Alliance Theatre Announces The Kathy Bernhardt Volunteer Of The Year Award

The Alliance Theatre has announced the Kathy Bernhardt Volunteer of the Year Award to recognize individuals who give of their time and resources as volunteers at the theater. Volunteers serve as ushers, serve meals for cast and crew members, fundraise, act as ambassadors, and serve on various boards, advisory boards, and more. The new award will annually recognize someone who exemplifies the selfless, community-oriented volunteerism of its namesake volunteer, Kathy Bernhardt.

For more than 30 years, Kathy Bernhardt was an usher for hundreds of youth and family performances. Additionally, she served as a Board Officer and President for the Alliance Children's Theatre Guild and for the STARS Volunteer Guild and was a Board Member for the Alliance Theatre Board of Directors. She chaired The Children's Theatre Guild's Christmas House fundraising event three times. In 2015, Kathy and her husband Ken endowed the transformative Kathy and Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young at the Alliance. This innovative initiative continues through the annual development of performances created for children who are newborn through 5 years old. By inviting the children in the audience to physically join the professional actors on stage, these plays foster priceless creativity and a life-long love for theater.

"There are those who inspire you professionally and those who nourish you personally. Kathy Bernhardt was both of those for me. And I trust for countless others," said Christopher Moses, Dan Reardon Director of Education and Associate Artistic Director. "Her full-hearted belief in the power of theatre to transform young hearts and minds served as constant encouragement to our team, no matter the odds. Here was a woman who not only believed in the work, but who rolled up her sleeves and showed up - ushering countless student matinees, leading fundraising efforts for Families Centerstage (our signature youth & families programs fundraiser) for years, and attending (and joyfully participating in!) every single Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young performance. She showed up and extended the same generosity of spirit that she shared so freely since the early days of the Alliance Children's Theatre, relishing in the wonder of babies experiencing live theatre for the first time."

The first honorees of the Kathy Bernhardt Volunteer of the Year Award are Susan and Alan Stiefel. The Stiefels have served the Atlanta arts community for decades, working in a variety of volunteer leadership roles for many theaters and arts organizations. For the Alliance, Susan has served in many leadership roles for STARS, the Alliance's volunteer organization. Ever supported by Alan in this role, Susan organizes the Alliance's tech meals and works with partner organizations in the community to raise awareness of the theater's programs and productions. They also work extensively for the Suzi Bass Awards, Atlanta's professional theater awards, serving as judges and as coordinators for the awards ceremony. Susan has served on the Suzi board and won the 2017 Suzi Volunteer of the Year Award. In 2020, Susan and Alan were honored with the Suzi Bass Lifetime Achievement Award.

"There are so many stages of a production's life that simply have not been complete without the presence of Susan and Alan Stiefel, (who are, it must be said, not complete without one another)," said Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director. "There's the first rehearsal - where they not only join our circle of introductions, but always stay, fully rapt, for the design presentations and first read through. There's the first long Saturday of the tech rehearsal, where they join with the Alliance Stars to offer our cast and crew an abundant meal, complete support for the people and the process, and a curiosity that always lands them in the back of the house - again rapt - as the rehearsals continue. And there's the opening night, where they are a kind of talisman for all, but particularly for our actors, who can always rely on the Stiefels for a level of love, loyalty and celebration that makes us all walk taller and feel whole. Alan and Susan Stiefel are a deeply engrained part of the Alliance family and fabric."

The annual winner of the Kathy Bernhardt Volunteer of the Year Award will be chosen by Alliance staff members and will receive a commemorative plaque. The award is funded by an endowment established by Kathy's husband, Ken, a Life Director of the Alliance Theatre Board. The earnings from the endowment provide funds for a grant from the award recipient to the theatre, with the award recipient having the opportunity to direct the grant to their favorite program area at the Alliance.

Ongoing information can be found at www.alliancetheatre.org/volunteeraward.

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