A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is celebrating its fifth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings, having offered to date over 250 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.

Register here to receive this Friday’s Zoom link. These gatherings are a service for the theater community and are offered free for TRU members; non-members may also attend for free, but we ask that non-members help keep us running by buying a ticket, making a donation or joining as a member.

10/24 – East Meets West: Cultural Differences and Common Ground. In the room: Neeraja Ramjee, New York based actor & producer originally from Bangalore India, working in film, TV and theater; and Rudaba Zehra Nasir, a Manhattan-based, conservatory-trained actress, writer, and singer originally from Lahore Pakistan. We’ll consider the rich cultural heritage of Neeraja’s native India and Rudaba’s Pakistan, and some of the performing arts modalities that are unique to South Asia. Most of us know Bollywood and popular film influences, while many other performance forms are perhaps unfamiliar to us. Have eastern and western cultures cross-pollinated over the years? What are the influences and inspirations that have shaped South Asian art, and are they different from what influences and inspires artists in our western culture? In what ways might British colonialization of India and Pakistan have changed their heritage? And how have our guests’ heritages shaped them as artists? Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

UPCOMING

11/7 – Is the Broadway Musical Doomed? Yet Again? In the room: Peter Filichia, Broadway Radio correspondent, writer and historian of the American musical theater; Cody Lassen, Tony-nominated producer (How I Learned To Drive, A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, Indecent, Spring Awakening revival) and live entertainment consultant; Ben West, musical theater artist and historian, and the author of The Musical Theatre Report. Two recent articles in the New York Times bemoaned the hopeless economics of commercial theater, and pretty much tolled the death knell for the Broadway musical. Statistics do seem dire with a recent parade of 20 million dollar blockbusters gone bust and closing at 100% loss, and audience attendance is still not at pre-shutdown levels. The truth is, theater itself has been viewed as a “fabulous invalid” since George Kauffman’s flop comedy coined the term in its title. In 1938. In an article in his Musical Theatre Report, guest Ben West cites three articles expressing concern about the future of theater by critics in various decades of the 20th century. So here we are again, and currently with union strikes looming ominously. How has the musical managed to survive despite the predictions? Do we need a new model for producing, and what might that look like? And why is this unique form of theater so important? Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

11/14 – Crossing the Cultural Boundary: Can We Write Authentically about People Other Than “Our Own”? In the room: Lynnie Godfrey, actress, singer, dancer, director, producer, dramaturg/sensitivity consultant and president of the League of Professional Theater Women; Celeste Bedford Walker, published and produced Texas playwright focusing on historical moments that illuminate the African American experience; Ellen Clarkson, Brooklyn based playwright. Two writers – one black, one white. Both are writing plays about the culture of black America, and they are working with a consultant to help them get it right. Writers have often been told to “write what you know” and “stick to your own experiences,” but must we be limited to whites writing white characters and blacks writing black characters? Isn’t it the job of an artist to explore humanity in all its many forms? Yet in these sensitive times the sin of “cultural appropriation” is verboten. In the past decade when black artists and “other” voices are finally starting to be heard, it has become nearly impossible for writers to cross cultural lines and still be produced. Must an artist be limited to playing in their own sandbox? Might they not bring objectivity and insight to sensitive subject matter beyond their own experience? Isn’t that what artists do? Though the optics remain troublesome, there may be ways around this conundrum. We will explore them. Click here to register and receive the zoom 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-two-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 about the arts, and monthly Town Halls about current social issues; 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 (adapting short plays into films), 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 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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