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.

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.

UPCOMING

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? … Click here to read more, register and receive the zoom link.

11/21 – How in the World to Get Noticed: PR Strategies from the NY Festival Scene to the Edinburgh Fringe. In the room: Michelle Mangan, Edinburgh Festival Fringe publicist representing major Fringe venues as well as individual shows; Jonathan Slaff, NY-based publicist for the Dream Up Festival as well as cultural institutions, professional theater and dance companies, international cultural events and self-producing artists. Meet two publicists whose wheelhouses contain way more than theater. Are there special approaches to promoting a show in a festival especially when you have to get noticed in a field of dozens (Dream Up) or thousands of shows (EdFringe)? … Click here to read more, 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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