Adenrele Ojo

Born in Brooklyn, New York, but raised in Philadelphia, Adenrele Ojo is a self-described theater brat. She is the daughter of the late John E. Allen Jr., Founder of Freedom Theatre, in Philadelphia (the oldest African-American theater in Pennsylvania). As a very young child, she found many late nights falling asleep on theatre chairs as her dad directed and mother performed. First first trained as a dancer starting around the age of 5, shortly after that she also began her studies in the area of drama. Although, Adenrele continued to do theatre, she eventually made her on-screen debut in the film My Little Girl (1986) starring such names as James Earl Jones, Mary Stuart Masterson, Erika Alexander and Jennifer Lopez. Adenrele went on to further her dancing as part of the Philadelphia Dance Company ('Philadanco') training company. She later received her Bachelor of the Arts in Theater from Hunter College in New York and continued to hone her skills under the auspices of the wonderful Maggie Flanigan at the William Esper Studios. She is one of the founding company members and was also the General Manager of Tupu Kweli Theatre Company in NY, which is under the artistic direction of Curtiss Cook.