David E. Talbert isn't exactly delighted by his default description in Hollywood these days: "the next Tyler Perry." But then, the multiple NAACP award-winning writer-director-producer -- whose debut dramedy, "First Sunday," hits theaters Jan. 11 -- isn't actively discouraging the comparison either.
After all, both popular playwrights have grown rich and influential by creating works that intermingle inspirational messages, modern music and plain spoken 'hood realities with big belly laughs. As well, both cater primarily to the same underserved fan base: middle-aged, middle-class, church-going African American women.
In fact, Talbert and Perry are the top brands in what's known as urban theater -- a boisterous milieu that grosses tens of millions of dollars a year and packs sizable concert halls and theaters while receiving scant mainstream attention and over time has been called many things, including "black Broadway," gospel theater and even the "chitlin' circuit" owing to its roots in the segregated South.
"We serve popcorn at some of our plays -- you'll never see that with 'Les Miserables,' " said Talbert, breaking into a grin while reclining on a plush sofa in the entertainment room of his San Fernando Valley home. "We serve Courvoisier too. People get a nice little buzz on. Sometimes people drink a little too much rum and Coke before they see us. It unfortunately disrupts the action onstage. But it's theater owned by the people. If they love it, they'll talk back to the play."
At a moment when urban theater is making serious inroads into the mainstream, Talbert's strong association with the genre carries weight. And viewed a certain way, Perry was actually once the next David Talbert, whose first play preceded Perry's first effort by nearly eight years. And Talbert's stage efforts (such as "Tellin' It Like It 'Tiz!" and "He Say . . . She Say . . . but What Does GOD Say?") are already considered classics.
In 2005, writer-director-producer Perry (who also appears as a hot-headed, pistol-packing granny named Madea in his productions) took his urban-themed, gospel-flavored play "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" from the proscenium to the big screen. Despite witheringly negative reviews and the absence of any bankable stars, the $5.5 million movie stunned industry observers by earning more than $50 million at the box office.
