A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is in its sixth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings, having led over 300 consecutive conversations. The series has offered the theater community 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.

Click https://truonline.org/events/they-dont-write-em-like-they-used-to/ 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.

4/24 – Musicals: They Don’t Write ’em Like They Used to. But Should They? In the room: Skip Kennon, composer/lyricist (Herringbone, Don Juan DeMarco, Time and Again), former artistic coordinator of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and teacher for two decades; John Sparks, founder/co-director of the Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, former artistic director of ANMT/NMI, founder of WritersWorkshop at Theatre Building Chicago. Schmigadoon has landed on Broadway with a satirical splash, raising questions about some of our most beloved musical theater traditions. What can we learn from the so-called “Golden Age” of musicals? What aspects of those classic musicals are still relevant in today’s world? What is still worth emulating, or do we need a different musical vocabulary in today’s market? And what are the universal principles that still do, and perhaps always will, apply to an effective work of theater? Click https://truonline.org/events/they-dont-write-em-like-they-used-to/ to register and receive the link.

UPCOMING:

5/1 – Understanding (and Surviving) the Audition Process. In the room: actor/ singer/ producer N’Kenge (Motown the Musical, Caroline or Change; current: That’s Love! The Dorothy Dandridge Musical) and actor/ singer/ coach Josey Miller. Some actors think that self-taping is the main route to getting cast, which is good news for the selfie generation but daunting for others. Though we’re deep in an era of self-tapes, a career in theater still requires auditioning, both virtual and live. Yes, live auditions still are essential for getting hired in theater, which is welcome news for some actors, nervewracking for others. Two experienced theater pros will look at how auditions have evolved over the years, and how the process is very different for live versus virtual auditions versus self-tapes. Our guests will offer tips and insights about the varying skills that all serious actors need to understand and master. Click here to register and receive the link.

5/8 – Space Exploration: Lesser Known Venues Well Worth Knowing. In the room: Isaac Bush, co-executive director of the Brooklyn Art Haus & The MOUTH; Susanna Frazer, artistic director of the Morningside Theater Co.; Ildiko Nemeth, founder and artistic director and Shua Jackson, managing director of the New Stages Theater Company. We’ve all heard about theater spaces closing pre- and post-shutdown, but if you know where to look you can find some interesting low-profile spaces off the beaten track, still open and thriving. One of the most interesting spaces in Brooklyn is the Brooklyn Art Haus, located in Williamsburg, comprised of a fully versatile multimedia theater, rehearsal and podcast studios, a gallery and lounge, and a bar and restaurant called The MOUTH. On the other extreme are two intimate jewel boxes way uptown in Manhattan on the west side. Morningside Players is a bare bones open room in West Harlem, great for readings as well as full productions. And on 106th street near Central Park you’ll find hidden away the New Stages Theater Company, a well equipped small black box with a European vibe. Interesting spaces, all with the mission of offering opportunities for developing new works. Come learn more about them. Click here to register and receive the 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 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-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 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, Merrie L. Davis, Dunbar Hofmann Productions 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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