Jonathan Blitstein

Jonathan Blitstein (born 1982 Lincolnshire, Illinois) is an American playwright, and indie filmmaker. He is known for his indie film Let Them Chirp Awhile and his acclaimed play Keep Your Baggage With You for which he won the New York Innovative Theater Award (2011). A graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and a current student in the master's program for Theater History and Criticism at Brooklyn College, Blitstein previously studied acting at The Second City Workshop and The Piven Theater in Chicago, LAByrinth Theater and Primary Stages in NYC, and has worked with Theater For the New City, Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Defiant Theater, members of The Hypocrites, The Taxi Theater Company, Magic Bullet Media/Sauce and Co. and The Process Group. He is a founding member of Lesser America, a theater company which was named "Person(s) of the Year" by critic Martin Denton of NYTheatre.com. Blitstein is an associate artist with the LoNyLa Project, and is a member of the Rising Phoenix Repertory. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Plays

• Squealer produced with Lesser America in Spring 2011
• The Audition at the Park (2010) One-Act produced as part of the ESPA Site Specific Directing Class
• Keep Your Baggage With You (at all times) (2009) (First produced at Theater for the New City part of the Dream Up Festival, Summer 2010)
• Scott's Funeral (2009) 10-page play (First performed at TAXI theater Queens)
• Unsweetened Americana (2009) One-Act

Films

• Another Kind (2012) Feature Film
• Let Them Chirp Awhile (2007) Feature Film

Other information

He has one sibling, Ryan Blitstein, who is a former American journalist, now executive director of SCE, a Non-Profit organization. They are first-cousins to Jeremy and Michael Stoppelman who are the founders of Yelp, Inc. Blitstein is a collaborator and lifelong friend of musician Bryan Scary.

External links

• Playbill.com Announces Blitstein's Company
• NYPress Review of Blitstein's Debut Play
• Story About Blitstein in Chicago Maroon
• Interview with Blitstein in NYC Magnet
• Interview with Blitstein from Film Intuition Magazine

Bibliography / Notes

1. Richard Vague Ceremony Press Release - http://google.com/search?q=cache:-fae_08sbRAJ:www.factory630.com/files/vague_press_release.pdf+jonathan+blitstein+nyu+tisch+graduates&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

2. Rhode Island International Film Festival Page - http://filmguide.film-festival.org/tixSYS/filmguide/eventnote.php?EventNumber=1042

3. Santa Fe "Bootstrap Cinema" Panel Announcement - http://www.santafefilmfestival.com/Panels_Workshops

4. Woodstock Film Festival Page - http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/festival2007/details.php?id=17450