About Me
ANDRENE BONNER comes to you live and direct from Kingston, Jamaica with love. She attended Central Branch Primary School, Merl Grove High School, and the Jamaica School of Speech, Drama, and Dance (Now incorporated into the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts). She migrated to the United States in 1979 and pursued dance at the Alvin Ailey School of Dance in New York and drama at the British American Acting Academy. She teaches English Language and Literature in New York. She holds a Master of Science in Education, a Master of Arts in Language and Literacy, and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts and Dance. Bonner has received many accolades including but not limited to:2008 - Caribbean Heritage Month Award for significant contribution to the growth and development of the Caribbean American community in the Diaspora, as cultural icon, educator, and writer.
2008 - City Council of New York Citation for exemplary service, unique personal professional and achievement, and a lifetime of citizenry to the community.
2007 - Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for outstanding and invaluable service to the community.
2006 - Oneness Rehoboth Leadership Award for service to children and Mount Vernon Community.
2006 - Phi Delta Kappa Honor Society Professional Association in Education.
1993 - Irene Ryan American College Theatre Festival Scholarship for outstanding work in theatre arts.
1996 - NAACP Theatre Award Nominee: Best Performance by an Actress in Moon on a Rainbow Shawl by Errol John.
1993 - Andrene Bonner Drama Award established by Merl Grove High School and is presented annually to a deserving student who demonstrates excellence in the performing arts.Andrene is a writer, producer, singer, songwriter, poet, folklorist, and an accomplished actress. She has performed throughout the United States and the Caribbean under the auspices of several theatre companies including the Hollywood Theatre Company, Caribbean American Repertory Theatre West, Ethiopian Theatre Company and Mayor Riordan’s Los Angeles Best Children’s Theatre. She has served as artist in resident at the critically acclaimed Lee Strasberg Theatre Company in Hollywood. Her theatrical credits are many with some of her finest work being, Johnny Reggae (LTM National Pantomime), For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf, The Blacks, Quilters, Antigone, Lysistrata, Searock Children is Strong Children, Macbeth and Moon on a Rainbow Shawl for which she received an NAACP Theatre nomination for Best Performance by and Actress in the role of the long suffering Sophia. Her film and television credits include, AKA Girl, Lunatic, Under New Management, Emotions HIV and AIDS, Americas Most Wanted. She has served as Cultural Attaché on such films as Wolfgang Petersen’s The Perfect Storm. Andrene has an extensive background in Musical Theatre and is a former Soprano in the critically acclaimed Dr. Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers that she appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Andrene has written a solo-performance historical drama, Laugh A Revolution, a story about the life of the Honorable Louise Bennett-Coverley, Jamaica’s literary icon and is based on a series of interviews and excerpts of Bennett-Coverley’s written work and Beyond The War and The Warrior: A story of Nanny of the Maroons, which is currently in production development in New York City.Bonner's published works appear in Kapu-Sens: California State University Northridge Literary Journal, Carib Press News Magazine and most recently in Café Africana Journal. She anticipates self-publishing a collection of short stories Fire in the Earth at Daybreak (Egwechi Press 2008) set in Jamaica and Cloud Burst in Major and Minor Chords (Egwechi Press 2008) a collection of poetry.As a music industry professional, Andrene is the Owner and Artistic Director of Menagerie Entertainment Group of Companies—management and music production entity. Her professional affiliations include but are not limited to: The Los Angeles Women in Music (LAWIM), National Association of Recording Industry Professionals (NARIP), NAACP New York, National Council of Teachers of English, (NCTE), Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC). Andrene is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Caribbean World Arts and Culture, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to research, preservation, and exhibition of works that reflect the Caribbean experience.
