Thank you for a Great 2023/2024 Season!

For the last two years, July has been a month in which the 3GT takes time off to rest and reflect on the successes and challenges of the concluded season. It allows time for the staff to return renewed and refreshed in August to plan the future season with passion and joy.

For me, this July marks the end of my time as part of the 3GT Leadership Team. I am not departing completely from 3GT as I will be a member of 3GT’s growing Board of Directors. Although I am not a Playwright, I am one of many successes that come from the programming and mentorship I have received from 3Girls Theatre. My first season with this company was in 2012 helping Spiraleena load and unload her car at different homes and venues for the Salon Series. I had the pleasure of being the Stage Manager for The Couch by Lynne Kaufman in 2013 and becoming 3GT’s first Resident Stage Manager in 2015.

Photo taken by AJ Baker, 2013

From this amazing experience, I was able to propel my career Stage Managing plays and musicals in various other companies including 42nd Street Moon and SF Shakespeare Festival.

In 2021, I came back to 3GT seeking to restore the practice of live theater in a safe and meaningful way while also making vital changes to the systems that were no longer relevant or functional for our organization. AJ Baker invested her enthusiasm and trust in myself and Zach Kopciak to apply our vision to make 3GT an accessible and sustainable Company for our current and future cohorts. I am sure our supporters are familiar with the many challenges that 3GT and other theater companies faced over the past few years, and I still marvel at how strong this community is despite the odds.  

The last three years, I have been sitting under the learning tree of solution-focused leaders and friends. Leadership at 3GT became a team effort, having shared knowledge from Pamela Hollings, Zoe Chien, Bernadette Garcia, Amissa Miller, and previously, Tina D’Elia. We shared sources of education, learned how to be nimble, create specific goals, and let go when ideas or solutions were not leading us to a better conclusion. We keep in perspective the richness of our talents despite some scarcity in resources. In this process, I learned how to lean on others, when to stand on my own, and when to step in to help someone else.  

I am leaving the Communications Director position as a better, more enriched person with skills and knowledge I am looking forward to using in the next chapter of my life. Although most of my work is not seen onstage, I am confident that it has made a difference. The vitality of Arts organizations are more than the sum of the Art they present. Especially Theater, which cannot exist without humans who can collaborate. Collaboration happens at every level at 3GT and is a shining example of positive systematic change in the Arts.

Thank you for your continued support of 3GT!

Sincerely,

Tanya Telson,

Alumna Communications Director, 3Girls Theatre Company