On February 15th, friends and family gathered at Sarah Lawrence College to celebrate Black History Month and pay tribute to actor, director, and Westchester Arts icon, Paul Kwame Johnson, who passed away on January 19, 2025. Johnson, an SLC graduate (BA’74 MFA’77) and William H. Danforth Scholar, leaves behind a 50-year legacy of creating youth theatre programs that elevated Black voices and empowered youth of color to express themselves through the arts. The event included a performance from the Little Blue Room Theater Company, of which he was founder and director, and the Theodore D. Young Community Center’s Falcons Dance Team. At the show’s conclusion, Johnson’s students shared their memories and appreciation for his outstanding leadership and paid recognition to the passion and vision that inspired generations of youth to embrace the arts, foster empathy and understanding, and pursue positive change in their communities.
Johnson’s unwavering dedication to community work began during his undergraduate days at Sarah Lawrence College, where he was taught and inspired by faculty member Emerita Shirley Kaplan and the Theatre Outreach Program, one of the first community arts programs of its kind in the nation. He began teaching mime to teens on a basketball court in Yonkers and, in 1971, established Youth Theatre Interactions, an institution that has enriched Yonkers’ cultural landscape by providing after-school performing arts education for the youth. Today, fifty years later, ‘YTI’ is widely recognized as a cultural institution that continues to thrive. Most recently, Johnson shared his passion for creativity and theatre with the Theodore D. Young Community Center Adult Acting Workshop, where he founded the Little Blue Room Theatre Company in Greenburgh, NY, recognized as the signature multi-cultural theatre ensemble in Westchester County.
“Paul Kwame Johnson brought a creative vision to our Arts, Dance, and Culture programs that captured the hearts and minds of any audience. His work had a tremendous impact on all who had the opportunity to learn from him, from Elementary School children to Senior Citizens. We are honored that he chose to be a part of TDYCC, and that we are a part of his 50-year legacy in performance arts.” – Terrance V. Jackson, Town of Greenburgh, Commissioner Department of Community Resources.
Colleague and SLC Director of Theater Outreach & Civic Engagement Allen Lang, dubbed Johnson “a beacon of excellence”…
“With an illustrious career spanning over fifty years, Paul Kwame Johnson was a beacon of excellence in teaching, acting, directing, and playwriting in Yonkers and throughout Westchester County and beyond. Deeply committed to social justice, Kwame believed passionately that the arts belong to everyone, and his work embodied this conviction. He committed his life to creating transformative theatre that changed lives and enriched communities. He championed the arts as a tool for expression, personal growth, and social change with an extraordinary gift for recognizing and nurturing the hidden talents within others, empowering them to awaken and share their stories. His contributions, spirit, and love for the community and the arts will be dearly missed.”
A 50-Year Legacy and Commitment to Excellence in Theatre.
Johnson co-founded Youth Theater Interactions, Inc., with James P. Hill and Turhan von Brandon in December of 1973 and served as its founding artistic director until 2003. He was a five-time Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts director including directing productions at Alice Tully Hall and Lincoln Center Out of Doors all of which were productions presented by Youth Theatre Interactions, Inc. Mr. Johnson was the Head Scriptwriter for “Scoops Place” a segment of the PBS and NBC television series “Infinity Factory”. He has also been published in “Ebony Jr.” magazine.
Mr. Johnson has been awarded the Keys to the City of Detroit and a High Commendation from the city of Los Angeles for his work in theater in those cities. Founder and artistic director of The YTI Mime Time Players (1976-1992), Mr. Johnson’s company was the first professional mime company composed entirely of African-American and Latino mime artists ever to perform in concert at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and conduct national tours.
In 1988, the YTI Mime Time Players were admitted into the Mid-Atlantic States Touring Consortium of the National Endowment for the Arts, becoming the first African-American Mime company to be so honored. Mr. Johnson has taught theater and mime in South Africa, the Caribbean (Jamaica and Barbados), and in Hong Kong.
In 1989, he founded the “Intimate Realities” Teen Touring Drama Company of YTI, which has produced touring presentations for the past thirty years. In 2015 he directed the New York premier of “American Moor” written and performed by Keith Hamilton Cobb who won the 2015 Audelco award for “outstanding solo performance” for his role in this production. In 2016, the City of Peekskill’s board of education inducted Mr. Johnson as “A Living Legend in the Arts” for his work in drama with the city’s student population.
For the last thirty years, Johnson served as the Elementary, Adult, and Teen Theatre Director for The Theodore D. Young Community Center in Greenburgh, New York, where he oversaw the TDYCC Adult Acting Company and the TDYCC Teen Acting Company, The New York State Council of the Arts Independent Review biography states of Mr. Johnson, “… Mr. Johnson is One of the most highly sought-after teachers of theater in the Hudson Valley region of New York State.” (https://ytiyonkers.org/)
It is with sadness that Kwame’s life was cut short after an extended illness on January 18, 2025. He will be missed. Black Westchester proudly celebrates the life and legacy of Paul Kwame Johnson – a true Black Westchester Legend!
