Wendell Tabb

Wendell Tabb (born August 19, 1962) is an American educator, theater director, producer, actor, politician, and graduate of North Carolina Central University. He is most known for being the theater teacher and director at the award-winning Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina for over 30 years. He is the former Chair of the visual and performing arts program at Hillside.

He is also the artistic director for the Triangle Performance Ensemble, a community theatre company based in Durham, North Carolina where he is the producer and director of Durham's Black Nativity, an annual theatrical production based on the work Black Nativity written by Langston Hughes.

He has directed over 100 plays throughout his career. He has also received over 100 accolades throughout the span of his career. In 2017, he was recognized by the Tony Awards as an honorable mention for the Excellence in Theatre Education Award. The theater and stage at Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina is named after him (named in his honor). He has three sisters Blondelle, Latrilla and Cynthia Tabb and one brother Woodrow Tabb II.

He participated in church plays and performed during family reunions when he was a child. In his early teenage years, he was a disk jockey known as DJ Soda POP. He was taught theatre by Dr. Linda Norflett and other outstanding faculty. He is currently a member-elect of the Durham Public Schools Board of Education representing District Consolidated District A.

Initiatives During his career, Tabb has founded and created numerous initiatives. Tabb founded the International Exchange Program during his tenure at Hillside to expose students to foreign countries. During the same time, Tabb created the acting troupe ONE VOICE. The famed acting group has performed in Beijing, China; Havana, Cuba, Sydney, Australia; East and West Africa; London, England; Osaka, Japan; Lima, Peru; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santa Cruz, California.

Guest lectures of the program have included celebrities Danny Glover, Bill Cobbs, Obba Babatunde, Antonio Fargas, Chester Gregory, Jeffrey Anderson-Gunther, Petri Hawkins-Byrd, Starletta DuPois, Adré De Shields, Margaret Avery, Shirley Caese r, and choreographer George Faison.

Notable alumni Tabb's former students include Academy Award nominated film director Kevin Wilson Jr., Actress April Parker Jones, Actress Lauren E. Banks, and Dancer Santron Freeman who is a former backup dancer for Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Kelly Rowland, and Mariah Carey.

Personal life

He is married to the former Duchess Stallings, the couple has one son Emmanuel. Tabb lives in Durham, North Carolina with his family.