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/space-exploration/ 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 $12 ticket, making a donation or joining as a member.

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 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 barebones 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 https://truonline.org/events/space-exploration/ to register and receive the link.

UPCOMING:

5/15 – But Do the Songs Tell the Whole Story? The Challenges of a Concert Reading. In the room: Michael Colby, lyricist and musical playwright (Charlotte Sweet, TRU Voices winner Meester Amerika, Tales of Tinseltown, North Atlantic, Ludlow Ladd), president of Urban Stages., founding member of the original non-profit organization to develop new musicals, The Stuart Ostrow Musical Theatre Lab; Nico Juber, writer (Millenials Are Killing Musicals, Winner); Michael Roberts, award-winning off-Broadway composer, lyricist, author, musical director (Golf the musical, NY Fringe best musical The Fartiste, Goldstein, Greed; upcoming: London Swings). One of the (relatively) economical steps for the development of a new musical is the concert reading. But step carefully! … Click here for more info, and to register and receive the link.

5/22 – Happy Anniversaries! Two Theater Companies, and How They Are Celebrating. In the room: Emily Joy Weiner, co-founder and artistic director of Houses on the Moon, now observing a milestone 25th anniversary; and Ludovica Villar Hauser, founder and artistic executive director of Parity Productions, now reveling in its 10th anniversary. Meet two New York companies with community-centered missions: Emily’s company amplifies unheard voices and confronts social issues in order to unite communities through the sharing of untold stories, and Ludovica’s company promotes gender parity by empowering women, trans, gender-expansive, and intersex artists in theater… Click here for more info, and to register and receive the link.

More information about upcoming interviews is available at: truonline.org/tru-commun….

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/UC43…. 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: electracast.com/?s=Theat…

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 truonline.org.

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