There's nothing scarier than a white woman bent on saving a race! When guests at Channing's party go missing, Barbra holds the key. A slasher-comedy with a bloody point. You can bury the N-Word; can you make it DIE?!
NIGHT OF THE LIVING N-WORD!! is a socially-relevant comedy with a sharp point. The play, a parody of the horror movies “Night of the Living Dead” and “April Fool’s Day” contributes to the conversation happening in and around black theater and the #BlackLivesMatter movement about police brutality and blackness under the white gaze.
Panel will include Joe Brancato, founding artistic director of Penguin Repertory Theatre; Luis Reyes Cardenas, co-founder and co-artistic director of Open Hydrant Theatre Company; James Morgan, producing artistic director York Theatre Company; Cara Reichel, artistic director of Prospect Theatre; plus others to be announced.
The sweat and inspiration it takes to start a theater company is daunting enough in itself. How do you keep your company vital and relevant from year to year? Starting out, a strong and specific mission statement can help you establish yourself. But sometimes your mission needs to evolve and change. How do you find your audience? Where does the money come from to keep going? Partnerships are an important part of survival. How can you effectively partner without compromising your identity? What strategies have been useful in the growth of the companies you will be meeting? Come learn their secrets of success, the ones they planned for and the surprises along the way.
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). You may now pay in advance and save $2 – click here to pay $10 for the panel, which will also count as your reservation. Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, roundtable introductions of everyone in the room will start at 7:30pm - come prepared with your best half-minute summary of who you are, and what you need.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-three year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include the Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
Here's a chance to practice your pitching with real producers who are open to and looking for new work. Okay, they probably won't option you on the spot, but you'll meet them and have the opportunity to start developing a relationship. And that's what this business is all about. Relationships. We'll have eleven producers lined up, from both the commercial and not-for-profit worlds, all with an interest in new projects; we also may have eleven aspiring producers from our Producer Development program. So you'll be pitching to as many as 22 producers in total!
ABOUT SPEED DATING. How does it work? 11 writers will arrive at 5:30, and we have two coaches coming who will coach the writers on their presentations. Then at 6:30, they go into the Pitch Room to meet the producers - one at each of the stations. We ring a bell, writers have two minutes to pitch. We ring a second bell, producers have two minutes to respond and ask questions, or give feedback. Writers bring a packet with a synopsis, bio, cast breakdown and production requirements to leave with each of the producers. If the project interests the producer, he may request that you send a full script.
Meanwhile, group two is in the Coaching Room getting coached for an hour starting at 6:30. Second group goes into the Pitch Room at 7:30. We estimate that pitches and turnaround should take about 50 minutes total for all eleven. We will have wine and cheese afterwards, so although the pitch sessions will end at around 8:20, we hope writers and producers will stay and chat informally until 9pm or so.
Yikes! Eleven writers pitching to eleven producers at one time? Think of it as the "cocktail party" pitch where you have to hold someone's interest with dozens of conversations going on around you. A little chaotic perhaps, but true to life.
WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING: A one-page (maximum) synopsis, a one-page writer/theater resume or bio, production history (including reviews), set and cast breakdown. You will need 22 sets, one for each of the producers. Make them nice - it's part of that all-important first impression.
ABOUT THE COACHES: We are bringing in two or three coaches to work with each writer on vocal technique, presentation skills and content. The coaches include Michael Ian Cedar, Gillien Goll, and Bailie Slevin.
PRODUCER LINEUP: Margot Astrachan - producer (The Realistic Joneses, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, Nice Work If You Can Get It, On a Clear Day...revival); Patrick Blake - Off-Bway (Bedlam Theater Hamlet/St. Joan, Play Dead, The Exonerated, In the Continuum), artistic director Rhymes Over Beats; Doug Denoff / Sutton Square Entertainment - Broadway, Off-Bway producer (The 39 Steps revival, Peggy Sue Got Married the Musical, Clever Little Lies; past Nice Work If You Can Get It, Handle With Care, 39 Steps Broadway, Witnessed By The World, Beebo Brinker Chronicles); Alexa Kelly - producing artistic director Pulse Ensemble Theatre (Harlem Summer Shakespeare, The American, A Man for All Times: W.E.B. DuBois, Chaos Theory, Ladies in Retirement); Jim Kierstead - producer (Kinky Boots, Pippin, Side Show, You Can't Take It With You, Rocky, Yank!, Thrill Me); Angie Kristic - indie producer/director (Deuce, Crossing Lines, Closer);
Michael Leland - indie producer/director (Langston Hughes: An American Celebration, Theatre Double's Just Fall on Our Heads); Ken Waissman - producer (original Grease, Torch Song Trilogy, Agnes of God); Cheryl Wiesenfeld - producer (All The Way, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Porgy & Bess revival, Play Dead, A Steady Rain, Legally Blonde, Caroline or Change, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, The Exonerated, In the Continuum); Plus two more to be determined. Trailing producers to include Cate Cammarata, TBA.
NOT EVERYONE WILL BE ACCEPTED. We will judge your application based on the viability of the project, your experience as a writer, prior development of the project and the specific interests of the participating producers. If accepted into the program, the cost is $65 for TRU members and $75 for non-members (and yes, you can always join as a member to qualify for the discount - we'd like that). You may find the application at http://www.truonline.org/WriterSDInfo.htm. Email application to TRUnltd@aol.com. Evening is limited to 22 writers. Deadline to apply is Wednesday, March 18th.
MICHAEL IAN CEDAR Producing teams of: Arthur Live - The Tour, She Loves You Beatles Tribute, NYMF: The Cure (2009) and Pandora's Box (2010) featuring Kerry Butler and Deidre Goodwin. He was on the company management team for the national bus and truck tours of Fiddler on the Roof, Throughly Modern Millie, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat. Michael is the Associate producer of StarQuest International, a 45 city dance competition tour that hosts over 24,000 young dancers per-season. He is the leader of the StarQuest concierge sales teams resulting in revenues exceeding 4 million dollar annually. Michael is founder of Ask Yourself Productions and hosts "Culture Soup" seminars in which he shares with people how to increase closing rates and brand awareness through remarkable relationships. Michael's blog www.AskYourselfInEntertainment.com passionately covers the topics of productivity, corporate culture, and customer service in the entertainment field.
GILLIEN GOLL has been teaching Public Speaking and Presentation techniques for over ten years. From her background as an actor, writer, director, and acting teacher, she has derived a method for teaching others to present themselves powerfully and authentically. Her clients hold a range of professions from soup (Campbell’s Soup) to nuts (discretion prevents identifying these!). Clients have appeared on such television programs as Oprah, Court TV, MTV, and The CBS Early Show. As an acting teacher, she currently teaches both privately and at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). She has also taught at Fordham University among other institutions. Acting students have appeared on Broadway, tour, film, television, and commercials. She was recently brought up to Halifax, Nova Scotia, by ACTRA (the Canadian film, television, and radio union) to teach acting there. www.gilliengoll.com
BAILIE SLEVIN is currently a financial advisor with Forest Hills Financial Group on a mission to bring fiscal health and responsibility to the entertainment community. Member of AEA, League of Professional Theatre Women and The New York Coalition of Women in Arts and Media. Bailie has stage-managed, general managed and produced shows and events off-off Broadway, Off Broadway and Broadway that have won IT Awards, OBIE Awards, Drama Desk and Tony Awards.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-one year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
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The extraordinary lineup of marketing experts will include: Meghan Bartley, accounts services manager and Scott Lupi, director of advertising at DRA (Buyer & Cellar NY & National Tour; Dinner with the Boys; Gazillion Bubble Show; The Jacksonian; Love, Loss, and What I Wore(NY & National Tour; My Name is Asher Lev; Nevermore; Wiesenthal; The Collegiate Chorale; Gotham Chamber Opera); Amanda Bohan, marketing & advertising consultant (Terrence McNally's It's Only A Play and Tony-Nominated Mothers and Sons, Bedbugs! The Musical, Pageant: The Musical, Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man, Forbidden Broadway, Clinton: The Musical, The Awesome 80s Prom); Christopher Lueck, creative director and Amanda Pekoe, founder and owner of The Pekoe Group (50 Shades, The Lion, Tail! Spin!, Disenchanted, Churchill, Piece of My Heart, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Peter & the Starcatcher, Freud's Last Session, Murder for Two, Mint Theatre Company, Second Stage Theatre).
We'll consider changes in internet marketing over the last 5 years: what has improved, what have we learned that works or doesn't work, and what assumptions may have changed as we (and the consumer) have grown more comfortable with it all? Certainly social media is a cost-effective way to promote, as are eblasts, but what other pieces of the puzzle need to be in place for any of that to be effective? Is the internet truly the end-all and be-all for theater marketing, or does it need to be part of an overall strategy? And are some of the more sophisticated internet strategies beyond the budget for smaller shows?
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, roundtable introductions of everyone in the room will start at 7:30pm - come prepared with your best half-minute summary of who you are, and what you need.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-two year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include the Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
The economy is clearly recovering, so maybe it's time to take those projects off the back burner and move ahead. For producers, that means finding the money and resources to bring your projects into production. We invite you to acquire some basic tools and crucial information that will help you to function effectively in hard times and the better days that are surely here. From pitching techniques and presentation skills to legal requirements and effective business planning, plus a wealth of first-hand experience from more than a half dozen producers who are currently active in the Broadway and off-Broadway worlds, we promise you an informative, empowering and inspiring day.
Faculty this year will include Broadway producers Doug Denoff (Nice Work If You Can Get It, The 39 Steps), RK Greene (Peter & the Starcatcher, Cougar, Room Service), Jeremy Handelman (On the Town, F#@king Up Everything), Cheryl Wiesenfeld (Rocky, Legally Blonde, Tony Awards for: All the Way, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, The Gershwin's Porgy & Bess, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty) and Richard Winkler (Something Rotten, Disgraced, You Can't Take It With You, Tony Awards for Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Cage Aux Folle, Memphis, The Norman Conquests); producer/investors Neil Danoff (The Audience, Something Rotten, Bridges of Madison County, All the Way) and James Simon (Hand to God, Something Rotten, Pippin); plus attorneys Eric Goldman and Erach Screwvala, and financial advisor Bailie Slevin. Workshop will include a business plan intensive, given by producer RK Greene - come away with an easy template for organizing your ask.
Admission is $175 ($25 off for all currently paid TRU members). Early bird discount is an additional $25 off before 2/23. To register, complete application as a Word Document (preferred): http://www.truonline.org/BOOT_CAMP_app15.doc, or online at: http://www.truonline.org/BootCampApp.htm.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-two year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, a Director-Writer Communications Lab and How to Write a Musical That Works; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA); the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens; and The Montage Foundation.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents the February panel, Balancing the Bookings: Producing Off-Broadway, a Theater Owner’s Perspective, on Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, 3rd Floor Loft Theatre, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments; the presentation starts at 7:30pm.
Panelists will include: Darren Lee Cole, artistic director of the Soho Playhouse; Edmund Gaynes, producer and theater owner (The Theatre at St. Lukes and The Actors Temple), principal Gaynes Theatrical Booking; John Lant, artistic director Write Act Rep, general manager Elektra Theatre and Times Square Arts Center.
Managing and booking product from the theater owner's perspective: how a venue balances its own projects with productions they rent to, what they look for, and what sorts of deals are available. What are some of the successful tactics they use to keep their theaters going? What are the advantages of booking space with different venues? How has off-Broadway changed over the last ten years, and how have theaters adapted to the change? We'll also explore current models of producing off-Broadway, including split week runs, and discuss what a venue expects of you (and what you should reasonably expect of a venue).
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, roundtable introductions of everyone in the room will start at 7:30pm - come prepared with your best half-minute summary of who you are, and what you need.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-two year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, a Director-Writer Communications Lab and How to Write a Musical That Works; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA); the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens; and The Montage Foundation.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
The True Meaning of Theater Awards on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, 3rd Floor Loft Theatre, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, the events starts at 7:30pm.
Hear from Isa Goldberg, president of the Drama Desk; Michael Feingold, critic and chairman of the Obie Awards; and Shay Gines of the Innovative Theatre Foundation (IT Awards).
This panel will examine the history of many of the current theater awards, including why each was created, the philosophies behind various awards, and the differences in aesthetics for each. Attendees will learn what various awards are looking for, and what they value. Attendees will also learn about eligibility, and how different awards operate. Finally the panel will explore whether or not awards serve the art form of theater.
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-one year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; and The Montage Foundation.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
Free-for-Everyone Seasonal Kick-off 
plus Networking Meet-and-Greet on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, Mainstage Theatre, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, presentations and roundtable introductions start at 7:30pm (come prepared with your best half-minute summary of who you are, and what you need).
Meet the program directors and illustrious board members of Theater Resources Unlimited, including producer Michael Alden (Disgraced, Becoming Dr. Ruth, Bridge & Tunnel, Grey Gardens, Bat Boy; director of the Producer Development program), TRU co-founder and vice-president Cheryl L. Davis, Esq., investor Neil Danoff (Bridges of Madison County, All the Way, Matilda, Spring Awakening), producer/videographer Jeremy Handelman (F@#king Up Everything, Whites Lies, The King's Speech on stage), producer Patricia Klausner (Shotgun Productions; Scottsboro Boys, Pippin, The Trip to Bountiful; director of the Producer Development program), producer Molly Morris (My Life Is a Musical, PopUpTheatrics) of YPAC, producer Tom Polum (The Toxic Avenger, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, All Shook Up), producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld (Rocky, All the Way, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, The Gershwin's Porgy & Bess, Legally Blonde, The Exonerated, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty).
Also hear presentations from a trio of TRU professionals who offer free consultations to TRU members: attorney Eric Goldman (offering free mediation services and counsel), financial advisor Bailie Slevin (board liaison to TRU’s Young Patrons & Artists Circle, offering free financial consultations), and entertainment industry creative consultant and career coach Joanne Zippel (offering free career consultations).
Learn about TRU’s programs, including the Producer Development & Mentorship Program, the TRU Voices Reading Series, Mediation Techniques workshop, Actor Speed Dates and Workshops, TRU’s popular Writer-Producer Speed Date, Director-Writer Communications Lab, the new How to Write a Musical That Works workshop and more. Meet TRU’s newly formed Young Patrons & Artists Circle (YPAC), and learn if you are eligible to join them. Come with questions.
Admission is free for everyone (these panels are usually $12 for non-members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-one year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
Making the Switch between Theater and Film on Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, Mainstage Theatre, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, presentations and roundtable introductions start at 7:30pm (come prepared with your best half-minute summary of who you are, and what you need).
Speakers will include Michael Alden, producer (theater: Grey Gardens, Bat Boy, The King's Speech on stage, Becoming Dr. Ruth; film: Just Cause with Sean Connery, documentary UnZipped, Academy Award nominee The Hours, multi-award winning Kissing Jessica Stein, foreign feature film The Zookeeper starring Sam Neill); Sam Adelman, producer/editor (film: Screen Door Jesus, Welcome to Academia, documentaries That Daughter's Crazy, Oscar); Daryl Sledge, producer (Fried Chicken and Latkes), film productions (I Am Legend, Salt, Previous), production assistant NBC Universal, producer in RipFest; and more.
This panel will help you determine if the skills you bring to producing in theater translate into film and television. We will explore the similarities and differences, the comparative costs of producing each, the differences in how you should approach investors, and how to identify if a property is adaptable from one medium to another.
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-two year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition, scheduled for April 5th and 6th this year, and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation, as well as support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
Guests will include Jeffrey Sweet playwright (The Value of Names, Kunstler, Flyovers, Bluff, Court-Martial at Fort Devens, You Only Shoot the Ones You Love) and author of the upcoming book "The O'Neill: The Transformation of Modern American Theater" on the 50th anniversary of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center; Tom Viertel, Board Chairman of the O'Neill Center, commercial producer (Hairspray, The Producers, A Little Night Music, Young Frankenstein, Leap of Faith, The Norman Conquests, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Company, Little Shop of Horrors, The Weir, The Sound of Music, Smokey Joe’s Café, Angels in America, Oleanna, Love Letters, Driving Miss Daisy, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Penn and Teller and many others); Linda Winer, chief theater critic and arts columnist for Newsday, frequent teacher at the National Critics Institute of the O'Neill.
For nearly 50 years, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center has been a pioneer in the development of new work and new artists for American theater. The National Playwrights Conference and National Music Theater Conference were founded on the concept that there is a critically important step between when a work is written and when it advances into production. This step became known as “the O’Neill process.” This panel will investigate how this process evolved over the years, how it set the pattern for other developmental programs, and how it influences the way writers develop their work.
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-two year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition, scheduled for April 5th and 6th this year, and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation, as well as support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
Guests will include Andrus Nichols, producing director of Bedlam Theatre; Patrick Blake, producer (Bedlam Theatre's Hamlet/St. Joan, In the Continuum, The Exonerated, Play Dead); Andrew Leynse, artistic director Primary Stages; David Elliott, co-director of Perry Street Theatricals (Bedlam Theatre's St. Joan/Hamlet, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, In the Continuum, An Oak Tree), Meredith Lucio, producer (Bedlam Theatre’s Hamlet/St. Joan, Porgy & Bess, The 39 Steps, Rooms: a rock romance).
As expenses in commercial theater have soared, the development of new work has grown increasingly dependent on strategic partnerships with not-for-profit and regional theaters. We'll look at the process involved in making an appropriate match, what stage in development a commercial theater might want to find a not-for-profit partner (and vice versa), as well as discuss the intricacies of enhancement deals. For the most part these arrangements can be seen as win-win, but there are cautions that need to be considered.
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com. For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
Guests will include producer Bill Franzblau (Tony® Award nominee for Say Goodnight Gracie, American Buffalo revival, Wonderland; off-Broadway: Evil Dead the Musical, Jewtopia, Sistas the Musical, iluminate; on tour: Little House on the Prairie); Andrew Leynse, artistic director Primary Stages; Cara Reichel, producing artistic director Prospect Theater Company; Cheryl Wiesenfeld, commercial producer (Rocky, All the Way, Tony® winner Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Tony® winner The Gershwin's Porgy & Bess, Tony® winner Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, The Exonerated, In the Continuum, Legally Blonde, A Steady Rain); plus others to be announced.
Both artistic directors and commercial producers aim to bring works to the stage that they believe in and that will please their audiences, yet artistic directors tend to be well-respected leaders of companies who are perceived to do "important" work, while commercial producers are often viewed with distrust. Both are generally the guiding vision behind a body of work, and both must balance artistic and commercial concerns. This panel will discuss the differences and similarities between the two titles and explore whether it is possible for an individual to work successfully in both roles.
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com.
About the Company: Theatre Resources Unlimited
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and New Musicals Reading Series, new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater; and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In addition to new works development and the speed date, TRU serves writers through a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visitwww.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
Participants will have the opportunity to pitch to eleven producers, from the commercial and not-for-profit worlds, and eleven aspiring producers from TRU’s Producer Development program. The objective of the evening is to provide writers an opportunity to develop their pitching skills with expert coaches and develop relationships with participating producers.
Producers (confirmed as of 1/13) include Paul Adams, artistic director of Emerging Artists Theatre;
Jane Bergere, producer (Kinky Boots, Annie revival, Clybourne Park, War Horse, Driving Miss Daisy, The Exonerated);
Patrick Blake, producer (Bedlam Theater Hamlet/St. Joan, Play Dead, The Exonerated, In the Continuum);
Doug Denoff/Sutton Square Entertainment, producer (Handle With Care, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The 39 Steps, Significant Others, Peggy Sue Got Married, Beebo Brinker Chronicles);
RK Greene, producer (Peter & the Starcatcher, Cougar, Room Service);
Angie Kristic, indie producer/director;
Michael Leland, indie producer/director;
Tom Polum, producer (The Toxic Avenger, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 
All Shook Up); and
Ken Waissman, producer (Josephine, Grease, Torch Song Trilogy, Agnes of God).
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-two year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation, as well as support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
Guests will include Mary Kate Burke, director of programming and Matt Britten, director of marketing New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF); Jillian Carucci, co-producing artistic director Planet Connections Theatre Festivity; John Chatterton, executive producer Midtown International Theatre Festival; Elena Holy, producing artistic director Fringe NYC; Carol Polcovar, artistic director Fresh Fruit Festival.
The summer festival scene is a hotbed of opportunity for the development of new work. Which festivals provide the best environment for your production? How do you submit, and what are some of the secrets to giving your submission a competitive edge? Once accepted, what is expected of you? More importantly, what you can reasonably expect from a festival showcase? And how do you distinguish yourself in the marketplace so that once you build it, they really will come?
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com.
About the Company: Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU)
Theater Resources Unlimited(TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces that instead of the usual September panel they are hosting a free and friendly Introduction to TRU: Free-for-Everyone Seasonal Kick-off plus Networking Meet-and-Greet.
This informal free gathering is an opportunity to come and learn more about Theater Resources Unlimited and hear about upcoming programs. In addition, attendees will have the chance to share their own stories, suggest what they’d like to learn in the coming year, and network with other theater professionals. Wine, beer and refreshments will be provided.
Guests will include TRU Board Members and Program Directors who will introduce new friends to TRU and its programs. Those scheduled to appear include producers Michael Alden and Patrick Blake, Board member and financial advisor Bailie Slevin; Cate Cammarata; Diana Amsterdam; and Gillien Goll.
This essential TRU Bootcamp for producers as well as self-producing artists offers training geared to those working at the reading and Equity Showcase level, and perfect for anyone planning to produce in upcoming festivals. This two-day course will cover everything from production timeline and budgeting to raising money and marketing. Industry experts from various fields will be on hand for step-by-step guidance, offered in accessible modules.
“So many people jumping into the murky waters of producing really need help navigating. TRU has identified the basic teachable skills to help them manage both their productions and their expectations, as well as save them a lot of time, effort and money,” says TRU executive director Bob Ost. “I can’t tell you how many early-career producers have told me they wish they’d found TRU before attempting that first showcase.”
The 2013 TRU Bootcamp faculty includes producers Patrick Blake, Jeremy Handelman, Patricia Klausner, John Lant and Ken Waissman, casting director Jamibeth Margolis, managing producer Emileena Pedigo, marketing expert/producer/entrepreneur Joanne Zippel, general manager/producer Michael Roderick, lawyers Erach Screwvala, Esq. and Lisaroxanne Walters, Esq. and financial advisor Bailie Slevin. In addition, inspirational keynote addresses will be given by prominent Broadway producers. For the schedule of presentations, visit http://www.truonline.org/BootCampWeekend13.htm.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-one year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.
Panelists include Michael Barra,VP Licensing & Business Development for Daryl Roth Theatrical Licensing; Jeffrey Chrzczon, producer, general manager and company manager (Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth directed by Spike Lee, The Lyons, Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony, Saturday Night Fever, Jekyll & Hyde);Tiffani Gavin, producer/general manager, formerly with American Repertory Theater, Theatrical Rights Worldwide;Darnetha Lincoln M'Baye, Independent Music Service, formerly with EMI Music Publishing; Dorothy Marcic, writer (Respect: A Musical Journey of Women, Sistas);and Erach Screwvala, entertainment attorney.
This panel will explore every aspect of licensing: from what it costs to use existing music and images in productions, to the use of “licensing” to extend the life of a work and benefit the writer and often the producer. The panel will explain the cost difference between licensing and optioning a play for a production, discuss grand rights and performance rights required for integrating music into a presentation, and the many subtle and not so subtle differences in production costs when licensing becomes part of your budget. Is the “jukebox musical” the easy alternative to a show with an original score that many think it is?
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP by email to TRUStaff1@gmail.com or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least one day in advance.
About the Company: Theatre Resources Unlimited
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and New Musicals Reading Series, new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater; and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In addition to new works development and the speed date, TRU serves writers through a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visitwww.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
About the Company: Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU)
Theater Resources Unlimited(TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
This panel will explore the noticeable lack of original works from new authors being developed for the American Musical Theater. Currently, movies are made into musicals and production budgets skyrocket. This panel will discuss whether new voices and less-commercial properties are being squeezed out of the market, and ask how the industry can revitalize the musical theater development process. Should we place a greater value on the development work done by small theatres here and around the country – the Labs, the Readings, the Showcases? What incentives can we offer producers for them to consider taking a chance on new voices?
Panelists include Joe Calarco (director/adaptor Shakespeare's R&J, directorSarah Plain and Tall, In Transit) and Jen Waldman, co-artistic directors Breaking Bread Theatre Company;Eric Goldman, entertainment attorney; Frank Ventura, producing artistic director of CAP 21; Jamibeth Margolis, artistic director for musicals, Midtown International Theatre Festival; and more.
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP by email to TRUStaff1@gmail.com or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least a day in advance.
Theater Resources Unlimited(TRU) is a twenty-one year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
TRU’s monthly panels have been a core program of TRU since its inception, and in recent years executive director Ost has partnered with Back Stage to generate topics of interest to both TRU members and Back Stage readers. Founded in 1960, Back Stage is the world’s most trusted name in casting, auditions, and entertainment-industry opportunities.“Through TRU, Back Stage is able to reach beyond its actor base to a wider theater community,” said Ost, “and we get more visibility through the Back Stage connection.” For information about Back Stage, visit http://www.backstage.com
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visitwww.truonline.orgor call (212) 714-7628.
This panel will explore the differences and similarities of producing in the not-for-profit and commercial sectors. Are there different skill sets that separate the successful commercial producer from the artistic director of a not-for-profit theater company? Do they speak different languages, have different goals, approach their work in a different way? Or do they have more in common than it might appear? What does it take to be successful in each? And why does someone choose one area over the other in their career? More and more commercial producers and not-for-profit theaters are partnering. If this is indeed the new normal, then it may be more important than ever for the players to understand both sides of producing.
Panelists include Patrick Blake, commercial producer (The Exonerated, In the Continuum, Play Dead); David Elliott, co-director of Perry Street Theatricals (The Exonerated, In the Continuum, Obie Award winning An Oak Tree); James Morgan, artistic director of the York Theatre Company (Closer Than Ever, Enter Laughing); Cheryl Wiesenfeld, commercial producer (The Exonerated, In the Continuum, Legally Blonde, A Steady Rain).
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP by email to TRUStaff1@gmail.com or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least a day in advance.
Theater Resources Unlimited(TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
TRU’s monthly panels have been a core program of TRU since its inception, and in recent years executive director Ost has partnered with Back Stage to generate topics of interest to both TRU members and Back Stage readers. Founded in 1960, Back Stage is the world’s most trusted name in casting, auditions, and entertainment-industry opportunities.“Through TRU, Back Stage is able to reach beyond its actor base to a wider theater community,” said Ost, “and we get more visibility through the Back Stage connection.” For information about Back Stage, visit http://www.backstage.com
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU’s panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visitwww.truonline.orgor call (212) 714-7628.
September 17, 2012
Contact: Michelle Tabnick, (646) 765-4773, michelle@michelletabnickcommunications.com
Theater Resources Unlimited presents the
TRU Writer-Producer Speed Date
(The Art of the Pitch)
Sunday, October 14, 2012 at 5:30pm & 6:30pm.
Submissions accepted through Saturday October 6th.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU)once again offers writers a unique opportunity to pitch their work to a prestigious lineup of serious producers, many of them with Broadway credits, and receive valuable feedback. The event is dubbed the TRU Writer-Producer Speed Date (The Art of the Pitch), an eye-opening education plus networking that will take place on Sunday, October 14, 2012 at 5:30pm & 6:30pmat The Players Theatre’s Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, 3rd floor, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC.
Professional coaches are on board to help the writers hone their content and presentation skills before they go off to meet over a dozen producers - from beginner to Broadway level - and go off to sell themselves and their projects in one-to-one session of four minutes each. Like in any good speed dating event, whistles are blown. The evening is limited to 22 writers, who are selected through an application process. If accepted, the cost is $75($65 for TRU members). Send applications by email to TRUnltd@aol.comor by phone at (212) 714-7628 no later than Saturday October 6, 2012. For application information and more visit http://www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDateOct12.htm.
Scheduled producers include: Margot Astrachan, producer (Nice Work If You Can Get It, On a Clear Day... revival);
Patrick Blake, producer (Play Dead, The Exonerated, In the Continuum);
Jane Dubin, producer (The Norman Conquests, The 39 Steps, Peter and the Starcatcher); Jacki Barlia Florin, producer (revivals of Jesus Christ Superstar, On a Clear Day..., How to Succeed...; plus The Mountaintop, Jerusalem, The Scottsboro Boys);
Jordan Scott Gilbert,producer (Ghost the Musical);
Bruce Robert Harris, producer, (Nice Work If You Can Get It, Clybourne Park, Bonnie & Clyde, The Scottsboro Boys);
Richmond Shepard, indie producer, theater owner;
Ken Waissman, producer (original Grease, Agnes of God, Torch Song Trilogy);
Stuart Wilk, producer (Yank!, Meet Me in St. Louis at Irish Repertory); andShela Xoregos, artistic director Xoregos Performing Company. The coaches for the upcoming Speed Date are Gillien Goll and Michael Ian Cedar, both of whom have extensive experience teaching Public Speaking and Presentation techniques.
Theater Resources Unlimited(TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU hosts monthly informational industry panels; publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater; and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab. Programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visitwww.truonline.orgor call (212) 714-7628.
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3 Women, 3 Addictions, 1 Solution!
As three young ladies find themselves ensnared in the chains of drug addiction, sex addiction, and legalistic religion, they discover that breaking free is a difficult but necessary task. Journey with them and the other characters as they struggle to break free from the mental, emotional and spiritual forms of bondage in their lives.
Trailer & Info below!
http://www.facebook.com/TrueStages
http://www.truestagestheatre.org/events.html
About the Company: TrueStagesTheater
True Stages is dedicated to bringing truth to the stage. Our highly trained directors and acting coaches ensure that our shows contain acting that is believable, organic and professional. By upholding a standard of excellence, we remain true to the craft of acting. Also, by producing honest work that addresses real life issues, we remain true to what we believe in- sincerity, hope, freedom, love, truth, healing, and compassion for humanity.
Not only do we bring our truth to the stage for every performance, we invite you to bring your truth as well. Through post-show discussions, audience members are invited to dialogue with the cast and company members, sharing their true thoughts and feelings about the subject matters of our plays. In this way, we build relationships, make meaningful connections and dissect real issues with real people.
Additionally, the True Stages educational program enables individuals to develop their artistic voices through various forms of creative expression. Students of the program learn to tell their stories and the stories of others through acting, dance, pantomime and/or spoken word.
At True Stages, we create, teach, and explore- allowing each individual to meet his/her own true stage.
Lucky Penny Productions will present the musical WHO MURDERED LOVE? written by LISSA MOIRA &RICHARD WEST, as part of the 16th Annual New York International Fringe Festival/FringeNYC.
LISSA MOIRA directs, with Musical Direction & arrangements by Chris Wade & choreography by Stephen Brotebeck. Costume Design is by Lytza Colón & Ryan Matthieu Smith & Lighting Design is by William Giraldo. William J. Vila serves as Production Stage Manager.
WHO MURDERED LOVE? is set in 1924 New York City & in a Paris dreamscape. The story follows WWI veteran & private eye, "Sleepy" Sam Speed, Gail Friday & Everett Greene, as they attempt to unravel the disappearance & possible murder of DaDa Love, at the behest of their client, the stunning heiress Honey Potts. DaDa Love is at the center of the world of DaDa artists, at the time when the Surrealists are vying for artistic supremacy. Their quest leads the trio through a mad adventure sparked by artistic & sexual jealously, as they find themselves inside an Absinthe dream, peopled by outrageous artists of every stripe – some, very predatory, indeed!
Featured in this AEA Approved Showcase Production are William Broderick*, Ari Butler*, Chelsey Clime, Kimberly Faye Greenberg*, Paul Kolecki, Luba Mason*, Tracy McDowell*, Jacob Storms & Darryl Winslow*.
Director LISSA MOIRA is a playwright, screenwriter, director, artist & poet, plus a two-time Jerome Foundation Grantee & OOBR Award-winning actress. Ms. Moira’s play, TIME IT IS, was in the final ten in the Chesterfield/Paramount Screen Writing Competition (from over 5000 submissions world-wide) & Dead Canaries, a feature film with Charles Durning, Dan Lauria, Dee Wallace-Stone & Joel Higgins, was co-written by Ms. Moira. Over the last nineteen years, she has often worked with co-writer Richard West, to create such long-running hits asSexual Psychobabble & The Best Sex of the XX Century Sale. Lissa’s short story “The Seduction of Time” was produced in an adaptation for spoken word & dance. Under the auspices of Theatre For The New City & Executive Director Crystal Field, Lissa spearheaded The Chrysalis, a play development project that included over 40 writers, directors & actors. She adapted her play Before God Was Invented, which received a nomination for a Susan Brownell-Smith Award in 2007, as a musical (music composed by Richard West, with lyrics by Lissa) for a March 2011 run at TNC. As a director, Lissa most recently directed & did the dramaturgy for both Satan’s Whore, Victoria Woodhull (by Richard Geha) & the current Off-Broadway show Siren’s heart, Norma Jean & Marilyn in Purgatory,at the Actors Temple.
A Jerome Foundation Grantee, RICHARD WEST has been a writer, musician & actor. Among his plays are Warhol in Hell, Bohemia on Wry, Sex & the Single Samurai & Enlightenment on the Installment Plan. With Lissa Moira, he has written Sexual Psychobabble, Who Murdered Love? & The Best Sex of the XX Century Sale. His one-man shows include Coastal Complexes, The Hip Revival Hour, Daffodils for Duchamp, Café Vanity, Coming of Age Amongst the Urban Savages, Coming of Age in a Stoned Decade, The Blue Monkey, The Floating Duck Variety Show, Going Out of Democracy Sale, The Grand Theft Inaugural Ball, Variety Show & You Sure Got a Lot of Nirvana. Richard had a radio career on the West Coast (KPFA, KSAM), a Manhattan Cable TV show (“That's More Like It”) & has performed his satirical & serious songs & East-West exotic fusion music at venues ranging from The Limelight, Theater Row Mudd Club, The Knitting Factory & The Village Gate. Recently, he collaborated on a song cycle with Lissa: The Son of a Bush from Texas & other related songs.
LUCKY PENNY PRODUCTIONS, Inc. is an entertainment corporation specializing in theatrical & musical productions. Lucky Penny was the Associate Producer of Edge, starring Angelica Page as Sylvia Plath & the Producer of FaceSpace, written by Bisanne Masoud & Talia Gonzalez, both seen Off-Broadway. This is Lucky Penny’s first foray into the New York International Fringe Festival.
New York, New York July 12, 2012—The Theater Accident, in association with Blue Coyote Theater Group, are thrilled to announce the NYC premiere of THE ZEBRA SHIRT OF LONELY CHILDREN, written and performed by Matthew Trumbull and directed by Matthew Freeman makes its NYC premiere at The New York International Fringe Festival, FringeNYC, a production of The Present Company.
The ins and outs of cadaver donation, eulogy inspiration at Applebees, and final conversations 30 years before father or son is ready, THE ZEBRA SHIRT OF LONEY CHILDREN explores the absurdity and pain of a simple life at an unfathomable end.
Moving seamlessly between heartbreakingly funny and simply heartbreaking, THE ZEBRA SHIRT OF LONEY CHILDREN journeys through the strange bonding days between Trumbull's cancer-stricken 55-year-old father, an unassuming Minnesota engineer who takes his belief in usefulness above and beyond; and Trumbull, a New York City actor with a slew of day jobs both brief and bizarre.
Matthew Trumbull (playwright/performer) is an award-winning downtown and Indie Theatre actor. The Zebra Shirt of Lonely Children at the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival will be his playwriting and solo performance debut. He has acted twice before in the Fringe, in Nosedive Production's Infectious Opportunity (2011), and Gideon Production's Viral (2009, "Outstanding Play"). He was most recently seen in Flux Theatre Ensemble's DEINDE, and was praised for his "hilarious" (Tor.com) and "delightful" (Showshowdown.com) performance. Other NYC companies he's appeared with include Blue Coyote Theater Group, Retro Productions, Boomerang Theatre Company, Metropolitan Playhouse, Impetuous Theater Group, and the Brick Theater. Matthew was a storyteller at The Soundtrack Series in 2011, and on the Nytheatre.com People of the Year list in 2009. He has collaborated with his director, Matthew Freeman, for 18 years.
Matthew Freeman (director) is a long-time collaborator with Matthew Trumbull. He is a playwright, director. His plays have been seen on stages throughout New York City, at the Access Theater, The Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; HERE Arts Center; The Metropolitan Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Source and at the Incubator Arts Project at St. Mark’s Church. His plays include When Is A Clock, The Most Wonderful Love, Glee Club, The Great Escape, The Death of King Arthur, The Americans, Confess Your Bubble, That Old Soft Shoe and Brandywine Distillery Fire. His work has been published by Samuel French, Smith & Kraus, the New York Theatre Experience and Playscripts, Inc. He has directed works by Anthony Pennino at the Red Room and the NY International Fringe Festival; and his own adaptation of the mystery plays, Genesis, with Handcart Ensemble. As an actor, he appeared in various Shakespeare productions with Gorilla Repertory Theater and Frog & Peach Theater, and his own An Interview with the Author at the Brick Theater’s “Pretentious Festival.” He was named one ofnytheatre.com’s People of the Year in 2004. He has also served as the Assistant Producer/Senior Writer for the official webcast for New Year’s Eve live from Times Square in 2009-2011. Emerson College graduate. ###
Contrary to the discouraging word on the street, off-Broadway’s not dead yet. Not if you find new ways of doing things. Because of rising costs and modest ticket pricing, the traditional off-Broadway model of producing seems to be no longer financially feasible. Sure, suddenly a producer can take branded Broadway shows and extend their lives in smaller theaters, but what about new works? Some producers are facing down the odds and exploring new ways of doing things. This crucial TRU panel will look at cost-effective measures like split week rentals, low-cost marketing strategies and other money-saving tactics, as well creative partnerships and slow and steady development paths that can lead to success.
Panelists will include Brenda Bell, artistic director of Literally Alive Productions; Ed Gaynes, manager of St. Luke’s Theatre and Actors Temple Theatre, producer (The Rise of Dorothy Hale, The Big Voice: God or Merman?, A Brush With Georgia O’Keeffe, Picon Pie); Jeremy Handelman, producer (F#@king Up Everything, White’s Lies); Philip Katz, producing director Broadway Theatrical, LLC (John Tartaglia’s ImaginOcean); Michael Sgouros, owner/manager of The Players Theatre; Jack Thomas, producer (Triassic Parq, Freud’s Last Session, Almost Maine, Colin Quinn: Long Story Short).
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP by email to trustaff1@gmail.com or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least a day in advance.
Writing is a great talent, but talking effectively about one’s work is a completely different skill. Learn the difference when Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents the TRU Writer-Producer Speed Date on Sunday, July 22, 2012 at 5:30pm at the Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. This is a great opportunity forwriters to meet over a dozen serious producers - from beginner to Broadway level - and practice those all-important pitching skills. The deadline to apply for this event is Friday, July 13, 2012 at 2pm.
Scheduled producers include:
Paul Adams- artistic director Emerging Artists Theatre

Patrick Blake- producer (Play Dead, The Exonerated, In the Continuum) 

William I. Franzblau- producer (Sistas, Evil Dead the musical, 
Wonderland, Say Goodnight Gracie)

Rob Hinderliter/Anthony Johnson – artistic director of Mondays Dark Theatre Co.

Richmond Shepard- indie producer, theater owner

Ted Swindley- producer/director, owner of Ted Swindley Productions, Inc., a theatrical licensing and consulting company

Dauna Williams- producer (The Scottsboro Boys)

Cheryl Wiesenfeld - producer (Play Dead, Porgy & Bess, A Steady Rain, Legally Blonde, The Exonerated)
This is a chance for writers to practice their pitching with real producers who are open to and looking for new work, preceded by an hour of coaching and prep from experts Bailie Slevin and Michael Ian Cedar. It’s a great networking opportunity that uses the fun, fast-paced speed dating format, so every writer gets two minutes of feedback from every producer. And there’s a wine and cheese reception afterwards so everyone can meet and mingle.
To attend, email an application to TRUnltd@aol.com. The evening will be limited to 22 writers and costs $75 if accepted ($65 for TRU members). For more information about the evening, visit http://www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDateJul12.htm.
About the Company: Theatre Resources Unlimited
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and New Musicals Reading Series, new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater; and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In addition to new works development and the speed date, TRU serves writers through a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visitwww.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
Panelists will include Pun Bandhu, producer (Spring Awakening, Glengarry Glen Ross revival); Debra Ann Byrd, founder/producing artistic director Take Wing And Soar Productions; Tisa Chang, artistic producing director Pan-Asian Repertory; Lily Fan, producer (Ching-lish, The Mountaintop, Jesus Christ Superstar); Lou Moreno, artistic director of INTAR Theatre; Stephanie Ybarra, Artistic Associate at The Public Theater.
A follow-up to the March panel, this discussion will explore a comparison between diversity in commercial and not-for-profit theater, and whether the commercial environment is viable for developing works and audiences of diversity. Attendees will hear about the experiences of a producer of color in the tradition-bound business of theater, examine the current state of the industry as it relates to producers of color, and address the best ways to cultivate and encourage diversity on Broadway and in other commercial arenas.
Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP by email to trustaff1@gmail.com or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least a day in advance.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series, new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater; ; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater; and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In addition to new works development, TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a new Director-Writer Communications Lab. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition and TRU partners with Weist-Barron Studios to offer quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops.
TRU’s monthly panels have been a core program of TRU since its inception, and in recent years executive director Ost has partnered with Back Stage to generate topics of interest to both TRU members and Back Stage readers. Founded in 1960, Back Stage is the world's most trusted name in casting, auditions, and entertainment-industry opportunities. “Through TRU, Back Stage is able to reach beyond its actor base to a wider theater community,” said Ost, “and we get more visibility through the Back Stage connection.” For information about Back Stage, visit http://www.backstage.com
Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940's, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents its next monthly networking panel, Taking the Leap from Showcase to Commercial Producing:
A Change of Perspective, Pitch and Priorities, a discussion focused on the transition from producing at the showcase level to the commercial level. The panel will take place at the Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm.
Producers will talk about how raising larger sums of money affects the producing process. They will discuss the challenges of transitioning from being the lead on a showcase to an associate on a commercial production, and the effects of this change on your thinking and goals. The panel will also look at the advantages and disadvantages of producing in festivals such as FringeNYC, MITF and NYMF, how to build a brand that is commercially viable, and the importance of having a development plan in place even before your showcase goes up.
About the Company: Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU)
Theater Resources Unlimited(TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series, new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater; ; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater; and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In addition to new works development, TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a new Director-Writer Communications Lab. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition and TRU partners with Weist-Barron Studios to offer quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visitwww.truonline.orgor call 212-714-7628.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents its next monthly networking panel, The Forgotten Members of Your Production Team: Casting Director, Dialect Coach, Dramaturg, Fight Coach and Others, a discussion focused on the benefits and costs of including these experts on your production team.
Panelists will include Jennifer Peralta-Ajemian & Robin Carus, Partners/Casting Directors, J&R creative; designer/technical director Nadine Charlsen; dialect coach Amy Stoller of Stoller System: Dialect Coaching and Design; fight coordinator David Dean Hastings, currently on the Stage Combat Faculty at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), NY; dramaturg and casting director Catherine Lamm; and dramaturg Anne Hamilton of Hamilton Dramaturgy. The panel will take place on Tuesday evening, April 24 at 7:30pm at the Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. Networking and refreshments will begin at 7pm. What promises to be a lively discussion will focus on the following questions:
• Even when producing on a limited budget, can you afford not to have all the members of your team on board?
• Is extra cost is worth it for the finished product? You might have to juggle your budget, but don't short-change your art.
• When can a casting director help you find the best talent?
• How can a dramaturg and a dialect coach keep an eye on authenticity and offer social and political contexts to support the drama on stage?
• What are the strict union rules about something as simple as a stage slap, and how might a fight coordinator be legally essential?
• What are the standard fees are for these invaluable team members? How can you work with each of them most effectively?
Tickets are $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP by email to TRUnltd@aol.com or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least a day in advance.
About the Company: Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU)
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions. In addition, TRU presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series, new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute, to encourage the development of aspiring producers, created a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In March ‘08, TRU was associate producer of its first Equity showcase, Missives at 59E59 Theatre, a play that was developed in the 2006 TRU reading series. In addition to new works development, TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a new Director-Writer Communications Lab. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition Event scheduled this year for Saturday March 31 and Sunday April 1; and TRU partners with Weist-Barron Studios to offer quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops. Actors may inquire about this and other actor programs by contacting TRUActors@gmail.com.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
Panelists will include producer Nelle Nugent (Stick Fly, Ghetto Klown, Time Stands Still, ...Nicholas Nickleby); Woodie King Jr., artistic director of New Federal Theatre (What the Wine Sellers Buy, For Colored Girls..., Checkmates); Stephen C. Byrd of Front Row Productions and producer of the first African-American Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof; Donna Walker-Kuhne of Walker International Communications; and Kamilah Forbes, artistic director of the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival, director (Def Poetry Jam on Broadway); and Melissa Marano, Senior Client Account Executive at aka Promotions (Jerusalem, The MotherF*er With The Hat, Billy Elliot, Stick Fly, A Streetcar Named Desire). They will examine the topic through the eyes of producers, the people who decide which shows to produce and the duration of their theatrical run.
The panel will focus on the following questions:
• Have we made any significant progress in bringing diversity into commercial theater?
• Is there an audience to support the work, and how do we tap into that audience? How can we help along the process?
• Even commercial plays with tremendous crossover appeal, such as Stick Fly and Radio Golf, have not managed to succeed as well as we might hope. How do we build a culturally diverse audience that can truly support works like these?
• Might cultivating producers of color help generate players who have a vested interest in bringing more culturally diverse works into commercial production? And can we do it without compromising the integrity of diverse voices in order to make them more palatable to the white mainstream?
About the Company: Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU)
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions. In addition, TRU presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series, new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute, to encourage the development of aspiring producers, created a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In March ‘08, TRU was associate producer of its first Equity showcase, Missives at 59E59 Theatre, a play that was developed in the 2006 TRU reading series. In addition to new works development, TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a new Director-Writer Communications Lab. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition Event scheduled this year for Saturday March 31 and Sunday April 1; and TRU partners with Weist-Barron Studios to offer quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops. Actors may inquire about this and other actor programs by contacting TRUActors@gmail.com.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
The Theatre Project joins Manhattan Theater Club, The Public Theater, Theatre Communications Group and theaters throughout the world commemorating the first anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Japan. The Japan Playwrights Association will disperse the proceeds from this one-day-only event to the Japanese theater community affected by the disaster. The event features a menu of 10 minute plays commissioned by major American and Japanese artists including Philip Kan Gotanda, Naomi Iizuka, Yoji Sakate, and Suzan-Lori Parks. From a selection of the commissioned works, The Theatre Project will present the plays through staged readings.
SHINSAI was created shortly after the 2011 earthquake in Japan by actor James Yaegashi, whose family is from a nearby area He called upon friends in the New York theatre community to say, "We as a community have to do something to help our fellow artists on the other side of the world." Six months later, a friendly consortium of more than a dozen organizations has come together and now a global event is underway.
Committed to the belief that growth as a human being and as a performer are synonymous, The Theatre Project is an artist-driven company committed to producing compelling theatre. The Players Theatre has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. By partnering for SHINSAI, both The Players Theatre and The Theatre Project seek to gain attention for this incredible event in order to support theatre communities around the globe.
SHINSAI: Theatre for Japan, Sunday March 11 at The Players Theatre at 115 MacDougal Street, New York NY 10012. Tickets are $20.00 and proceeds will go directly to SHINSAI. For tickets and more information go to www.TheTheatreProject.org, www.The PlayersTheatre.com or call 212-475-1449.
Raising Money for Theater: How, Who and When to Ask.The all-day intensive workshop will focus on many crucial aspects of raising money for theater. The workshop will take place on Sunday, January 29, 2012 from 10am to 6pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. The cost is $175 with a $25 discount for TRU members or individuals who register before January 21, 2012. For an application and payment details, please visit http://www.truonline.org/BootCampMoney12.htm.
Faculty this year will include legendary producer Ben Sprecher(Rebecca, Sly Fox, Three Tall Women, Fortune's Fool, Lisbon Traviata, The Shape of Things, Moon for the Misbegotten revival), Cheryl Wiesenfeld(Porgy & Bess, Play Dead, A Steady Rain, Legally Blonde, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty), Patrick Blake(The Exonerated, Play Dead), Van Dean and Kenny Howard co-founders of the producing company the Broadway Consortium (Ch’ing•lish, Bonnie & Clyde, Porgy & Bess, upcomingEvita); plus attorneys LisaRoxanne Walters and Erach Screwvala, international fundraising consultant Laura Fredricks; financial advisorBailie Slevin; and accountant Dave Spaulding.
SCHEDULE (subject to change)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
10:00 to 10:45 - "Commercial and Not-for-Profit Asks: Defining the Differences" - with attorney LisaRoxanne Walters.We will define terms, then focus on the not-for-profit side: the legal paperwork and structure that is necessary in order to ask for donations, and the responsibilities to your donors, plus the ways in which not-for-profits and commercial companies can work together.

10:45 to 11:30 - "Commercial Financing: Formalizing Your Ask" - with entertainment attorney Erach Screwvala.The required paperwork and structures at every level of development, from front money agreements to private placement to Federal filings. And the limitations placed on asking. NOTE: TRU Accountant Dave Spauldingof Janover LLC will be on hand to discuss and explain any tax or accounting issues that come up during the two legal presentations.
11:45 to 12:30pm - "How To Present Yourself to Investors"- with financial adviser Bailie Slevin. We will take a look at a basic money raising pitch both from your side and the investor’s side, learning how to speak the same financial language, exploring how to best communicate your proposal to your target audience.

12:30 to 1:15 - "How to Make Your Best Pitch: Asking Anyone for Any Amount for Any Purpose" - with international fundraising consultant Laura Fredricks. GETTING the money is what it is all about but HOW you go about the process makes all the difference. It takes simplicity, focus, structure, organization, and follow through to make it happen. This section will concentrate on "winning language" and "successful steps" to get the support for your creative projects.
2:00 - 3:00 - "The Care and Feeding of Investors: Identifying, Cultivating, Maintaining Them"- producer Ben Sprecher

3:00 -3:30 – “Crowdsourcing and Social Media Tools”

 


3:45-4:30 - "Building Your Portfolio," with producers Van Dean(Rooms, Catch Me If You Can)) and Kenny Howardof The Broadway Consortium (Ching•lish, Bonnie& Clyde, Porgy & Bess, Evita). Presentation includes an interesting new investment model for theater.
4:30-5:30 - "How to Bring Partners to the Table"with producer teams Cheryl Wiesenfeld(Porgy & Bess, A Steady Rain, Play Dead, Legally Blonde, The Exonerated, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty) and Patrick Blake(The Exonerated, In the Continuum, Play Dead); Van Deanand Kenny Howard; others tba.
5:30-7pm - RECEPTION
Curriculum is subject to change.
TRUwas founded in 1992 to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the business capability of producing organizations, individual producers, self-producing artists and other theater professionals. The company holds monthly seminars on a wide range of subjects important to theatrical producers and artistic directors conducted by panels of experts from both the commercial and not-for-profit segments of Broadway, Off-Broadway and the motion picture industry. TRU also publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute to encourage the development of aspiring producers, created a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need.
In addition, TRU presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series. These are new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater. In March ‘08, TRU was associate producer of its first Equity showcase, Missivesat 59E59 Theatre, a play that was developed in the 2006 TRU reading series. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition Event; and TRU partners with Weist-Barron Studios to offer quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops. The next Resource Night is scheduled for Friday January 27th. Actors may inquire about this and other actor programs by contacting Jaye Maynard at Jaye@JayeMaynard.com
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
B*tch is a rapid-fire, provocative, urban crime-comedy that centers on three brothers who enlist the mob in a seemingly perfect get-rich-quick scheme. The Debenedetto brothers have gotten their hands on a rare blue pit bull and seek the help of an estranged uncle to train and fight her. Nothing goes quite as they had planned.
The panel will examine the appropriateness of specific festivals for particular work, including discussions of the submission process, the ways to successfully market a production, and realistic expectations of what can be obtained through the festival experience.
Panelists will include Roy Arias, executive producer, Times Square International Theatre Festival; John Chatterton, executive producer, Midtown International Theatre Festival; Mike Cohen, director of programming, New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF);Sandra Garner,general manager, The Wooster Group, Edinburgh Fringe participant;Elena Holy, producing artistic director, FringeNYC; and Glory Kadigan, producing artistic director, Planet Connections Festivity.
Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm.
Tickets are $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP by email to TRUnltd@aol.com or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least a day in advance.
TRUwas founded in 1992 to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the business capability of producing organizations, individual producers, self-producing artists and other theater professionals. The company holds monthly seminars on a wide range of subjects important to theatrical producers and artistic directors conducted by panels of experts from both the commercial and not-for-profit segments of Broadway, Off-Broadway and the motion picture industry. These educational forums have been a core program of TRU since its inception, and in recent years executive director Ost has partnered with Back Stageto generate topics of interest to both TRU members and Back Stage readers. “Through TRU, Back Stageis able to reach beyond its actor base to a wider theater community,” said Ost, “and we get more visibility through the Back Stageconnection.”
TRU also publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions. In addition, TRU presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series. These are new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute, to encourage the development of aspiring producers, created a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In March ‘08, TRU was associate producer of its first Equity showcase, Missivesat 59E59 Theatre, a play that was developed in the 2006 TRU reading series. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition Event; and TRU partners with Weist-Barron Studios to offer quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops. The next Resource Night is scheduled for Friday January 27th. Actors may inquire about this and other actor programs by contacting Jaye Maynard at Jaye@JayeMaynard.com
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.orgor call 212-714-7628.
Theater Resources Unlimitedpresents a producer boot camp, Weekend Intensive for Showcase Producing, on Saturday and Sunday, February 26 and 27, 2011 from 10am – 6pm. The workshop will take place at The Players Theatre, 3rd Floor Loft, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC. The fee is $295 for non-members ($250 before February 19) and $240 for members of TRU ($195 before February 19).
Thinking about producing a showcase? Are you a writer or actor who might be self-producing? Wondering if it's worth it to apply to NYMF, MITF, Fringe or the other festivals? Worried about where you're going to get the money, and how to track it once you have it?
Faculty will include entertainment attorney Jonathan Herzog, general manager Robert Sherrill, producers Patricia Klausner, Meredith Lucio and Mike Roderick, financial advisor Bailie Slevin, publicist Katie Rosin and others. Special keynote addresses will be given by critic Michael Feingold, "The Village Voice", and producer Ken Waissman ("Grease", "Agnes of God", "Torch Song Trilogy").
This is basic and not-so-basic training for anyone thinking about producing a showcase now or in the future. The workshop will cover a range of topics from "Why Are You Producing This?" to "What You Need to Know Before Asking for Money" all the way to planning for the next steps beyond that showcase. With stopovers at marketing, budgets, casting, union codes and contracts and more.
The boot camp is specially geared for those producing at the reading and Equity Showcase level, with particular application for anyone who plans to produce in 2011 summer festivals. Cost is $195 for non-members ($250 before February 19) and $240 for members of TRU ($195 before February 19). There is a special Festival Discount price of $200 before February 19 for anyone producing in the upcoming summer festivals, including Planet Connections, Midtown International Theatre Festival, FringeNYC and NYMF. Applications are available online at http://www.truonline.org/BootCampApp.htm. Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, Boot Camp, 309 W. 104th Street 1D, NYC NY 10025 (please include an application). On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store.html.
At the very top of his one-man-theatrical-circus-of-full-disclosure, author/star Andrew Goffman offers the evening’s warning bell in the form of an alarmingly candid disclosure: “Ya know, none of us starts out to be a pervert.” The evening picks up speed from there.
“THE ACCIDENTAL PERVERT” is the true accounting of one boy’s odyssey to manhoodvia a childhood dominated by pornography, an addiction accumulated after the boy happens upon his father’s collection of XXX-Rated video tapes in a bedroom closet, just to the right of his golf clubs, above the cowboy boots, behind the sweatshirts, all the way up in the top left hand corner. Andrew Goffman takes his audience on a hilarious and self-deprecating journey into a world of video vixens, X-Rated fantasies, and really DIRTY movies with no redeeming value whatsoever. He found the tapes at 11 years-of-age. The addiction controlled him until he was 26. THE YEAR HE MET HIS WIFE.
THE CREATIVE STAFF
Directed by Charles Messina, “THE ACCIDENTAL PERVERT” has been choreographed by Sherri Norige. Lighting is by Josh Lacovelli. Scenery and Technical Direction is by Anthony Augello. Audio & Visual Design is by Andrew Wingert. Graphic Design is by Robert Tallon. Liza Lentini is the play’s dramaturge. Gina Ferranti is the Production Coordinator.
THE PLAY’S HISTORY
The play originally work shopped at the 45th Street Theatre after which it played off-off-Broadway at the Triad Theatre. The acclaim was extremely favorable.
Panelists will provide insights into how merchandise can be a key component of the branding strategy for a show and an opportunity for additional revenue. Topics include when the planning for merchandise should begin, incorporating merchandise into the overall marketing strategy, what types of merchandise best serve the brand, what to sell and what to give away, costs, distribution, and the structure of merchandise agreements with third parties.
The panel will include Martin Cribbs, president of Cribbs Consulting; Randi Grossman of Max Merchandising; Scott Kirschenbaum, President of K2 Enterprises; Matt Murphy of Marquee Merchandise, LLC.
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. Tickets are FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212-714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com.
This one-day intensive will be taught by Diana Amsterdam of The Drama Centre, TRU's Program Director for Playwrights. With segments of the workshop taught by presentation coach Gillien Goll who will help writers capture the essence of their piece in an effective synopsis, and learn how to present themselves successfully; and a panel of commercial producers will offer feedback on writers' pitches as well as suggest appropriate markets for the works. Panel will include Margot Astrachan ("Busker Alley") and Jeremy Handelman of Off the Leash Productions ("White's Lies", "F#@king Up Everything" at NYMF).
Participants receive the Practical Playwright's Guide--A Take-Home Handout -- including exercises in Play Structure and Story Truths, Examples of Query Letters, Loglines, and Synopses; Costs of Various Components of a Production including Actors' Fees, Costumes, Sets and More; a list of great New York theaters for rent; Invaluable Websites for Playwrights, and a list of Playwright Workshops.
Admission is $150 ($25 off for members of TRU). With early bird registration by 10/9, admission is $125. Workshop limited to 20 participants. Pre-registration is available by emailing trunltd@aol.com. To have us save a spot for you, make your subject header "P&P RSVP." Go to http://www.truonline.org/BCPitchSept10.htm for links to word document and pdf applications. Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, 309 W. 104th Street 1D, NYC NY 10025 (please include an application). On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store.html.
"The producers probably won't offer options on the spot, but it's an opportunity to start developing relationships," said TRU president Bob Ost. "Eleven producers sign on, from both the commercial and not-for-profit worlds, as well as eleven aspiring producers from TRU's mentorship program. And writers receive invaluable coaching from experts, as well. And did we mention the wine and cheese?"
More than 60 aspiring playwrights have taken part in past Speed Dates and many strong relationships have been formed, with developmental readings as a result. Broadway producer Randall Wreghitt was intrigued enough by the work of West Virginia playwright Sean O'Leary that he went on to request and read every play that Sean has written. Producer Lary Brandt is developing for production a play by Michele Aldin-Kushner he found in the first Speed Date. Paul Adams of Emerging Artists Theatre found five of the eight musicals that were presented in his Notes from a Page Series of readings of new musicals last spring.
"Speaking as an out-of-town playwright I have to tell you that TRU's speed date accomplished as much for me in one evening as I accomplish in a year of blind script submissions. The quality of the people participating - playwrights and producers -- was impressive and the program's format of structured four-minute sessions with each producer was a godsend for me. When you created this concept of a concentrated four minutes devoted exclusively to the play and the producer, you liberated me from all those social bonding rituals at which I'm so awful. And I came away with the sense that my plays finally got the stage I've hoped they would receive," said playwright Sean O'Leary.
"We writers spend so much in our own little think tanks and the opportunity to meet so many interesting people - not even to mention the chance of having our work read, exposing ourselves to not just one but 22 producers is just invaluable! Everyone was kind, friendly and very positive - what a great energy in that building! In short - what you've done is awesome," said playwright Michele Aldin-Kushner.
Applications are available at www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDateApp.pdf, or download application as a Word document from www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDateMay10.htm. Admission is $50 for members of TRU; $75 for non-members. To apply or to become a member of TRU, please call 212-714-7628 or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. This is a competitive application process, limited to 22 writers. Applications must be received by Wednesday, May 5, 2010. Email applications are preferred.
In this hands-on, inter-active workshop, coach Goll and marketing pro Albert will share The Secrets of Successful Pitch Presentations, offering invaluable techniques and insights to unlock the power of WHAT you’re saying to pitch your project, as well as HOW to say it. Attendees will also get marketing and branding guidance from TRU’s Bob Ost and Gary Hughes (OH! Ost Hughes Marketing Consultants), as well as Ph.d. Albert. The day will end with a chance to pitch your project to a panel of producers and hear their feedback, including director/producer Stephan Morrow and producer Vasi Laurence ("Passing Strange", "Housewives of Mannheim").
"We believe that there is an audience for good theater even in a bad economy, and that the theater community needs to hold on to its passion and vision and push forward with conviction. We’ve created a series of workshops to develop various skill sets we feel are necessary for both artistic and commercial success. This one was designed to help people find what is true and important about their ideas, and to present them clearly and convincingly," said Bob Ost, executive director of TRU.
Other upcoming TRU workshops include Practical Playwriting: How to Write for Commercial Production led by Diana Amsterdam of the Drama Centre on Saturday October 16; and a new Director-Writer Communications Lab on Saturday, October 23. In addition, TRU offers a unique Writer-Producer "Speed Date" where writers pitch to eleven or more commercial producers, many with Broadway credits; the next one will be held on Sunday, October 3. Details about all TRU programs can be found online at www.truonline.org.
In the wake of losing their child, a married couple must decide where their future lies: Is it with a romantic talking dryer who dreams of her homeland of IKEA? An adventurous 10-year old boy who dreams of true love and basketball camp? Or with leaving behind the memories that still haunt their home?THE CONVENIENCES OF MODERN LIVING is a fantastical, absurdly humorous and heartfelt look at the nature of love and loss, and what it takes to overcome tragedy and start anew.
When Allan’s perfect day in the park is interrupted by a chance encounter with a beautiful young woman, his life is instantly ripped open, testing the limits between love, loyalty, family, and unfortunate delusion. Playwright Matt Owen’s break-out new work, THE GIRL IN THE PARK, digs into what we find when we look too close at love.
Presented as part of FringeNYC 2010.
About the Company: Dalliance Theater
Dalliance Theater challenges the freshest artists in New York to breathe life into the new, to re-invent the classic and to re-discover the obscure.
What happens to a dream that's stirred (not shaken)? The answer lies in these revealing sketches, drawn with a pointy pencil. A dangerous comedy created for US, by US...and all about YOU (and us).
Starring: Christopher Burris, Charlotte Cohn, Samantha Debicki, Nicholas Job, Jennifer Nikki Kidwell, Lelund Durond Thompson
Presented by Bryane E. Glover in association with P4:13, Inc.
www.blackplaysforwhitepeople.com
Based on the classic novel by Gaston Leroux, this heart-racing musical unravels the mystery of a passionate man living deep beneath the grand Paris Opera House. Was he a madman? A musical genius? Or just a lonely soul yearning to be loved? The answer carefully unfolds in a beautiful and intimate production filled with intrigue, romance, danger and desire. This is a beautiful new version by Michael Sgouros and Brenda Bell. A romantic love story with provocative music performed by a live chamber ensemble in the intimate setting of the Players Theatre.
Through TRU’s Industry Panel on New Media, audiences will learn about generating usable content for new media within the guidelines of Actors' Equity Association, using multiple platform formats for maximum efficiency, internet video usage, video hosting, how and where to post, Facebook integration with YouTube, demographic analytics of different posting sites and more. Panel will include video presentations of actual website content.
Panelists will include: Hillary Cutter, Commercial Producer (Co-Founder/ Co-Producer Van Hill Entertainment, ROOMS A Rock Romance) Owner/Executive Producer of Cutter Productions + Management (Commercials/Promos, Music Videos, TV/Film, & Integrated Web content); Edward Highfield & Evan Frushtick, co-founders of Project Pause video production and multimedia marketing; Jeremy Handelman, commercial producer (White's Lies, F#@king Up Everything), principal of Off The Leash Productions (commercials, trailers, viral videos, promos,　event videos and actor reels); Philip Katz, producing director Broadway Theatrical (ImaginOcean).
Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com.
Karen Schadow, highly-acclaimed voice and presentation skills coach and president of The Voice of Success will share her invaluable techniques and insights – not only WHAT you’re saying to pitch your project, but HOW to say it. Plus attendees will have the chance to pitch their projects to a panel of commercial producers, including Jana Robbins (Ragtime revival, Little Women, I Love You Because), Hillary Cutter (Rooms, A Rock Romance) and John Lant of the Little Company and Write Act Eastside.
TRU continues to explore "The Art of the Pitch" with this all-day intensive workshop created to help you be true, effective and persuasive. In this dynamic and all-inclusive seminar, Karen will take you from Dull to Dynamic and from Unsure to Unstoppable in all your presentations - whether pitching to a producer, an investor, or your colleagues.　 You will also get marketing guidance from TRU's Bob Ost and Gary Hughes (OH! Ost Hughes Marketing Consultants, and the day will end with a chance to pitch your project to a panel of commercial producers and hear their feedback.
Admission is $175 ($25 off for members of TRU). Workshop limited to 20 participants. Pre-registration is available by emailing trunltd@aol.com. Applications are available at http://www.truonline.org/BOOT%20CAMP.pitch.app.pdf. Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, 309 W. 104th Street 1D, NYC NY 10025. On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store.html.
Though The New York International Fringe Festival, the Midtown International Theatre Festival and other festivals offer many advantages to a producer, and have strong marketing initiatives in place for the festival itself, it often surprises a producer to discover how much work they must do to promote their individual show. Is it easier to market a showcase in a festival than to market a showcase you produce on your own? How do you tap into the festival audience for your own show? Do you actually have to build your audience on your own, as you would for an independent showcase? In or out of a festival, what is the timeline for press releases? How do you get reviewed? Panelists will talk about this and more, including case studies of showcases that have been successfully marketed and filled the houses. What were their secrets?
Panelists will include: Sarah Kate O'Haver, marketing consultant, Midtown International Theatre Festival, consultant on Broadway Market Research for ERM; Michael Roderick, Small Pond Enterprises LLC, marketing consultant, The New York International Fringe Festival and festival producer; Katie Rosin, Kampfire Films PR; and Akia Squitieri, Rising Sun Performance Company, production consultant, producer in the Frigid Festival.. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com.
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents the 2010 TRU Voices New Plays Reading Series. In a series that is unique because it develops new producers as well as new plays, three works were chosen from submissions by emerging or established producers, as well as from writers who hoped to be matched with a producer. This year, all three plays selected are written and produced by women.
Each reading will be followed by a reception and a "Dollars and Sense" panel on producing.
To reserve FREE tickets, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com or call 212-475-1449.
June 7, 2010 at 7PM
Angels and Ministers of Grace Defend Us by Elaine Smith. Produced by Meredith Lucio.
Following a tragic accident, two sisters realize they must rely on each other for the family to heal. A drama about grief, family, and forgiveness. The play has previously been read at the New Jersey Repertory starring Linda Hamilton (The Terminator), as well as in a recent presentation at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge MA, and an early reading at the Abingdon Theatre Company in New York in 2004.
June 14, 2010 at 7PM
Leni by Pam Tate. Produced by Sherry Eaker.
The time is 1947, the place is Germany. Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's notorious film director of Triumph of the Will, is held against her will in a mental sanitarium. It is only through her growing knowledge of the nurse, who reveals bits of her own secretive past, that Leni sees the devastating results of the choices she made a decade before.
June 21, 2010 at 7PM
Cheese by Laurel Ollstein. Produced by Pat Flicker Addiss.
A dark comic farce about secrets and family - and how to survive them both.
The selected plays will be read on Mondays, June 7, 14, and 21 at 7pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC. Admission is FREE but reservations are required at www.theplayerstheatre.com or by phone at 212-475-1449. Each reading will be followed by a reception and a "Dollars and Sense" panel on producing.
　
The plays chosen for the TRU Voices New Play Reading Series are: "Angels and Ministers of Grace Defend Us", a drama about grief, family, and forgiveness by Elaine Smith, produced by Wild Bird Productions’ Meredith Lucio; "Leni", about Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler’s notorious film director, by Pam Tate, produced by Sherry Eaker in association with Gina DeMayo; and "Cheese", a dark comic farce about secrets and family – and how to survive them both, by Laurel Ollstein, produced by Pat Flicker Addiss.
The Basic Showcase Code has been overhauled in the last year or so. How does this affect your budget and rehearsal schedule? New provisions for New Media have been added to off-Broadway contracts. When can a show be videotaped, and how can you use the footage? The leap from Showcase to Mini-contract can sometimes be bridged by other options, including Transition Contract, Seasonal Code or LOA (Letter of Agreement) Contracts. Do you know which codes and contracts will serve your production and your goals best? Equity representatives will go through the entire range of contracts and codes available to producers, from Stage Reading guidelines to off-Broadway, with an emphasis on the most recent overhauls.
Panelists will include: Michelle Kelts, Business Representative for Mini-Contract, ANTC (non-profits), Transitional and LOA New York; Kenneth Naanep, Equity Business Representative for Basic Showcase, Seasonal and Backer's Audition. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com.
"The producers probably won’t offer options on the spot, but it’s an opportunity to start developing relationships. And that’s what this business is all about," said TRU president Bob Ost. Eleven producers sign on, from both the commercial and not-for-profit worlds, as well as eleven aspiring producers from TRU’s mentorship program. And writers receive invaluable coaching from experts, as well. And did we mention the wine and cheese afterwards?
Over 60 aspiring playwrights have been through TRU’s Speed Date, and many strong relationships have been formed, and developmental readings have resulted. Broadway producer Randall Wreghitt was intrigued enough by the work of West Virginia playwright Sean O’Leary that he went on to request and read every play that Sean has written, and they are in an ongoing communication. Paul Adams of Emerging Artists Theatre found five of the eight musicals currently being presented in his Notes from a Page Series of readings of new musicals.
Eleven writers will arrive at 5:30 and meet Grace Kiley, a professional coach who will guide the writers with their presentations. An hour later, the writers go into the Pitch Room to meet the producers – one per station. A bell is rung a bell and writers have two minutes to pitch. A second bell is rung, producers have two minutes to respond and ask questions, or give feedback. Writers are asked to bring a packet with a synopsis, bio, cast breakdown and production requirements to leave with each of the producers. If the project interests the producer, he may request a full script. Meanwhile, group two is in the Coaching Room getting coached for an hour starting at 6:30, and the second group goes into the Pitch Room at 7:30. Pitches and turnaround should take about 50 minutes total for all eleven. Afterwards, there is wine and cheese and a chance for the writers to network with the producers and well as each other.
Participating producers include Jacob Matsumiya & Rachel Vigier of Apples & Oranges Productions (Hair, Memphis);Jean Cheever & Tom Polum ("The Toxic Avenger", "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels");Pam Koslow ("Jelly's Last Jam", "Yank!", "Jane Eyre", "Captain Louie");Erin McMurrough, Associate Producer of Broadway Across America; theater owner and indie producerRichmond Shepard;Ken Waissman ("Grease", "Agnes of God", "Torch Song Trilogy"); and Shela Xoregos, artistic director of the Xoregos Performing Company. Four more producers will join the lineup, plus as many as eleven aspiring producers from TRU’s Producer Mentorship program.
Writers often meet producers at a party, and have two minutes to interest them in their work. Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) now offers twenty-two writers a chance to practice their pitching skills with real producers who are open to and looking for new work. TRU’s unique WRITER-PRODUCER SPEED DATE will take place on Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 5:30pm and 6:30pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC. Commercial Broadway producers already scheduled to listen and respond to the writer pitches include Pam Koslow ("Yank!"), Ken Waissman ("Grease"), Jean Cheever and Tom Polum ("The Toxic Avenger") and Erin McMurrough of Broadway Across America.
　
Applications are available at www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDateApp.pdf, or download application as a Word document from www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDateMay10.htm. Admission is $50 for members of TRU; $75 for non-members. To apply or to become a member of TRU, please call 212-714-7628 or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. This is a competitive application process, limited to 22 writers. Applications must be received by Wednesday, May 5, 2010. Email applications are preferred.
Look out NYMF! Watch out Fringe!
This April, Shortened Attention Span premieres 11 Original, Short Musicals. The performances will take place over three weekends. With each weekend having a unique group of performances. Check out www.ShortenedAttentionSpan.com for a detailed listing of the festival performances.
The internet has become an essential tool for marketing all businesses these days, but not everyone knows how to use it effectively. This upcoming TRU industry panel will delve into the importance of a web presence and what goes into a well-designed website, secrets of successful e-commerce sites, techniques for driving people to your web page, social networking do's and don'ts, and how inter-active marketing has changed the way we all do business. The panel will also cover the relative costs of marketing through the internet, and what else you might need to drive your ticket sales.
Panelists will include Jim Glaub,Creative Director of Art Meets Commerce; Zach Overton, VP of Sales for Plum Benefits, former Director of Marketing for Broadway.com; and others to be announced.
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
HOW TO WRITE FOR COMMERICAL PRODUCTION | Open: 03/13/10 Close: 03/13/10
This half-day intensive will be taught by Diana Amsterdam of The Drama Centre. A key segment of the workshop will be taught by presentation coach Roy Havrilack, who will help writers capture the essence of their piece in an effective synopsis, and learn how to present and pitch themselves successfully; and at the end of the day, a panel of commercial producers will offer feedback on writers' pitches as well as suggest appropriate markets for the works. This prestigious panel will include Danna Call (Communications Skills Coach for Dramatists Play Service) and Tony Award-winning Broadway producers Ken Waissman ("Grease", "Over Here!", "Torch Song Trilogy") and Cheryl Wiesenfeld ("A Steady Rain", "The Exonerated", "Legally Blonde", "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty").
Topics covered will include:
• WHAT IS PRODUCEABILITY? The fact that producers always ask this question, and playwrights hardly ever do, causes a serious disconnect between the commercial producer and most playwrights.
• WRITING TO A MARKET - We will ask each playwright questions he or she has probably never considered before: Who is your market? Who is going to buy tickets? Who is this play written for?
• WRITING VIABLY - Creating writing that holds the attention of the audience with a strong storyline and defined events. This module will cover such primary writing elements as: arc, desire, motivation, conflict, and the clear delineation of theme.
• WRITING ECONOMICALLY - Number of characters, number of sets, extravagance of sets: all these are serious considerations for most commercial producers. Does the play require a casting director, or can it be done successfully by seasoned unknowns? Is there a chorus of thirty that can be pared down to two? Are you kidding yourself when you think one actor can play eight parts?
The workshop will take place at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC. The workshop fee is $175. ($25 off for current members of TRU). Apply by 3/1 and save $25. Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, 309 W. 104th Street 1D, New York, NY 10025. On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store-new.html.
Think outside the New York box, and consider the advantages of being produced and seen around the country, even the world. The panel will discuss APAP (Association of Performing Arts Presenters), as well as APCA and NACA (the two college circuit conduits) and the Fringe circuit. How do you determine your best markets, and how do you approach them and get booked? Who pays well, who barely covers expenses? What are they looking for? How do you budget, and do you adjust the budget to the market? How do you even start to put together a viable tour that at least pays your expenses, or possibly makes some money?
Panelists will include Nancy Holson, producer/writer ("The News in Revue", "Bush Wars", "Parenting 101"); Joshua Kane, writer-performer Wild Baboo Productions LLC (toured internationally with one-man shows, has created and performed works for major museums, arts centers and festivals, including the Smithsonian Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Peabody Museum at Yale, the Ridgefield Museum of Contemporary Art); Dorothy Leeds, writer-performer (has booked her one-woman show "Good Lessons from Bad Women", around the country); Dorothy Marcic, writer (her musical "Respect" has played in 17 cities with over 2200 performances); Ronald Rand, writer-performer (currently tours across America and the world in his solo play, "Let it Be Art!" as Harold Clurman, founder and publisher of “The Soul of the American Actor,” author of “Acting Teachers of America”); Virginia Scott, director-writer (Fringe tours, books shows regionally and in New York City, including The US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, The Theatre at Monmouth in Maine, The Comedy Central Theatre and UCB LA in Los Angeles; and internationally at The Guilded Balloon in Edinburgh, The Centaur Theatre in Montreal, the Grahamstown International Festival in South Africa and festivals throughout Canada).
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of "Back Stage". Details of the upcoming TRU musicals series may be found at www.truonline.org/TRUMusicals.htm
MOST LIKELY TO sets the Drama Queens vs. the Jocks, the Glee Club vs. the Goths in a Senior Superlative Showdown, presenting the true-to-life musings of high school students labeled "most likely to …" by classmates! Inspired by students at the Long Island High School for the Arts, MOST LIKELY TO employs a senior superlative ceremony as its unifying arc in showcasing the seriocomic musings of students labeled everything from Most Popular to Class Clown. Original songs include "Emo Spelled Backwards (is Oh Me)," "I am O.C.D. Over You," and "Ode to the Drama Queen," as sung by disenfranchised members of the Thespian Society and Glee Club. It’s a tough economy, no doubt about it. All the more reason why people need support and the skills to go about the business of producing. TRU has created a workshop that offers producers, self-producing artists and entrepreneurs some basic tools and information that will help them to function effectively in these times and the better days that are surely ahead. From networking techniques to legal requirements and effective business planning, plus a wealth of first-hand experience from more than a half dozen producers who are currently active in the Broadway and off-Broadway worlds, this promises to be an informative, empowering and inspiring day.
Faculty will include Broadway producers Kristin Caskey of Fox Theatricals, Cheryl Wiesenfeld, Jane Dubin, Tom Smedes and Randall Wreghitt, plus attorneys Mark Beigelman and LisaRoxanne Walters, business consultant Sheila Speller and personal coaches Jane Petrov and Roy Havrilack.
Admission is $175 ($150 for early registration by 1/11, $25 off for current TRU members). Pre-registration is available by emailing trunltd@aol.com. Applications are available at www.truonline.org/BootCampMoney10.htm. Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, 309 W. 104th Street 1D, NYC NY 10025. On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store-new.html
Money is scarcer these days. Government funding to the arts has been drastically cut. Yet again. Where do theater companies turn for support? How do they operate healthily with less money? And why have some companies managed to actually grow during the 2009 recession? The panel will discuss methods of cultivating individual donors in hard times, reducing or adapting programming and other necessary strategies to survive.
Panelists will include Jill Garland, director of Development for Playwrights Horizons and former general manager of Naked Angels; Fran Kirmser, fundraising consultant (Lincoln Center Avery Fisher Hall, Musical Theater Works, Pentacle, Sandra Cameron Dance Center and Doug Varone and Dancers), founder of Manhattan Theatre Source, board of directors of Apples & Oranges Productions ("Hair", "Memphis"); and David Winitsky, freelance development consultant (Institute of Music for Children, Green Recoverings, Playwrights Theatre).
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage. Details of the upcoming TRU musicals series may be found at www.truonline.org/TRUMusicals.htm
The musicals chosen for the TRU Voices New Musicals Reading Series are: "The Thing About Joe", lyrics and book by Matthew Hardy, music by Randy Klein, directed by Tim Kashani, produced by Apples & Oranges Productions (Memphis, Hair revival); "RIPPED!", book, music and lyrics by Dan Furman, additional lyrics by Mary-Liz McNamara, directed by Igor Goldin / Musical Direction by Jeff Biering, produced by 6 Pound Productions/Maren Berthelsen (Yank! coming in the Spring to the York Theatre) in association with Theresa Wozunk, both of whom are in the TRU producer mentorship program; and "The Arresting Dilemma of Mr K," based on the novel "Der Prozess" by Franz Kafka, book by John Sparks, music & lyrics by Jon Steinhagen, produced by Kevin Hale and Jennifer Wilcox of the newly formed Playlab NYC.
"The Thing About Joe" will be read on Monday, December 14, 2009 at 7pm. A modern day Candide story, this quirky new musical comedy tells the story of Joe Christiansen from Preston, Idaho, who rebels against his pill-pushing psychiatrist mother and journeys to New York to pursue his dream of becoming a great Maitre d’ like his father who was killed in a freak flaming bananas foster accident. Along the way, Joe encounters a host of cool and culinary characters who help and hinder Joe as he comes to understand what it truly means to follow one’s dream.
"RIPPED!" will be read on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 7pm. Looking to escape his troubles, Rip Van Winkle volunteers for a military mission. 20 years later, he wakes up on a hillside. Can he go back to wife and home? "RIPPED!" is a magical story of love, loss and redemption set in the Hudson Valley in the time of the American Revolution.
"The Arresting Dilemma of Mr K" will be read on Monday, December 21, 2009 at 7pm. Joseph K awakes one morning to learn he’s “under arrest,” but the nameless officials can’t – or won’t - tell him what he’s done. Joseph, allowed to go about his business until his trial, lives a daily nightmare as he tries to discover his crime. He descends into the twisted, sordid world of the court system, which is no less confusing than his personal life. Without help from anyone, Joseph comes to embrace the individuality that has isolated him from his world - whatever the consequence.
Where do new musicals come from? Sometimes the ideas spring from the mind of a producer, not a writer. The art of creative producing is back and thriving. Meet some producers who come up with concepts, get the rights, hire a writing team and put all the pieces together to cook up a brand new musical. How involved do they get in the creative process? And how tricky is it to let go and let the writers do their job? How do they guide the process without being intrusive? Are producer-driven musicals any different than the sort shows writers come up with on their own? Are they more (or less) successful commercially?
Panelists will include Randy Adams, Junkyard Dog Productions ("Vanities", "Memphis"); Tom Polum, producer ("The Toxic Avenger"); Tom Smedes, producer ("Ace the Musical", "[title of show]", "Naked Boys Singing"); Ken Waissman, producer (original Broadway productions of "Grease", "Over Here!", "Agnes of God", "Torch Song Trilogy" and the upcoming musical, "Josephine"); and others to be announced.
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com.
Unless you happen to be very rich, it’s hard to jump in and produce a commercial show first time out. You have to build a career and reputation, and gain important skills along the way. Not to mention the fact that a producer is the last person to get paid on a project! So how do you even afford to become a producer? We’ll look at various career paths that can earn you a living and teach you what you need to know to succeed. And we’ll also consider the shocking fact that there are very few African Americans and persons of color on this path. Why?
Panelists will include Shirley Faison, executive director, National Black Theatre; Tiffani Gavin, Sr. Director of Licensing for Theatrical Rights Worldwide, former executive producer at Clear Channel Entertainment, former company manager ("Blue Man Group"); Jamillah Lamb, producer ("Platanos and Collard Greens"); Tom Smedes, producer ("Ace the Musical", "[title of show]", "Naked Boys Singing", "Dog Sees God"), general manager ("Altar Boyz", "Musical of Musicals"), company manager ("Show Boat"); Lauren Yates, assistant general manager with Martian Entertainment ("Rooms", "Naked Boys Singing"), former company manager ("Riverdance", "Bring in de Noise Bring in de Funk").
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
Petrov and Havrilack will be training theater professionals with the same methods they use for top law firms and Wall Street financial clients. Their first theater workshop was so successful that TRU is bringing it back by popular demand. “We decided to retool it slightly, and expand it,” said instructor Jane Petrov. “It's actually longer than the last workshop because we'll be spending the entire first half of the day helping participants to hone the actual content of their pitches. The afternoon session will focus more on pitching techniques like eye contact, gesturing and using notes effectively. And we will be videotaping participants so they can see themselves and make adjustments that will help them be more powerful in their presentations.”
Admission is $175 for the full day, $100 for a half-day session ($150/$85 for early registration before 10/3. $25 off for members of TRU). Workshop limited to 20 participants. Pre-registration is available by emailing trunltd@aol.com. Applications are available at www.truonline.org/BootCampPitching10-09.htm. Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, 309 W. 104th Street 1D, NYC NY 10025. On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store2.html.
What should a producer look for in a play, and how does one know (or think) a play will work when reading it? Some producers (and others) may not know how to read a play and identify structural and other dramaturgical flaws that might doom the work. Attendees gain four perspectives, from a commercial producer, a not-for-profit producer, an agent and a literary manager. Does each of the four look at works differently? Or is a good play just a good play, whoever is reading it? Panelists will also talk about what personally interests them about new work, as well as how to give input to writers to help guide them to make their work more successful.
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
For more information about TRU membership, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
Full Circle Theatre Company Presents Marta Rainer's acclaimed one-woman show, Unaccustomed To My Name. Unaccustomed To My Name is an often hilarious, heartfelt, high-energy one-woman show featuring Marta Rainer playing several roles. These include Sofie, her Polish mother, her good intentioned, though terribly misguided friend Lily, her dream man Bill, and, of course, her dream self, Sonia. The play, peppered with the incredible poetry of Anna Akhmatova, offers an intellectual and engaging look at the all too-familiar terror that accompanies those first few steps into adulthood.
Segments of the workshop will be taught by Ms. Amsterdam; by presentation coach Grace Kiley who will help writers capture the essence of their piece in an effective synopsis and learn how to present themselves successfully; and a panel of commercial producers and marketing experts will analyze the potential markets for participants’ projects.
The workshop will take place at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC. The workshop fee is $175, with an early bird discount of $25 off for those who pay by July 15th. Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, 309 W. 104th Street 1D, NYC NY 10025. On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store-new.html.
For more information about TRU membership, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
The panel will look at different ways companies and producers are adjusting to the current economic crisis, including (but not limited to) collaborative producing and retooling seasons to accommodate tighter budgets. What is still working? What changes are being made to survive? Are projects being put on hold or are organizations plunging ahead with new determination, and new producing models?
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of "Back Stage".
For more information about TRU membership, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
Whether stomping and clapping the idiosyncratic beat of the music, gracefully curling and twisting wrists and arms to the emotional cante jondo, or punctuating a dancer’s performance with ecstatic jaleos. the Omayra Amaya Flamenco Dance Company quickly inflects its audience with its powerful stage presence. While the Company embraces the traditional roots of flamenco through passionate singing, syncopated rhythms and fiery footwork, Omayra adds a bold sophisticated element to the beautiful tapestry of flamenco. By blending the intricate rhythms of American jazz with traditional flameno song, she brings the artform to a sublime plane.
Cast: Omayra Amaya: Dancer/Choreographer; Roberto Castellon: Guitarist/Composer; Edwin Aparicio: Dancer; Jose Moreno: Dancer; Ruben "El Viejo": Singer; Amparo Heredia: Singer; Gonzalo Grau: Grammy nominated Pianist
The selected plays will be read on Mondays, June 1, 15, and 22 at 7pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC. Admission is FREE but reservations are required: www.theplayerstheatre.com or 212-475-1449. Each reading will be followed by a reception and a “Dollars and Sense” panel on producing. Note that the reading on June 1 is already sold out, but a waiting list is being taken via the reservation number.
June 1, 2009 at 7pm
"Can I Really Date a Guy Who Wears a Yarmulke?"
He’s handsome, he cooks, he tolerates Jane Austen. He’s even Jewish. But there’s Jewish and there’s JEWISH! Directed by Jay Falzone.
June 15, 2009 at 7pm
"The Unbleached American"
Directed by Michael Bush. Featuring Jerry Dixon* and Nancy Anderson*.
June 22, 2009 at 7pm
"Always, Always Not"
Two lovers. One inescapable decision. No time left.
Directed by Sam Gold.
For more information, visit www.truonline.org.
Panelists will include Martin Denton, Executive Director, The New York Theatre Experience, Inc.; Hal Hochhauser of Shakespeare Mailing Services; Jonathan Reuning, co-founder of United Stages; Evan Seplow, CEO of StageBuddy.com; Ahmed Tigani, Direct Donations Coordinator of Materials for the Arts; Emily Watts, Director of Liability Insurance of Fractured Atlas; Lee Eagle, Senior Account Executive and Victoria Gettler, Account Executive from Theatermania and OvationTix; and other panelists to be announced.
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
Writers often meet a producer at a party, and have two minutes to interest him in their work. TRU now offers them a chance to practice their pitching with real producers who are open to and looking for new work. “The producers probably won’t offer options on the spot, but it’s an opportunity to start developing relationships. And that’s what this business is all about,” said TRU president Bob Ost. Eleven producers have signed on, from both the commercial and not-for-profit worlds, all with an interest in new projects, as well as eleven aspiring producers from TRU’s mentorship program. And writers also receive invaluable coaching from experts.
Applications are available at www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDateApp.pdf, or download application as a Word document from www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDate.htm. Admission is $50 for members of TRU; $75 for non-members. To apply or to become a member of TRU, please call 212-714-7628 or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. This is a competitive application process, limited to 22 writers. Applications must be postmarked by May 14. Email reservations are preferred.
Join them in this sketch and improv comedy "quest" through puberty.
Yes, that's right, puberty.. we even have the pamphlets you got in the 5th grade.
“In the current economy, it’s more important than ever for people to be smart about producing,” says TRU president Bob Ost. “To help assure that our business will survive these tough times, TRU feels it is essential to offer the information and guidance that early-career producers require to make theater happen, and happen successfully.”
A faculty of experts will cover topics ranging from “Contracts, Options & Underlying Rights” to “Marketing & PR Basics.” Keynote speakers will include Broadway-level producers who will offer insight, experience and inspiration to beginner producers. These speakers will include:
- Kristin Caskey, vice-president of Fox Theatricals ("Thoroughly Modern Millie"," Legally Blonde"," Caroline or Change", revivals of "‘night mother" and "Death of a Salesman").
- Cheryl Wiesenfeld ("The Exonerated", "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty", "In the Continuum", "Legally Blonde", "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "Caroline or Change")
- Randall Wreghitt ("Impressionism", "Grey Gardens", "The Lieutenant of Inishmore", "Beauty Queen of Leenane", "Hedda Gabler", "The Waverly Gallery")
Panelists will include Roger Gindi, producer, Broadway, "Jay Johnson", "The Two and Only" (Tony Award), off-Broadway, "Shakespeare’s R&J" (Lortel Award), the head of the theatrical producing and general management firm of Gindi Theatrical Management ("Nunsense", "King Hedley II", "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"); and Bruce Lazarus, theatrical attorney for more than 20 Broadway and off-Broadway shows including "Blue Man Group: Tubes" off-Broadway as well as "The Lion King", "Aida" and "Beauty and the Beast" as Director of Business and Legal Affairs for Walt Disney Theatrical Productions.
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of "Back Stage".
This tale about courage, discovery and the voyage everyone must make to find their true self, is enhanced with original music performed by an all-percussion trio. And what pirate musical would be complete without plenty of sword-fighting? The production is filled with funny-bone tickling pirate fights skillfully coordinated by the productions director Carlo Rivieccio.Prior to each performance, families may participate in an interactive arts workshop. Here the audience discovers how different art forms bring literature to life. Each child gets to create their own treasure chest, discover what is special about themselves and store it away in their chest to take home. Coupled with the show, this two-hour experience adds up to a fun-filled afternoon for the entire family.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYhHuSTRG7w
Panelists will include Suzanne Adams, Opening Door Theatre Company (Closing Notice Series at the Duplex); Sharon Carr, producer (Glimpses of the Moon at the Algonquin); Bill Daugherty, self-producing artist (Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? at the Triad); Kevin Kennedy, managing director, The Peccadillo Theatre (Talk of the Town at the Algonquin); Richard Skipper, self-producing artist (An Evening with Carol Channing); and Lee Sommers, General Manager/Booker, Triad Theatre.
In the current economy, more than ever before, producers (and writers) need economic ways of getting work up on its feet. Cabaret rooms have long been used for more than solo sing-a-thons, and long-run legends like Nunsense and Forbidden Broadway have been born there. These clubs provide affordable venues to develop new works, and an intimacy that works well for certain shows. With audience expectations so different, can production values be modest? At what point does the Equity Cabaret contract come into play, and how does it compare to the Showcase Code? Can runs be extended so word of mouth can be built? Are the limitations of the space worth the budgetary savings? And just how much does it cost to produce a full-fledged show in a cabaret, compared to a showcase?
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
Topics for discussion will include:
• The value of focus groups and other ways of tailoring product to audience;
• Ticketing resources and papering services such as Audience Extras;
• Internet social marketing as an audience development tool; and
• Additional topics to be announced.
Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. FREE for TRU members; $12 for non-members. Please call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
TRU WRITER-PRODUCER SPEED DATE.
No, it’s not really a “date.”
It’s a quick way to meet over a dozen producers,
from beginner to Broadway level.
Sunday, March 1 at 5:30pm and 6:30pm
ABOUT SPEED DATING. How does it work?
Eleven writers will arrive at 5:30 and meet Grace Kiley and Karen Schadow, two professional coaches who will guide the writers with their presentations. An hour later, the writers go into the Pitch Room to meet the producers – one per station. A bell is rung a bell and writers have two minutes to pitch. A second bell is rung, producers have two minutes to respond and ask questions, or give feedback. Writers are asked to bring a packet with a synopsis, bio, cast breakdown and production requirements to leave with each of the producers. If the project interests the producer, he may request a full script. Meanwhile, group two is in the Coaching Room getting coached for an hour starting at 6:30, and the second group goes into the Pitch Room at 7:30. Pitches and turnaround should take about 50 minutes total for all eleven. Afterwards, there is wine and cheese and a chance for the writers to network with the producers and well as each other.
Applications are available at www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDateApp.pdf, or download application as a Word document from www.truonline.org/WriterSpeedDate.htm. Admission is $50 for members of TRU; $75 for non-members. To apply or to become a member of TRU, please call 212-714-7628 or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com. This is a competitive application process, limited to 22 writers. Applications must be postmarked by February 18. Email reservations are preferred.
Panelists include Michael Feingold, literary consultant for Theater for a New Audience, former literary manager of Yale Repertory Theater, and critic for The Village Voice; and Michael Nassar, producer, general manager and former associate artistic director of the O’Neill Center, dramaturge at The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and 7 Devils PW Conference.
The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments; panel begins promptly at 7:30pm. Admission is FREE for members of TRU; $12 for non-members. To reserve a space at the panel or to become a member of TRU, please call 212-714-7628 or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com.
As a disheartening number of shows are closing, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) opens up possibilities for tomorrow’s productions with an all-day intensive workshop about crucial aspects of raising money for theater on Saturday, January 24 from 10am–6pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC.
It’s a tough economy, no doubt about it. All the more reason why people need support and the skills to go about the business of producing. Attendees will acquire basic tools and information that will help them to function effectively in these times and the better days that are surely ahead. From networking techniques to legal requirements and effective business planning, plus a wealth of first-hand experience from more than a half dozen producers who are currently active in the Broadway and off-Broadway worlds, TRU promises an informative, empowering and inspiring day.
Admission is $175 ($150 for early registration before 1/19); $25 off for members of TRU. Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, 309 W. 104th Street 1D, NYC NY 10025. On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store.html. Pre-registration is available by emailing trunltd@aol.com. Applications are available at www.truonline.org/BootCampApp.htm.
Ebenezer Scroogianno is a miserable middle aged mobster who believes that Christmas is just an excuse for people to miss work and for idle people to expect handouts. He doesn't believe in all of the good cheer and charity that the season promotes, and he makes sure everyone knows it. One night, Scroogianno is visited by the ghost of his former business associate, Jacob Marlianni -- a man who was as greedy and cold as Scroogianno is. Marlianni warns Scroogianno that if he continues to live so selfishly, he will spend eternity wearing the chains and cement shoes that his greed has built.
Three ghosts visit Scrooge successively: the Ghost of Christmas Past (Roxy Brown), the Ghost of Christmas Present (Young actor), and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Biker Chick). They show Scroogianno his error in valuing organized crime and money over people. Scroogianno is frightened by the bleak picture of his life and promises to change his ways. Scroogianno awakes on Christmas morning a new man. He becomes jolly and charitable, and truly turns into the man he promised the ghosts he would become. He carries the spirit of Christmas with him all the year round.
The State of the Musical in a Tight Economy | Open: 11/18/08 Close: 01/04/09
Topics for discussion will include:
* How will the current economic crisis effect the development of new musicals? Will there be downsizing?
* Are there creative new ways of shepherding new shows into commercial production?
* Are producers heading into a period of excessive development? How much development is too much?
* What long-term goals should producers have while living through this cycle?
* What industry objectives could be achieved while business is slow?
* And what other ways can productions stay on track as opposed to attempting to head straight to New York City?
There once was a young girl named Beauty who didn't seem to fit in. Her nose was always stuck in a book and unlike her sisters; she wasn't looking for a Prince Charming to rescue her. What she wanted was adventure and that's just what she found. In order to settle her father's debt, she goes to live in a magical castle with a mysterious beast. What she discovers is her true self, friendship and the meaning of love.This adaptation, based on the original book by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont, is filled with charming musical numbers, delightful dancing, endearing and amusing characters, wonder and magic.
In addition to the one hour and 15-minute musical, the audience receives a special treat - interactive arts workshops prior to the performance. Here the audience learns about the original book and how we turned it into a musical. We discuss the themes of the show and how the arts bring literature to life. Then the kids and their families make Beauty and Beast masks which they take home as a souvenir. Now when they watch the show, they are familiar with the art forms represented in the production.
The whole program (pre-show workshop and actual show) is approximately two hours long.
Panelists include Paul Adams, artistic director of Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT); Jan Buttram, artistic director and Doug DeVita, marketing director of Abingdon Theatre Company; Sarah Rulfs, development associate of Abingdon Theatre Company; Jeff Corrick, artistic director of Wings Theatre; Tim Errickson, artistic director and Frank Kuzler, managing director of Boomerang Theatre Company; and other panelists to be announced.
The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments; panel begins promptly at 7:30pm. Admission is FREE for members of TRU; $12 for non-members. To reserve a space at the panel or to become a member of TRU, please call 212-714-7628 or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com.
For more information about TRU membership, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
The musicals chosen for the TRU Voices Series are: Once Upon a Wind, a musical about love, magic and lies by Tom Diggs and Jay D’Amico, produced by Sheila McDevitt; and So Happy I Could Scream!, a musical celebration of motherhood, with book by Judy Freed, music by Sari Miller, lyrics by Randi Wolfe and additional lyrics by Sari Miller, produced by Meredith Lucio/Wild Bird Productions.
Once Upon a Wind, with book and lyrics by Tom Diggs, music by Jay D'Amico, will be read on December 8, 2008 at 7:30pm, produced by Sheila McDevitt and directed by Jeremy Dobrish,
In war torn England, two teens attempt to make sense of their lives as they come of age through the lens of love, magic … and lies. Based on the Cottingley Fairy Hoax, Once Upon a Wind is the story of the two teenagers who faked fairy photos during World War One and briefly fooled a grieving nation. As a straight play titled Yorkshire Tales, it won The Aurand Harris Prize, was a Princess Grace finalist, and was the ATHE Playworks selection for 2007 before it received an Off-Off Broadway workshop produced by On the Leesh Productions at The Michael Weller Theatre in October 2007.
So Happy I Could Scream! will be read on December 15, 2008 at 7:30pm. Book by Judy Freed, music by Sari Miller, lyrics by Randi Wolfe and additional lyrics by Sari Miller, produced by Meredith Lucio, Wild Bird Productions. The show was developed at Theatre Building Chicago.
So Happy I Could Scream! is a musical revue celebrating the challenges and rewards of motherhood. Touching, humorous, and thought-provoking, it transports the audience to a bewildering world of love, relationships, discipline, gender roles, career paths, sex, family planning, and facing the empty nest. Featuring an upbeat mix of contemporary song styles, monologues, and scenes, So Happy I Could Scream! will appeal to anyone who is a mother – or has one. So Happy I Could Scream! began at a kitchen table in the Chicago suburbs and was developed at Theatre Building Chicago, where it was seen in the Monday Night Musicals series and at Stages 2007, a festival of new musicals-in-progress. It recently received a concert reading at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois.
My Fair Heathen Productions continues their foray into the dark and irreverent with the fall show, "Memoirs of Madness". Opening Halloween weekend, this horror double feature adapts two classic diaries of diseased psyches! Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is an indictment of the patriarchial prescription for 'bed-rest' forced on a woman with post-partum depression. Despite her yearning for moderate activity and creative writing, the medical establishment as embodied in her physician husband quarantines her to a room in the country where the abhorrent wallpaper consumes her. With each diary entry, we witness her initial revulsion by and eventual compulsion toward the graphic nightmare that is the wall covering in her isolated room. Next up is their take on that horror short of infamous notoriety, Edgar Allan Poe's, "The Tell-Tale Heart". Everyone knows this chilling narrative by a murderer whose guilt and psychosis betray his "perfect triumph"! Immerse yourselves in this multi-sensory melange of macabre minds! 
Can the laughter of a child melt the cold heart of a selfish giant? Yes it can! This adaptation of Oscar Wilde's beautiful fairytale will warm the hearts of young and old alike. Step into Wilde's imagination as the story unfold through music, dance, storytelling and puppetry.This production has been selected for the First New York Irish Play Festival. Join the pre-show arts workshop (at 10am) where you will meet cast members and the playwright while learning something special about Irish Culture.
The plays chosen for the TRU Voices Series are: American Whupass, a rollicking satire of modern-day electioneering by Justin Warner, submitted by TRU producer mentee Melinda O'Brien; Film Chinois, a noir mystery romance by Damon Chua, submitted by the Grove Theatre Center in LA; and A Crooked Man, an inter-generational drama by Richard Kalinoski, submitted by TRU producer mentee Nora Armani. All three plays have political undertones, and distinct ethnic identities. "Although we didn't set out to do so, we've created a series with a through-line of social relevance and conscience," said TRU Literary Manager Catherine Lamm.
- American Whupass by Justin Warner will be read on June 2, 2008 at 7:00pm, produced by Melinda O'Brien and her company M&M Productions Acting Co., with the assistance of Danielle Johnson, another TRU mentee. The director is Nancy Robillard.
A faded football star, an energy kingpin, and a former wrestling champ duke it out for a Nevada Senate seat in a no-holds-barred campaign that takes political warfare to outrageous extremes. "It's pretty timely," declares producer O'Brien with a sly grin. The play has been developed at the Aurora Theatre (Berkeley, CA), Luna Stage (NJ), New Jersey Rep, the Last Frontier Conference (Valdez, AK), and the Abingdon Theatre (NYC), and was a winner of the Aurora Theatre Company's 2007 Global Age Project and a semifinalist for the O'Neill Conference. Justin Warner is a Kennedy Center-ACTF winner, a Princess Grace finalist, and a five-time Heideman Award finalist. His musical The Masked Zinfandel, written with Peter Yarin, was featured in the 2008 ASCAP Foundation/Disney Workshop in New York with Stephen Schwartz. Justin's short play collection Screwups ("Hilarious" -- Off-Off Broadway) was recently published by Original Works. He is a member of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop and the Dramatists Guild. For more, visit www.justinwarner.net.
Director Robillard's work has been seen on New York stages at Directors Company, Vital Theatre, Theatre for the New City, Culture Project, HERE, Phoenix Theatre, Queens Theatre in the Park, and First Look Theatre Company.
- Film Chinois by Damon Chua, will be read on June 9, 2008 at 7:00pm. Winner of the 2007 Los Angeles Ovation Award for Best New Play, it will be produced by Charles L. Johanson Jack W. Batman (a TRU Advisory Board Member) and Grove Theatre Center. The director is Kevin Cochran.
In Beijing in 1947, at an uneasy time between WWII and the imminent Communist take over, an enigmatic woman known as Chinadoll challenges an idealistic CIA operative to face the truth. Film Chinois, was developed through Grove Theatre Center's New Play Initiative. Playwright Damon Chua was the winner of the 1st Asian-American Playwriting Competition organized by ACTS of Harvard University and holds a Fulbright nomination in the Dramatic Arts. He currently heads up the Playwrights Group for Company of Angels, Los Angeles' oldest non-profit theatre company, and is one of the most produced playwrights in his native Singapore.
Grove Theater Center, founded by Kevin Cochran and Charles Johanson, has produced over 100 productions on four stages in three Californian cities. GTC has premiered 23 new plays including work by James McLure, Christopher Hart, David Paterson and Ron House. In 2003, GTC inaugurated the New Play Initiative, a national contest to develop new plays. GTC's 2005 NPI play, Blake...da Musical!, won the Los Angeles Ovation Award for Best New Musical. GTC's 2006 NPI production of Straight Up with a Twist garnered an Ovation nomination as Best Solo Performance (and is currently running in NYC at The Players Theatre) and in 2007, GTC's NPI production of Film Chinois won the Ovation for Best New Play. Another NPI developed play, The Accomplices by Bernard Weinraub, premiered at The New Group and received a 2007 Drama Desk nomination for Best New Play. More at www.gtc.org. Director Cochran's past New York credits include the premieres of Lightin' Out at the Judith Anderson Theater, Offending Shadows at Ensemble Studio Theater and The Gospel According to Omaha at the William Redfield Theater.
- A Crooked Man by Richard Kalinoski will be read on June 16, 2008 at 7:00pm. Kalinoski's celebrated play Beast on the Moon opened Off-Broadway in 2005 at the Century Center Theatre in Manhattan, ran 120 performances, and was named one of five "must see" plays in New York by the New York Daily News. The play will be produced by Nora Armani and Pemart Productions, and directed by Linda Selman.
In this moving drama, a callow young man comes to grips with his grandfather's notorious past and discovers unexpected compassion and love on the roof of the old man's house. A Crooked Man was first read publicly at the Salt Lake Acting Company in 2003 as part of the theatre's Play Sounding Series. In 2004, it was chosen for an enhanced reading at the Dayton Future Fest. In 2006, it was read at Allianak Productions in Toronto and at New Repertory Theatre of Massachusetts. In 2007, it won the Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance's Paul Playwriting / Screenwriting Award and the Playwrights First Award. A Crooked Man opened in its first professional production in February of 2008 in Toronto. Subsequently it played in Spanish in Buenos Aires, Argentina in March of 2008. This is the New York premiere of the play.
Producer Nora Armani has a list of international theatre and film credits to her name. Her award-winning self-penned stage appearances as an actor/producer include: On the Couch with Nora Armani, Sojourn At Ararat (with Gerald Papasian), Nannto, Nannto and Snowflakes in April. These productions have toured internationally in their English and French versions over 4 continents garnering awards and accolades. She has also produced and curated numerous film exhibits and film festival screenings in London (at Ciné Lumière, ICA, Saddlers' Wells, British Museum), Paris (Pompidou Centre), Los Angeles (AFI, Silver Lake Film Fest.) and Washington, D.C. (The Kennedy Center) to name a few. Ms. Armani recently co-produced and launched the First Annual Noor Play Festival of Middle East themed plays at the Wings Theatre in New York, directing two of the plays in it. www.noraarmani.com Director Selman has written, developed, and directed numerous works including the Off-Broadway and Emmy Award-winning Bubbe Meises, Bubbe Stories; Tallulah Hallelujah! chosen one of the Ten Best Plays of the Year by USA Today; From My Lady's Diary: Marie Antoinette, a chamber-music drama at The Vineyard Theater; and Bunner Sisters, a stage adaptation based on a novella by Edith Wharton.
The TRU Voices Series encourages submissions from emerging and established producers who are interested in testing the waters with a new work, and offers an opportunity for them to forge relationships with writers. TRU also accepts submissions from writers and tries to match them with a sponsoring producer for the series. The TRU Voices Series track record is impressive. Shows that started in the series include Pied-à-Terre, which played off-Broadway at The Kirk, Theatre Row; The Great American Trailer Park Musical by Betsy Kelso and David Nehls, which enjoyed an off-Broadway run and is currently touring; and Normal by Yvonne Adrian, Cheryl Stern and Tom Kochan, which played a limited run in fall '06 at the Connelly Theater in the East Village starring Barbara Walsh. A finalist in the 2006 series, Missives by Garret Jon Groenvald, had a recent production at 59E59 Street Theatres directed by Elysabeth Kleinhans, and was well received and well reviewed; TRU was a proud co-producer with Animated Theatreworks and PlayGround.
TRU was founded in 1992 to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the business capabilities of producing organizations, individual producers, self-producing artists and other theater professionals. The company holds monthly seminars on a wide range of subjects important to theatrical producers conducted by panels of experts from both the commercial and not-for-profit worlds. TRU also publishes a print newsletter and a monthly email community newsletter. In addition, TRU served as the umbrella organization for a co-production by several of its member companies as a part of the first annual New York Fringe Festival. From that experience, the organization has expanded its production efforts by creating the TRU VOICES New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES New Musicals Reading Series. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute, to encourage the development of aspiring producers, and most recently created a Producer Mentoring Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar's National Foundation Association.
• What audience capacity do you need for the Equity contract you are using?
• Is sound and lighting included? Does your show require wing area or height?
• What insurance are you responsible for? Are there any additional expenses besides the basic rent?
• Does the space work simply for your concept, and did you remember to ask your director and designers before booking it? One size does NOT fit all.
•politically timely and / or racially sensitive plays;
•guidelines for producers for are making choices that may not be considered so safe;
•when and if these risks can pay off;
•how to market these event plays; and
•the fine line between relevance and exploitation.
The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm. Admission is FREE for members of TRU; $10 for non-members. To reserve a space at the panel or to become a member of TRU, please call 212-714-7628 or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com.
• The elements of a successful fundraiser;
• Cost-effective ways to generate donated income for your company;
• How to develop partnerships with charities to increase your donor base; and
• How to maintain an effective cost-to-profit ratio.
The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage.
Rocky from the Bronx Productions brings back the critically acclaimed show. Who exactly are Albanians and what does their culture look like to the outsider? Join Elza as she unravels the mysteries of the oldest people living in the Balkans. So old, they speak a language with no known root! Follow her story, that of a fiery, outspoken eldest daughter of four girls who grows up in a strict Albanian household where women's contributions are not only frowned upon, but practically non-existent. While coming of age, Elza must grapple with many other obstacles including body image issues, acne, bad 8o's music, mullets and having to hide shot guns in your underwear for special occasions. Follow Elza as she zig zags around the world (New York, LA, Montenegro, Miami, Albania) trying to escape her reality and establish her own identity amidst the restraints of her culture, finally discovering her own unique voice in a surprising place; the life and words of her great aunt back in Albania half a century ago. Elza's journey is that of a young woman held hostage by the past who tries to carve out her own distinct future while living on the cusp of two jarringly different experiences--- an ‘American' one filled with freedom, individuality and fun vs. a quintessentially Albanian world consumed with Islam, misogyny, and tradition. As she attempts to decipher the meaning of it all, enter her wild world filled with thick-accented Albanian guidos, arranged marriages and small arms… a world where you'd watch people get shot at weddings out of pure joy, where'd you roast your pet sheep "Ragush" for dinner, where "male" is the only gender tolerated, the wacky and exotic world of "Corn Bread and Feta Cheese: Growing Up FAT & Albanian. Vincent Marano directs.
This hard-bitten drama is directed by Robert Liebowitz, with production design by Broadway staffer, Mary Elizabeth MiCari and lighting design by Shaun S. Orbin. Rounding out the cast is Michael Ruocco, Mitch Poulos , and introducing Artie Mezzo as Michael age 11. Eric Fitzgerald is production stage manager. 8/12 @ 7:45 p.m., 8/15 @ 3:45 p.m., 8/17 @ 2:30 p.m., 8/18 @ 4:30 p.m. and 8/24 @ 10:45 p.m. The Players Theatre 115 MacDougal Street (south of West 3rd St.) SUBWAY: A, B, C, D, E, F, V to West 4th Street PARKING: West 3rd and MacDougal. Tickets: $15. For tickets visit www.fringeNYC.org or call (in New York) 1.212.279.4488 or (outside New York) 1.888.FRINGENYC
Cast features Cara Francis as Clare, Victoria Guth
In order to convince 'Mama' and 'Papa' Finkelstein his marriage will work, Irving convenices his shiksa fiance to perform in his parents favorite musical, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF in the most unlikely of places: the Good Shepherd Dinner Theatre in Sheayu, Missouri. Under the influence of a Bible-belting director who has cast a six-foot banko-playing Tevye, a Vegas showgirl, a cross-dressing revolutionary, and a former Miss Dairy Queen, Irving's perfectly concocted plans are doomed.Based on a true-ish story, TRADITION! is a hilarious, engaging play about family and standing up for love.
A series of panel discussions with leading theatre professionals of diverse backgrounds
The Conversations program begins with TONY Award-winning director/designer/choreographer/painter Geoffrey Holder on Sunday, October 9 at 4 PM. Holder, a noted raconteur, will share perspectives on the highlights of his considerable career.
The following Sunday, October 16 at 4 PM, is dedicated to musical lyricists and composers, including Masi Asare (The Judge's Wife), Myla Churchill (A Band of Angels), Gary William Friedman (The Me Nobody Knows), Edward Gallardo (Magpie), and Micki Grant (Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope).
"Writing Musicals, a Dialogue Between Generations," examines the processes involved in developing new American musicals and how these have evolved over the years.
The third and final Sunday afternoon, October 23 at 4 PM, titled "Leading Men of Color", features Rob Barnes (Jesus Christ, Superstar), Tony Chiroldes (The Capeman), Eric Anthony (Hairspray), Raun Ruffin (Civil War) and Jerome Lucas Harmann (Swing!).
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton – legendary names of stage, screen and scandal sheets....Twentieth Century Fox's "Cleopatra" – the most expensive film of its time: With Elizabeth Taylor in the starring role, the studio was happy to attract publicity regarding her hairstyles, jewels, acting and temper. It was not so happy when the publicity turned to gossip about her adulterous affair with co-star Richard Burton. The stuff that scripts are made of - as Liz and Dick curse and caress their way into history...
with book, music, lyrics and Musical Direction by Charlie Barnett
Choreography by Evan Knapp.