STAGE TUBE: I AM THEATRE Project - Jennifer Bielstein

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

Jennifer Bielstein joined Actors Theatre of Louisville as Managing Director in the fall of 2006. Jennifer serves on the boards of the National Corporate Theatre Fund, Greater Louisville, Inc., is Vice President of the League of Resident Theatres and is Chair of the Arts and Cultural Attractions Council. Jennifer received the honor of being voted Today's Woman magazine's Most Admired Woman in the Arts and was acknowledged in both Louisville Magazine's 15 Metro People to Watch and Business First's 40 under 40. She is a member of the 2008 Leadership Louisville class and recently served as a review panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. Ms. Bielstein moved from Chicago, Ill., where she served as the Executive Director of Writers' Theatre. During her time in Chicago Ms. Bielstein also worked for Steppenwolf Theatre Company, About Face Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Apple Tree Theatre and Lincoln Park Zoo, where she helped to create and launch the successful Jammin' at the Zoo series in 1994. Jennifer served as an officer of the Board of the League of Chicago Theatres representing 200 area theatres, and as chair of the League's Marketing Committee she spearheaded the development of Theatre Thursdays, a city-wide program to introduce new audiences to theatre. She was also on the boards of the Glencoe Chamber of Commerce, About Face Theatre and the Producers Association of Chicago-Area Theatres. Jennifer has her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her MBA from Bellarmine University.

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