STAGE TUBE: I AM THEATRE Project - Gordon Davidson

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

Gordon Davidson is the Founding Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum at the Los Angeles Music Center and subsequently became Artistic Director of the Ahmanson Theatre and CTG's newest space, the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. He led the Mark Taper Forum throughout its first 38 seasons, guiding over 300 productions to its stage and winning countless awards for himself and the theatre - including the 1977 Tony Award for Theatrical Excellence. The Taper was also distinguished by having two of its plays, THE KENTUCKY CYCLE (even before it played in New York) and ANGELS IN AMERICA, receive in consecutive years the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. His directing credits include Pulitzer Prize winner THE SHADOW BOX (Tony Award for Directing), THE TRIAL OF THE CATONSVILLE NINE (Tony nomination), CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD (Tony nomination), IN THE MATTER OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER, QED and STUFF HAPPENS. For the inauguration of the Kennedy Center in 1971, he directed the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein's MASS. He has been involved in the presentation of all of August Wilson's plays and directed JITNEY, one of the 10 plays in the Kennedy Center's 2008 festival: "August Wilson's 20th Century." Among his many honors and awards he received the Margo Jones Award for encouraging new plays and playwrights, the "Mr. Abbott" Award for Lifetime Achievement, three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Distinguished Direction Awards and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame, is past president of the Theatre Communications Group and the League of Resident Theaters, and was appointed to the National Council of the Arts by President Clinton. He has honorary doctorates from Brooklyn College, California Institute of the Arts, and Claremont University Center.

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