FINDING JOY Beth Gelman's Encore? Musical theater, her 1st love after museums, arts education
Season 2, Episode 745, May 27, 02:25 PM
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In this episode of Lunchtime Conversations, host Nanette Wiser chats with Beth Gelman, an arts education visionary and respected cultural mover and shaker. She's launching an encore chapter back to her roots in acting and musical theater!
Elizabeth Gelman spent the last four years as the Senior Director of Arts and Cultural Programming at Creative Pinellas after eight and half years serving as the Executive Director of The Florida Holocaust Museum. Prior to arriving in Florida, she held leadership positions in several Chicago nonprofits including The Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn, Spertus Institute, and Terra Museum of American Art. Gelman created and designed Arts Attack!, the highly regarded interactive arts education program for grades K-12 that utilizes storytelling to access music and visual arts. She has given presentations about the arts, storytelling, and creative writing throughout the United States and Ontario Canada including the National Arts Educators Association Conference, Visual Understanding in Education, and the Chicago Cultural Network.
A published author and playwright, her articles have been seen in the Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, and other nationally syndicated papers. She has been a featured writer for Family Times Magazine and a contributing writer for LASplash, The Shofar, and The Mosaic, among other publications. She and her husband, composer Tom Sivak, wrote the musical “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die! – in 3D!!”, for which she was awarded the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Grant. “The Brain” premiered at the 2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival as a “Next Link” selection and has had multiple regional performances. A trained cantorial soloist, Elizabeth’s first job singing the High Holidays was with renown Chicago cantor Dale Lind. She has since been invited to sing and teach in congregations throughout the US and in Israel.
Gelman is a proud member of AEA and has appeared in numerous national tours and Chicago area productions including Clelia in The Nerd (with Tony Shalhoub), and Contessa in HATS! (with Melissa Manchester and Betsy Randle). In 2023, she appeared as Emma Goldman in American Stage’s production of Ragtime. Her favorite role remains being the mother of two exceptionally talented and beautiful daughters and one extraordinary granddaughter.
Elizabeth Gelman spent the last four years as the Senior Director of Arts and Cultural Programming at Creative Pinellas after eight and half years serving as the Executive Director of The Florida Holocaust Museum. Prior to arriving in Florida, she held leadership positions in several Chicago nonprofits including The Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn, Spertus Institute, and Terra Museum of American Art. Gelman created and designed Arts Attack!, the highly regarded interactive arts education program for grades K-12 that utilizes storytelling to access music and visual arts. She has given presentations about the arts, storytelling, and creative writing throughout the United States and Ontario Canada including the National Arts Educators Association Conference, Visual Understanding in Education, and the Chicago Cultural Network.
A published author and playwright, her articles have been seen in the Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, and other nationally syndicated papers. She has been a featured writer for Family Times Magazine and a contributing writer for LASplash, The Shofar, and The Mosaic, among other publications. She and her husband, composer Tom Sivak, wrote the musical “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die! – in 3D!!”, for which she was awarded the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Grant. “The Brain” premiered at the 2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival as a “Next Link” selection and has had multiple regional performances. A trained cantorial soloist, Elizabeth’s first job singing the High Holidays was with renown Chicago cantor Dale Lind. She has since been invited to sing and teach in congregations throughout the US and in Israel.
Gelman is a proud member of AEA and has appeared in numerous national tours and Chicago area productions including Clelia in The Nerd (with Tony Shalhoub), and Contessa in HATS! (with Melissa Manchester and Betsy Randle). In 2023, she appeared as Emma Goldman in American Stage’s production of Ragtime. Her favorite role remains being the mother of two exceptionally talented and beautiful daughters and one extraordinary granddaughter.