STAGE TUBE: I AM THEATRE Project - Charlie Frasier

BroadwayWorld.com is excited to share a weekly series developed by the Theatre Communications Group! This week Charlie Frasier shares pivotal moments in his theatre career and why the arts matter to him!

Charlie Frasier was recruited by Portland Center Stage to be Director of Development in April 2006. Now in their 23rd season, PCS is among the top 15 professional regional theaters in America with ten major productions annually in two theaters, the acclaimed new playwrights JAW Festival and an annual budget of nearly nine million dollars. Charlie oversees a $3.4 million annual campaign and an additional $1.3 million debt elimination campaign with his dedicated and talented team. Charlie also actively participates in the completion of the Armory Theater Fund's $38.2 million capital campaign for the Gerding Theater at the Armory, the former Portland Armory originally built in 1891. Opened to the public in October 2006 as the new 58,000 square foot home of PCS, the Gerding Theater has become internationally acclaimed as the first and only U.S. historic preservation and performing arts venue to receive Platinum LEED accreditation. Before joining PCS, Charlie was the Director of Development with Artists Repertory Theatre and spent four years in the same position with the Oregon Ballet Theatre. Charlie has nearly 25 years of fund-raising and non-profit management experience, including additional positions as Director of Development with the McCallum Theatre for the Performing Arts at the Bob Hope Cultural Center in Palm Desert, CA where he was responsible for a $32.5 million comprehensive campaign (annual, capital and endowment); and a decade with social service health organizations, including the American Cancer Society and United Way. Charlie is a graduate of Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

I AM THEATRE spotlights the stories of theatre practitioners, in their own words. With 50 videos over the next 50 weeks, TCG is celebrating its 50th anniversary by sharing stories from a diverse group of people who are creating, supporting, and engaging with theatre. YOU ARE THEATRE: We want to hear your stories! TCG will release a new video each week of individuals sharing pivotal moments in theatre - and hope they will inspire you to tell your stories too. Join us as we seek to raise the international awareness of the depth, diversity and impact of the theatre field. WE ARE THEATRE! Today, not-for-profit professional theatres in the U.S. employ 130,000 people annually, inspire more than 30 million attendees and contribute $2 billion directly to the U.S. economy. What if thousands of theatre artists across the world posted their own video testimonies of why they do what they do and why theatre matters? How might that transform communities' awareness of our work? Please share the stories we've recorded, and we'll share the videos you make, and together we'll testify in a voIce That everyone will hear...I AM THEATRE. YOU ARE THEATRE. WE ARE THEATRE!

For 50 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 13,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and serves as the US Center of the InterNational TheatreInstitute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is North America's largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 11 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre. www.tcg.org