Walkin' Talkin Bill Hawkins off to Cleveland

Dobama Theatre presents play about Cleveland’s first black radio DJ
Hit solo show coming to Cleveland Play House June 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - A play about Bill Hawkins, Cleveland's first black radio disc jockey from 1948 to 1958, is coming to Cleveland.
The play’s author and performer, W. Allen Taylor, a native of Cleveland and the son of Hawkins, has just announced that his hit one-man show, WALKIN' TALKIN' BILL HAWKINS...IN SEARCH OF MY FATHER, will be presented by Dobama Theatre at the Cleveland Play House June 8 to 24. A preview performance will be presented Thursday, June 7.
The solo-show received rave reviews at its 2006 professional premiere in the San Francisco Bay Area and was recently nominated by the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle for best solo performance of 2006.
"With the show being so well received here in California, I can't wait to share this Cleveland story with a Cleveland audience," said Taylor, who lives in Northern California.
The show explores Taylor's adventurous search for information about the father he never knew. Bill Hawkins, who broadcast on Cleveland radio stations WHK, WJW, WDOK, and WSRS (which later became WJMO), was not married to Taylor's mother and his identity was kept from Taylor for his entire childhood.

It was at Taylor's college graduation party that his mother finally revealed his father's identity, sharing the bittersweet news of his radio celebrity with the fact that he had passed away only months earlier. Thus began Taylor's journey that led to the creation of his play.

It was Taylor's dream to honor his father's legacy by performing his solo show at a Cleveland area theater.
“I believe my father's historical significance will resonate strongly with those interested in local radio history as well as those eager to celebrate Bill Hawkins’ spectacular bygone era of black radio," said Taylor.
Performing the play in Cleveland will no doubt unearth stories yet untold as it re-introduces the local radio legend to the city he treasured.
For tickets or more information visit www.dobama.org or www.walkintalkin.com

For JPEG photos or more information contact:

Kim Taylor - Publicist
Phone: 415-897-7772
Email: KimTaylorpr@aol.com