith," p. 13.