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 nearly 300 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.

Click https://truonline.org/events/free-intro-to-pdmp-s26/ 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.

1/30 – Opening Up: US Theater Makers and the Global Scene. In the room: Teresa Eyring, former executive director of Theater Communications Group (TCG); Roberto Cayuqueo Martinez, leader of the new International Theatre Institute (ITI) center in Chile. Teresa returns from Teatro a Mil, a major international theatre festival in Santiago, Chile, to talk about the work and the conversations she experienced there. She and Roberto will talk about the development of this new center, including the central role of indigenous artists in its creation. Additionally, they will invite dialogue on possibilities for artistic collaboration across the Americas. ‎Click https://truonline.org/events/free-intro-to-pdmp-s26/ to register and receive the link.

UPCOMING

2/6 – Keeping Ahead of the Curves: Supporting the Future of American Theater. In the room: Josefina López​, writer of the film and Broadway musical Real Women Have Curves, and the founder of Casa 0101, dedicated to “nurturing the future storytellers of Los Angeles.” We’ll talk about her experiences both in film and on Broadway with the adaptations of her play, whether the productions adequately addressed the need for authentic voices in the room as well as authenticity on the stage. Were there compromises, and were there outside eyes that brought positive enhancements to her original work? How comfortable were the collaborations, and how does the creative process differ in collaboration versus from the isolated experience of writing? Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

2/13 – Designs for a Living: How Clothes Make the Character. In the room: Jeff Mahshie, costume designer for Broadway (The Little Dog Laughed, Next to Normal, Left on Tenth, revivals of She Loves Me and Kiss Me Kate) and off-Broadway (Babe, Good for Otto, Hurlyburly, Becky Shaw, Gruesome Playground Injuries, Marie and Bruce). Jeff started as a sportswear designer for Carmelo Pomodoro and went on to design for the likes of iconic Giorgio di Sant Angelo, the Italian house of Byblos, Chaiken and the legendary Halston. How did he find his way to theater design, and what was the transition like? … 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 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; 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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