A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is now in its fourth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings this Friday, having offered to date over 200 conversations and unlimited camaraderie since April 17, 2020. TRU hosts these Community Gatherings every Friday at 5pm ET via Zoom, originally presented to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of COVID-19, and now to ensure that these crucial conversations continue going forward.

11/1 – It’s Just Us … A TRU Conversation about Alternative Paths of Development. In the room: Dani Davis(director of Elizabeth Coplan’s Grief Dialogues: The Experience; Emmy award-winning writer, Tony-nominated Broadway producer of Little Women and Lonesome West, critically acclaimed theater director, TV producer, and entertainment entrepreneur); producer Jane Dubin (Dana H., Is This a Room, The Prom, An American in Paris, Peter and the Starcatcher, Tony for The Norman Conquests; upcoming: Village of Vale); producer R.K. Greene of The StoryLine Project (Harmony, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Lightning Thief tour, Farinelli and the King, A Time to Kill, Cougar the musical, Room Service; upcoming: Beau the Musical). An open conversation with the room about the current state of theater. We’ll focus on thinking outside the box and beyond Broadway … the expanding tools for developing new work and how shutdown has changed the development model … how to be successful without raising millions of dollars and how to judge success … and general concerns about the future of our business. Click here to register and receive the event link.

UPCOMING

11/8 – Designs for a Living: Creating Sets and Building a Career. In the room: Beowulf Boritt, set designer (Tony Awards for Act One and New York, New York; nominated for The Scottsboro Boys, Thérese Raquin, Flying Over Sunset, POTUS; Obie Award for Sustained Excellence). Being a sought after designer in New York theater doesn’t just happen. Or does it? Meet a designer whose career came as a surprise, though hard work and lucky breaks certainly helped. We’ll talk about the steps along the way, and what distinguishes his designs. Surely a production must inspire a designer, but does a designer ever inspire a production? Is there a Boritt style or esthetic? We’ll also consider the dynamics of collaboration with a director and – more crucially – the other designers on a show. And we’ll look at how Borritt is “passing it forward” with his 1/52 Project that provides grants to early-career designers. Click here to register and receive the event link.

11/15 – How Many Black Female Producers Can You Name? Start with This One. In the room: Jamila Ponton Bragg (Pass Over, revival of Death of a Salesman, Tony nominated Fat Ham). She’s the founder of JamRock Productions LLC, a theater production company committed to works for women, about women and by women. She came to producing after 20 years in the not-for-profit world, and was the 2022 Prince Fellow at Columbia’s MFA theater program. How does her background influence her approach to producing, and what has fueled her journey and shaped her vision in a business that may not always feel welcoming? Commercial theater has become uncomfortably conscious of a dearth of BIPOC producers, particularly on Broadway. A momentary correction seemed to take place at the end of shutdown with a parade of black-led Broadway productions, including Pass Over, the first post-shutdown play to open (and Bragg’s first Broadway venture). Was this a blip, or did it open up meaningful opportunities for underrepresented voices to be heard? Click here to register and receive the event link.

More information about upcoming interviews is available at: truonline.org/tru-community-gathering.

To receive the Zoom invitation for weekly meetings, email TRUnltd@aol.com with “Zoom Me” in the subject header. These gatherings are free for TRU members, non-members are asked to make an optional tax-deductible donation or consider joining TRU at truonline.org/membership to support the organization’s ongoing service to the community.

Videos of past Community Gatherings may be viewed on TRU’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UC43rsChi4fA23dNLeloaF_A/. And a podcast series, TRU Talks About Theater, featuring 2023 Community Gathering conversations, is now available wherever you get your podcasts; or tune in at ElectraCast: https://electracast.com/?s=Theater+Resources

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-one-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.

TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, opportunities and productions; presents weekly Community Gatherings; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. TRU serves writers through the TRU Voices Play Reading Series, TRUSpeak: Hear Our Voices evening of short plays about social issues, Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Montage Foundation, The Storyline Project and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.

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