Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces Raising Money for Theatre 2026: Who, How and When to Ask, an annual workshop expanded to include people Zooming in from out of town, set for Saturday, January 24, 2026. Register here for more information. The price is $200 for non-members, $165 for TRU members.

The masks are off, live theater is back. Time to move your projects forward. It’s more important now than ever for the voices of theater to be heard so start moving ahead with passion, a plan, and an awareness of how to navigate our current world-in-transition. For producers, one important step will always be finding the money and resources to make it all happen. We invite you to acquire some basic tools and crucial information that will help you to overcome your money shyness, navigate the roadblocks, and effectively reach out to supporters.



From legal requirements and business planning to pitching techniques and presentation skills, plus a wealth of first-hand experience from a half dozen producers who are currently active in the Broadway and off-Broadway worlds, we promise you an informative, empowering and inspiring day.

Scholarships available if you can demonstrate financial need. Fill out the form here.

Workshop faculty will include:



Jamie deRoy, award-winning producer (14 Tony Awards®, 9 MAC Awards, 12 Drama Desk awards, 4 Audience Choice Awards, 11 Drama League Awards);
Jane Dubin (Is This a Room, Dana H., The Prom, Tony winning The Norman Conquests, Farinelli and the King, Bandstand, Peter and the Starcatcher and An American in Paris; off-Broadway Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, The 39 Steps, Ann; upcoming: Village of Vale);
Sharon Fallon/Sharon Fallon Productions, executive producer, general manager and consultant (Indecent, Beautiful Broadway, London & National Tour, Matilda The Musical, Lysistrata Jones);
Clare Feuille & Josh Dooley/Feuille Dooley Productions (Operation Mincemeat on Broadway; I Was a Teenage She-Devil, How Not to Fund a Honeymoon at Edinburgh Fringe);
Patricia Klausner, managing director Shotgun Productions, producer (upcoming London: Little Dancer; Broadway: Tony awards for Pippin and The Band’s Visit, plus Trip to Bountiful, The Scottsboro Boys, Stick Fly; off-Broadway: Clear…, Santa Claus Is Coming Out, The Chaos Theories, Don’t Hug Me);
Cody Lassen, producer (How I Learned To Drive, A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, Indecent, Spring Awakening revival).;
Plus entertainment attorneys Lee Feldshon and Eric Goldman.

SCHEDULE AND SPEAKERS (subject to change)

11:45am-12:00pm – registration and check-in

12:00 to 12:45 – “Commercial vs Not-for-Profit Asks: Defining the Differences” with attorney Eric Goldman.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, and new developments during the pandemic shutdown.

12:45 to 1:30 – “Commercial Financing: Formalizing Your Ask” with attorney Lee Feldshon. The required paperwork and structures at every level of development, from front money agreements to private placement to Federal filings. The limitations placed on asking. New paths to take during COVID-19, the impact of force majeure, and other current developments.

1:30 to 2:15 – “Cultivating Investors and Understanding the Basics” with Patricia Klausner and Jamie deRoy. Who to go to, what to talk about, how to present material, disclosures and much more. Identifying prospective investors is just the first step. How do you communicate your passion for a project, incentivize a prospect and close the deal? PLUS the business and hierarchy of theatrical producing: definitions of lead producer, co-producer, investors, and appropriate lingo, budgets, capitalization, and recoupment charts.

2:15 to 3:00 – “The Investor Perspective and Maintaining an Investor Pool” with Jamie deRoy and Patricia Klausner. Tips for closing with that investor prospect. How an investor’s interest in a project may differ from an associate producer’s, why they invest, and best ways to make your ask so it grabs their interest. And how to keep them loyal and supportive when things don’t quite go the way you hoped.

3:00 to 3:45 pm – BREAK (lunch?)

3:45 to 4:30 pm – “Thinking in the Long Term, and Keeping Your Investors Happy” with Sharon Fallon. Closing the deal is just the start – once you’ve brought on your investors you need to maintain their support. And that takes work. Also learn to think in the long term rather than looking at your budget step by step. Think ahead. Plan for success.

4:30 to 5:15 – “Practical Tips and Money-Raising Secrets” with Cody Lassen. Practical tips, tricks, and tools you can use to raise money and manage investor relations. From initial investor research through closing night and beyond, you’ll learn how to create a plan for managing the fundraising process that you can put to use right away.

5:15 to 5:20 – leg stretch

5:20 to 6:10 – “Finding Your Nerve and Making That First Ask” moderated by Jane Dubin, with Claire Feuille & Josh Dooley (Feuille Dooley Productions) and Sharon Fallon – an inter-active talkback. Followed by a Q&A with attendees.

6:10 to 6:30pm – breakout/networking

Panelists

Jamie Deroy, instantly recognizable for her silver hair and radiant smile, is an enduring force in New York’s cultural landscape, with a career spanning Broadway, cabaret, television, and film. As a co-producer on more than 160 Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, she has earned 14 Tony Awards. Current Broadway: Gypsy, Sunset Blvd, Once Upon a Mattress, Stereophonic, The Hills of California. Off-Broadway: My First Ex-Husband, The Light and the Dark, Mama I’m a Big Girl Now. Upcoming: Buena Vista Social Club, SMASH, Operation Mincemeat, Good Night and Good Luck, John Proctor is the Villian and Dead Outlaw. Her long-running Jamie deRoy & friends series has spawned nine albums and raised funds for causes like The Entertainment Community Fund and The Humane Society of New York. Jamie’s Telly Award-winning variety show has aired for 35 years. She has also produced for television, including the acclaimed documentaries Broadway: The Golden Age and its sequel, Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age. She is Emmy-nominated for her work at City/Arts. As an actor, she has had roles in films like GoodFellas and Raging Bull, and onstage with René Auberjonois in The Threepenny Opera and under Barry Manilow’s musical direction in The Drunkard. Her many accolades include nine MAC Awards, 15 Drama Desk Awards, numerous Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards, and was inducted into the MJHI Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame.

Josh Dooley – As a principle in Feuille Dooley Productions, Josh recently brought two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe (I Was A Teenage She-Devil and How Not to Fund A Honeymoon), with plans for bringing Relative Motion to London’s Southwark Playhouse in 2026. He is a co-producer on the Broadway Tony-nominated Operation Mincemeat.

Jane Dubin is a Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League Award-winning producer and the President of Double Play Connections, a theatrical production company committed to supporting the development of new work. Jane is a graduate of the CTI 14-week (NYC) and O’Neill (CT) Producing Workshops and Director of TRU’s Producer Development Master Class. Ms. Dubin is Chair of the Board of Houses on the Moon Theater Company; a past Board member of the League of Professional Theatre Women and was a Tony voter for seven years. She is a member of the Broadway Women’s Alliance, Off-Broadway Alliance, LPTW and Off-Broadway League. She serves as an evaluator for Bethany Arts Community’s residency program. She is a frequent panelist and guest lecturer on theater-related matters. Jane serves on the advisory boards of Elizabeth Mascia Child Care Center, Axial Theatre and Dirty Laundry Theatre. Jane has an MBA in Finance from NYU and was a partner in an investment advisory firm prior to her theater career. Upcoming productions: The Village of Vale – an original musical – June 27-29 at Adirondack Theatre Festival, NY. Just completed: Still, starring Melissa Gilbert and Mark Moses. Broadway: Is This A Room, Dana H., The Prom (Drama Desk Best Musical), Farinelli and the King (Mark Rylance), An American in Paris (4 TONY Awards, London, National Tour), Ann, (Holland Taylor) (Lincoln Center); Bandstand, Peter and the Starcatcher (5 TONY Awards); Norman Conquests (TONY). Other: Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, Beebo Brinker Chronicles (GLAAD Media Award); Groundswell, The 39 Steps; The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (London). Film: Radium Girls.

Sharon Fallon Productions, Inc. is an independent Theater Producer, General Manager, and Theatrical Consultant. Celebrating 20-plus years in the entertainment industry, working both in the commercial and non-profit theater industry, Sharon brings a unique perspective to her work. In 2015 she created a boutique theatrical production/general management company with a mission to bridge the gap between art and business allowing productions to be financially viable and artistically satisfying. Taking a holistic approach – from page to stage and everything in between – she works directly with early-career producers and artist-driven niche projects (showcases, readings, early development workshops, etc.) as well as on larger union and nonunion projects. In addition to producing commercially, Sharon served as the Associate General Manager of both the Helen Hayes Theatre and Lyric Theatre in New York. She has worked in the theater as an actress, director, general manager, managing director, and producer. Broadway credits include Indecent, Beautiful the Carole King Musical, Matilda the Musical and Lysistrata Jones. Currently, she is the executive producer on several projects in development. Sharon is a Board Member of NAMT, the National Alliance of Musical Theatres, and the co-chair Emiritus of the Festival of New Musicals Committee.

Lee A. G. Feldshon has over 25 years of experience in entertainment and corporate law. He launched his private practice, Feldshon Law PLLC, in 2018. He represents producers, co-producers, composers, bookwriters, lyricists, directors, and other creatives in the live theatrical industry. He represented the New York Musical Theatre Festival from its 2004 founding to its dissolution. He was production counsel for the Broadway revival of Pump Boys & Dinettes, and represented a Tony-award winning actor) in connection with the Tony-award winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. He represents the producers and/or authors of other live theatrical works including Stranger Sings! The Musical Parody, EPIC, Lizard Boy, Islander-A New Musical, Mozart-The New Musical, Dangerous-A New Musical, Who’s Your Baghdaddy? Or How I Started the Iraq War, Desperate Measures (2018 Drama Desk Awards for Original Music and Original Lyrics), Rooms, and others. He is also co-producing Austen’s Pride: A New Musical of Pride and Prejudice. He negotiates screenplay option/purchase agreements and financing documents for film producers, and has worked as film production counsel for Fly Away(SXSW Official Selection) and the documentary Darkon: An American Fantasy (2006 SXSW Audience Award). While Director of Legal Affairs and Business Development of the Radio City Entertainment division of Madison Square Garden, L.P., he worked on The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, A Christmas Carol, and Rockettesperformances. As a Levine Plotkin & Menin associate, he worked on Rent (Broadway, touring), The Wild Party(Broadway), De La Guarda (Off Broadway), and other shows. He started his career as a corporate associate at White & Case. In addition, he handles trademark and copyright registrations for clients, and represents talent management companies. He received a B.A. from Columbia College in 1991 (magna cum laude, Rhodes Scholar State Finalist) and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1994 (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar). Bar Admissions: New York.

Claire Feuille – As a principle in Feuille Dooley Productions, Claire recently brought two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe (I Was A Teenage She-Devil and How Not to Fund A Honeymoon), with plans for bringing Relative Motion to London’s Southwark Playhouse in 2026. She is a co-producer on the Broadway Tony-nominated Operation Mincemeat. She started as an actor, focusing on Shakespeare, andy training at Dartmouth, LAMDA, and the Powerhouse Theater Company at Vassar in Classical Acting. She branched into Sketch Comedy at UCB in New York, which lead to a deep love of comedy of all kinds! As a writer, she takes inspiration from historical fiction and classical plays with a passion for adaptation, using old stories to say something new. She brought a historical fiction cabaret to Edinburgh Fringe in 2022 Like Other Girls, a sensible roast of musical theater’s finest historical women.

Eric Goldman – For over 25 years Eric has provided legal services to Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award winning talent, and to technology and internet entrepreneurs. Recent projects include representing the writers of the Broadway smash hit Come from Away and the producers of the highly successful Off-Broadway musical parody of the television show Friends. Before launching his own firm in 2011, Eric worked for 15 years as a Senior Associate for entertainment attorney Mark Sendroff of Sendroff & Baruch LLP. Eric also served as in-house counsel for St. Martin’s Press and Hertz Computer. His first job out of law school was working as an associate for copyright guru Stanley Rothenberg. Eric is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and New York University School of Law.

Patricia R. Klausner has produced, written and assistant directed theater since 1990. While she has invested in many Broadway shows, she is credited as a Co-Producer on The Band’s Visit (Tony, Best Musical), Pippin (Tony, Best Revival), Trip to Bountiful, Stick Fly and The Scottsboro Boys; National Tours: The Band’s Visit, Pippin; and in London: The Scottsboro Boys. She is the Co-Executive Producer of the film Wakefield starring Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner. Other theatrical and business credits include Managing Director of Shotgun Productions/Global Arts Initiative since 1995, Managing Director of the Steps Beyond Foundation, General Manager of The Donald Byrd Dance Foundation (1996-1999), conceiver of the multimedia piece The Tides of Intolerance (The Asia Society, NYC, 1996), Director of Marketing for Steps on Broadway (2001-2018), editor of a weekly financial trade publication, and consultant for various cable television companies and arts businesses. She currently holds the position of Director of Investor Relations for a theatrical fund and is working as a lead producer on the new musical by Ahrens & Flaherty, Little Dancer, opening soon in London directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. She sat on the Board of Directors and is a past Vice President of Media Audit International and served as a Co-Director of Theater Resources Unlimited’s Producer Development Mentorship Program. Ms. Klausner has a Ph.D. in sociology and has taught women’s studies, race relations, and criminology at the University of Delaware and Montclair State College. She is a graduate of CTI.

Cody Lassen is a Tony-nominated theatre producer and live entertainment consultant. Broadway productions include Indecent, the Deaf West Theatre revival of Spring Awakening, and the revival of Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive. Recently off-Broadway A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet was the first new musical to open since the pandemic began. He has been part of the producing team for other Broadway productions including Tootsie, What the Constitution Means to Me, Torch Song, The Band’s Visit, Macbeth and Significant Other. Upcoming: the first revival of Titanic, The Flamingo Kid, Steven Sater & Duncan’ Sheik’s Alice By Heart and Burt Bacharach’s Some Lovers. In addition to producing his own projects, Cody consults for producers, theaters and agencies to help them discover how they should market their shows for the best chance of financial and critical success. Previously, he was the director of marketing for Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group and its three theaters: the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre. He is an active member of the Broadway League, the National Association of Musical Theatre, and serves on the Board of NY’s Vineyard Theatre. More info at codylassen.com

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-three-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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