LPTW to Present Inaugural Billie Allen Award to Ms. Michael Angel Johnson

The League of Professional Theatre Women will present the Inaugural Billie Allen Award in December to Ms. Michael Angel Johnson, a playwright whose works have been produced across the U.S., including in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Amherst, New Haven and other venues, as well as in London, Amsterdam, Rome and Prague.

An accomplished playwright, Johnson's plays have won numerous awards and honors. She has been a participant at the O'Neill Theatre Center, The Actors Theatre of Louisville and the Los Angeles Film Festival. Johnson also served as an Artist-in-Residence at Theatre for a New Audience, Mabou Mines and Young Playwrights, and she was in the original playwright's group of the WP Theater, formerly the Women's Project, which was founded by Julia Miles, who also launched the League of Professional Theatre Women. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, she is a founding member of the International Theatre of Italy and on the board of the League of Professional Theatre Women.

Johnson's work, The Goddess of Hygieia, is published in an anthology, Short Plays on Reproductive Freedom by Words of Choice, Inc. (ed. Cindy Cooper), was included in We (Heart) Women Doctors presented by ReproFreedomArts.org at the Episcopal Actors Guild in New York, as well as at the Reproductive Freedom Festival and Bluestockings Bookstore, both in New York. Last year, Johnson joined a panel of distinguished LPTW members at the Dramatists Book Store to discuss theatre publications.

The LPTW award celebrates the legacy of Billie Allen (1925-2015), a groundbreaking actor and former co-president of LPTW who had a pivotal role in advancing women's work in the theatre. Allen broke barriers as one of the first African American women to appear on Broadway and television, paving the way for future generations of artists. She also was a passionate director and mentor, dedicating her career to uplifting underrepresented voices in theater. Her advocacy and leadership continue to inspire and shape the industry today.

In granting the award, Johnson was honored as a "trailblazing, Renaissance woman of the theatre" who embodies Billie Allen's pioneering spirit and dedication to the arts. The award was presented at a luncheon ceremony at the West Bank Café by LPTW President Lynnie Godfrey and incoming Co-President Patricia Snyder.

Currently an associate professor of African-American literature at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), Johnson has also taught at New York Univeristy, Harlem School of the Arts and the 52nd Street Project. In addition to theater, Johnson has been honored with more than two dozen screenplay awards, including honors from LA Indies Fest, New York Screenwriting Awards, Amsterdam Movie Fest, Berlin International Art Film Festival, International Independent Film Award, Atlanta Cinema Awards, Oxford Script Awards, London Independent Story Project, and other film programs. She is a member of New York Women in Film (NYWIFT).