African American History Traveling Black Theater Company

BLACK THEATRE TROUPE DELIVERS ORIGINAL AFRICAN AMERICAN DRAMA

Mr. Phillip E. & Dr. Ethel Pitts Walker

at AADC Las Vegas Retreat

The internationally traveled African American Drama Company of California (AADC) is the Nation’s most extensively toured fine arts organization. The only such group of any hue to have performed in every United State (and they have played each State at least twice), this African American theater company was the second theater company ever to have performed at the National Black Theater Festival and the first to perform a one person show there. To book that AADC flagship production: www.BlackHistoryMonthSpeaker.com.

The African American Drama Company’s newest African American Drama creation is a 1970's Rhythm & Blues operetta called Love Machine . Additional information can be found at www.MotownHistory.com.

The world’s only Black drama organization dedicated exclusively to African American history, the African American Drama Company’s thirty (30) years of touring helped to establish the now famous Black History Month. For example, this Black theatre history group’s work included the kick-off of Arts & Entertainment Television’s African American History Month celebrations with a February 1, 2004 “Breakfast with the Arts” appearance.

www.TouringBlackHistory.com for AADC’s current traveling Black repertory theater schedule.

One of the Black arts theater industry’s most respected Black theater troupes (even among African American contemporary theaters), the African American Drama Company’s depiction of African American theater history is driven by authentic Black history performed as African American plays and dramas.

CHILD PROGRAMS

AADC helped to create www.TheThirdTheatreTroupe.com who’s multi cultural Kwanzaa musical travels the nation for its fourth (4^th) season from www.KwanzaaMusical.com. Information on its Youth / Child version of the Company’s flagship production is available at www.CanISpeakForYouBrother.com. Further offering school assemblies, African American child theater is yet another aspect of the African American Drama Company’s African American drama creations. Specializing in reader theater Black history, this Black drama group is also known for developing Bill Cosby www.LittleBillReaderS.com beginning reader books into reader’s theater for Black History Month & MLK celebrations. Also, soon to be announced for 2008 is AADC’s academic / arts kid summer camp www.ActiveAcademics.com.

LECTURES / WORKSHOPS

One of the few Black Theatre Network founding organizations, the African American Drama Company is recognized as a National Black theater leader. Its wide array of ever popular college class visits, community residency activities, lectures and Black theater workshops augment the African American Drama Company’s worth as a premiere African American theater play creator.

At www.MultiCulturalWorkshop.com is information on an interactive gathering plus information on a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lecture/workshop is at www.MartinLutherKingHoliday.com.

To bring the African American Drama Company to your own community

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AFRICAN AMERICAN DRAMA COMPANY

KEY PERSONNEL BIOGRAPHIES

Executive Director ETHEL PITTS WALKER is a full professor of Television, Radio, Film and Theatre at San Jose State University where she was a 1999-2000 Teacher Scholar. Also that institution’s 2006-2007 Outstanding Professor (www.sjsu.edu/news/news_detail.jsp?id=2170), her latest honor is as one of four 2008 University of Missouri College of Arts & Science Distinguished Alumni (http://coas.missouri.edu/asweek/bios.html). As an artist Ethel has authored several plays in addition to two books: New/Lost Plays by Ed Bullins: An Anthology and African American Scenebook. With numerous directing credits, she served as dramaturge for Old Settler at Theatre Works in Palo Alto, CA.

A National Black Theatre Festival Living Legend, she was the Black Theatre Network Founding President plus was a CA Educational Theatre Association and CA Legislative Action Coalition for Arts Education former President. In 1999 the American College Theatre Festival honored Mrs. Walker with its Theatre in Excellence Award and she was inducted into the national Educational Theatre Association Hall of Fame in 2000. Featured on the cover of Black Masks’ July/August 2000 issue, in 2002 Dr. Walker was inducted into The College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center.

Full Bio at: www.EthelPittsWalker.com

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Serving as the Company's only continuous employee and the director of Love Machine , African American Drama Company Artistic Director PHILLIP EUGENE WALKER also directed the group's Can I SING For You Brother?. Nationwide he has directed for the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Ohio’s King Arts Complex, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Mid-Missouri Ethnic Festival, PA’s Rainbow Theatre and more.

A former Oakland Ensemble Theatre President, Phillip E Walker has performed his one man black history show at least twice in every United State. Creator of the BlackGreenRoom, Mr. Walker has taught theatre at universities throughout America, in addition to having chaired Fisk University’s Dramatics & Speech Department. The first ever California Arts Council Touring Coordinator, Phillip E. helped lead John Robert Powers-San Jose into being selected as the Third Runner-Up school at the 2007 International Presentation of Performers competition in Los Angeles www.IPOP07.com.

Having earned a Loyola University of Chicago BA in theatre and University of Illinois-Urbana MA in theatre history/criticism, Phillip’s University of California-Davis Master of Fine Arts Acting degree has led to working in nearly three (300) hundred modeling, live theatrical, video and film projects. Last season alone, in addition to a Krames modeling shoot, he worked on ABC-TV’s The Evidence with Orlando Jones & Martin Landau, Japanese TV’s The World’s Astonishing News! plus three films: Academy Award winning director Christopher Columbus’ Rent with Rosario Dawson & Taye Diggs, Zodiac with Robert Downey, Jr. & Jake Gyllenhaal and Columbia Picture’s Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith who herein won his second Best Actor Academy Award nomination.

Full VITA at www.PhillipEWalker.com

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The Love Machine book is written by young, up and coming playwright, TRAVIS D. WALKER. With both parents in theatre and the African American Drama Company being created the year before his birth, this project represents TD’s first formal employment with the African American Drama Company.

Travis earned his JD as a University of Illinois College of Law Lincoln Scholar and was an undergraduate theatre minor at Santa Clara University. At SCU he authored wildly successful Rev. Martin Luther King Holiday celebration plays in 1999 and 2000, co-directed two Musical Pops Choir productions, while serving as Co-Chair of Santa Clara’s Multicultural Center Programing Board.

President of www.EducationRealized.com and the Black Talent Showcasing Association, Travis Donnell is currently employed as a top producing Enterprise Area Car Sales Manager. The Walker’s only child has written several theatrical shows including his screen play The Boy Who Would Be King.

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From the inspiring expressions of the Negro Spirituals, actor/playwright LEWIS G. TUCKER’s African American Drama Company produced one man Negro Spirituals musical medley play www.CanISINGForYouBrother.com, tours America viewing how our Nation was able to survive slavery. Further, Mr. Tucker decodes the Spirituals, while encouraging ALL people to be proud of their heritage. With a University of Oklahoma Master of Fine Arts in Directing degree, the caressing baritone voice of this author/performer makes his play most touching.

Having created his own Los Angeles based 21^st Century Theatre, Lewis was seen in Francis Ford Coppola’s Peggy Sue Got Married and on Nickelodeon’s Kenan & Kell. Now directing a Los Angeles School District middle school for the arts, Lou also sits on the Education Realized board.

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Versatile theatrican AJENE D. WASHINGTON stagemanaged the African American Drama Company 2002 Alumni Showcase. He has written more than (10) plays with the 2004-05 season seeing his The Highland Avenue Trilogy run in New York and this season open with his Almost September being work shopped at Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s inaugural “Voices at the River” playwright’s festival. As an actor, in addition to creating AADC High John roles, Ajene was most recently seen in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

With a theatre MA from Northern Illinois University and the longest tenure of any African American Drama Company employee, Mr. Washington consulted on the African American Drama Company’s 2004 A&E-TV “Breakfast with the Arts” appearance, as well as stagemanaged the showcases for its two Summits. A former Artistic Director for H.A.D.L.E.Y. Players in Harlem New York City, his direction of American Menu was the rage of the 2003 National Black Theatre Festival.

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Recently graduated and current African American arts graduate students will be hired as new AADC employees to perform in and produce Love Machine . This is an early step in adding young adults to the African American Drama Company’s African American play creations. For 2008-09 Kwanzaa cast AUDITION plus Musical Director & Choreographer applications: www.2008Kwanzaa.com.

www.AfricanAmericanDramaCompany.com

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30 E. Julian #218, SJ, CA 95112-4076

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