WALTER DALLAS
DIRECTOR – MUSICIAN – PHOTOGRAPHER – PLAYWRIGHT – PROFESSOR
*~ September 15, 1946 – May 3, 2020 ~*
By Dale Ricardo Shields
Page 1 – 11
In his career, Dallas was the recipient of countless awards, including an Emmy Award, an Audience Development Committee Inc. National Achievement Award for Excellence in Black Theatre, and two Creative Genius Awards from the Atlanta Circle of Drama Critics. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for his direction of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for Best Director for Having Our Say at Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
Winner, Best Director Award, of the New York “Viv” Award – Richard Wesley’s “Autumn,” at Billie Holiday Theatre, Brooklyn. 2017.
Honored as one of “Philadelphia’s 100 History Makers of the 20th Century.”
Recipient, New York AUDELCO Special Pioneer Award for Excellence in Black Theatre, 2016.
BA, Morehouse College; Music and Theology Studies
Studied Theology at Harvard University Divinity School Harvard University
MFA, Acting/Directing at Yale School of Drama
Theatre in Traditional African Society at the University of Ghana at Legon
Member of the Negro Ensemble Company, New York
Member of The Acting Company, New York
“I am an African man trying to exist in America, and that terrifying proposition affects my health. I have high blood pressure and diabetes and, being as inescapable as that reality is, racism is not just something I experience; it’s a minute-to-minute fact of life that all African Americans, those who remain sane, come to terms with. These political and social issues cannot be separated from my work.” – The Cultural Critic
Walter Dallas, 73, a giant of African American theater and former artistic director of the Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, died on Sunday, May 3, 2020. Dallas succumbed to pancreatic cancer while in-home hospice care in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Although I had started this article on October 28th, 2019…
On November 9th, of 2019, Walter contacted me with a request, that I write a book about his life and career. Upon seeing its first version. Sadly, he became too ill for us to fully create that book, but this in-depth profile is the foundation of what was created.
His words “I am counting on you” haunts me… lovingly. – DRS
11/9/19, 2:06 AM
Walter – Dale… Have you ever written a full biography, a book?
Dale – No… I have not.
11/9/19, 2:07 AM
Walter – Is it beyond your consideration? For years, people have been asking me to write mine. I wanted to do it when I slowed down toward retirement. The stories/ experiences just kept piling up! Now that I have slowed down, it’s for serious medical reasons, and I find time and focus are out of my control. I had surgery this morning. Waiting to go into surgery, I told one of the prep doctors how I ended up at Yale School of Drama, (I never applied) and how, for $200, I spent a week in Rio assembling late Baldwin’s just completed script (The Welcome Table), a gesture reflecting something we said we would like to do together. He shouted, “damn, I’d buy that book!” He asked for another story. I started on how, thanks to Lloyd Richards, I ended up in Russia directing an Irish farce, that he had translated into Russian with a Russian-only speaking cast. And the only word I knew in Russia, was “vodka.” Then I had to go into surgery. As I was rolled toward the OR, he shouted, “I’m going on my lunch break: I’m gonna google you.” That’s a roundabout, wordy way of asking if you would consider a discussion about writing mine.
Dale – Okay… let’s start slow with a profile for Iforcolor?
11/20/19 at 1:18 AM
Dale – Yes. No pressure. I was not going to start until after my production of For Colored Girls is down at the end of November. We have time… I will keep at it. I look forward to hearing from you.
Walter – Sorry. Medical stuff had me going for the last two days. I’m hoping I can get work done tomorrow. Can we talk through any of this stuff?
Tue 11/26/2019 – 7:35 PM
Walter- Dale:
Sorry, I’ve been in hospital since last Friday. Hopefully, I’m going home tomorrow. I love your work and your attention to detail. I am counting on you.
Bravo, Good work!
Dale – Yes. Thank you! I…Going into tech’s tomorrow. We open on Saturday. I will be back in action by next Tuesday. I have been adding things to your profile as we go along.
2/16/2020, 11:51 PM
Dale – Walter how does it look so far?
Walter – Dale, Bravo. Beautifully done! I love your attention to detail!
REST IN PEACE…, DEAR WALTER – May 3rd, 2020
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“We should believe in each other’s dreams.” – Walter Dallas