A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is now in its fourth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings this Friday, having offered to date over 200 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 as theater reopens.

9/20 – Been There, Done It All, Seen It All: The Many Facets of Irene Gandy. In the room: Irene Gandy, publicist (starting in 1968 with Douglas Turner Ward and Robert Hooks’ Negro Ensemble Company; and now the only black female member of ATPAM with over 100 Broadway shows to her credit), producer (with Jeffrey Richards for over 3 decades: Tony winner The Gershwins Porgy and Bess, plus Lady Day at the Emerson Bar & Grill with Audra Macdonald, The Great Society, American Son, China Doll, Fiddler on the Roof and Tony winner You Can’t Take It With You revival), fashionista (with a collection featured in Vogue, and the Lady Irene Fur line) and winner of the 2020 “Tony Honors Excellence in Theatre” Award. Also board member of the Drama League which has created the Irene Gandy Assistant Directorship Program. We’ll talk about a life in theater and the specific challenges of being a black woman, and how that experience has evolved over a decades long career. Have her successes opened doors for others? What are her proudest moments? And how far have we come in theater in genuinely implementing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

UPCOMING:
9/27 – Actor, Director, Filmmaker, Activist: A Conversation with Tonya Pinkins. In the room: Tonya Pinkins, actress (Tony winner for Jelly’s Last Jam, nominated for Caroline, or Change and Play On!; Livia on TV’s All My Children), filmmaker (the Red Pill). Both versatile and volatile, Tonya will talk about the surprising directions her career has taken, her frustrations as well as her love of theater and what led her to branch out into directing and filmmaking. We’ll consider the efforts made to generate opportunities for greater equity and inclusion in theater, what (if anything) has improved, and what still needs to happen. Click here to register and receive zoom link.

10/4 – Accruing Fringe Benefits: The Edinburgh Experience and How to Work It. In the room: self-producing artist, actor-writer Clara Francesca (Making Marx at the Fringe, also Diva Therapy, 43 Stages of Grieving, Funny Guy); Chris Grady, UK producer, director at CGO Institute, fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts; Molly Morris, producer (Islander, Come from Away) and co-founder of Ghostlight Global; Blair Russell, producer (Pop Off, Michelangelo!, DIVA: Live From Hell!, Lizard Boy all at the Fringe, Sweeney Todd off-Broadway); Tom Smedes, producer (My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?), current Cabaret revival, Tony winner for Pippin revival, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Prom, Peter and the Starcatcher, Next Fall; upcoming: Sunset Boulevard revival). We’ll look at smart ways to approach being in the Edinburgh Fringe, what the costs are, the (perhaps) unexpected challenges, and what the experience is like for an artist; plus the producer’s view on the advantages of using Edinburgh for the development process, and in general how Edinburgh contributes to the life of theater on both sides of the Atlantic. Click here to register and receive zoom link.

Check back at TRU’s web page for future 2024 gatherings: 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 during these challenging times.

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-one 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; 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 evening of short plays about social issues, 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 Montage Foundation, The Storyline Project and 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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