April Dae Okpwae

April Dae Okpwae is a performer, playwright, composer, lyricist & community organizer. She’s a Dramatist Guild Musical Theatre Fellow who explores social inequities through comedy centering black folk. Her 15-character solo show, I’mma Do Me, satirically exposes the impact of poverty in America & has won several awards including Best Emerging Actress at United Solo Theatre Festival in NYC and Best Short Play at Atlanta Black Theatre Festival. Her concert
credits include Poetic Theatre Productions’ Feeling Good as Ritual, Musical Theatre Factory’s 4X15, and Maestra’s & Parent Artist Advocacy League’s Motherhood Concert. She was commissioned to create a new audio streaming musical for Playwrights Horizon’s Sounstage series. Her music(al) video, Be Soft Be Pretty, is a 2021 Hip Hop Film Festival Official Selection.

Her latest work, Queens of Solomon, has been developed at Goodspeeds Musical with the Johnny Mercer Writer Grove and New York Stage and Film through DGF. Bringing together the traditional musical theatre canon with the music of Hip-Hop, R&B, gospel, & afrobeats, Queens of Solomon, re-examines this ancient biblical story as a celebration of black women as political powerhouses and cultural creators under oppressive rule. As a community organizer, April Dae has worked in black & brown communities throughout New York City and Detroit, MI conducting performance-based development workshops. She is a founding board member of BlackCount, an arts- based voter education, engagement, & advocacy organization. Born & raised in Detroit,

April Dae received her BFA from SUNY Purchase performing in television, theatre, & universities throughout the country. She is a mother, wife, believer, and celebrator of blackwomandom.