The League of Professional Theatre Women’s Annual Theatre Women Awards: Roma Torre and Linda Winer

Linda Winer, hosted the The League of Professional Theatre Women’s series “Women in Theatre” from 2002 through 2007 and was the chief theatre critic for Newsday from 1987-2017.  “Can you imagine an award for a critic? What a concept. “There were no women critics, first-string, for the first 30 years that I was here. I was the only first-string woman critic at any paper in the Tri-state area…We’ve gotten more and more critics; unfortunately there are fewer and fewer papers for women to work at. But I do think that this is a kind of remarkable time for women, whether it has to do with journalism or not.”

NY1’s Roma Torre with drama critic and LPTW Special Award winner Linda Winer Photo credit: Ashley Garrett

The League of Professional Theatre Women’s annual Theatre Women Awards were inspiring. Hosted by actor, writer, and performance artist Florencia Lozano,, the awards were presented by Jocelyn Bioh (Phylicia Rashad, Lifetime Achievement Award), Ceila Keenan-Bolger (Adrienne Campbell-Holt, LPTW Lucille Lortel Award), Roma Torre (Linda Winer, LPTW Special Award), Karen Kandel (Emily Joy Weiner, Josephine Abady Award), Marshall Jones III and Wayne Maugans (Rohina Malik, Lee Reynolds Award), and Shelley Butler (Cricket S. Myers, Ruth Morley Award).

Linda Winer, Pat Addiss, Mary Cossett

“We are the only award dedicated to honoring the theatrical work of women and their contributions to the field, across all disciplines,” said LPTW co-president Kelli Lynn Harrison.

Linda Winer

The League of Professional Theatre Women (a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization) has been championing women and leading the gender parity conversation in the professional theatre for over 35 years. Since its founding, the LPTW’s membership has grown to 500+ members of theatre artists and practitioners of all backgrounds, across multiple disciplines, working in the commercial and non-profit sectors. To promote visibility and increase opportunities for women in the field, the LPTW spearheads events, public programming, advocacy projects, media, and publications that celebrate industry luminaries, preserve the legacy of historic visionaries, raise awareness of the importance of nurturing women’s voices, and shine a spotlight on the imperative of striving for gender parity and fostering a diversity of expression, both in the theatre world and the world at large. To find out more about how you can support its endeavors, please visit www.theatrewomen.org.