A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is celebrating its fifth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings this Friday, having offered to date over 250 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.
Register here to receive a 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.
8/8 – Making Music in Minnesota (and the Line between Musical Theater and Opera). In the room: Ben Krywosz, artistic director of the Nautilus Music-Theater. Founded in 1986 as The New Music-Theatre Ensemble, a program of the Minnesota Opera, Nautilus has grown into an essential platform and incubator for the creation, development and production of new operas and other forms of music-theater that are, in Ben’s words, “emotionally expansive, dramatically engaging, and spiritually stimulating.” Nautilus also offers multiple training opportunities for artistic growth including Performing Power classes for local performers, the annual Wesley Balk Opera/Music-Theater Institute for performers, directors and coaches (now in its 46th year), and a Composer-Librettist Studio (now in its 41st year), held in the Twin Cities, NYC (at New Dramatists), and other sites around the country. His Composer-Librettist Studios have facilitated over 1,750 collaborations between composers and writers since 1984. With his roots so firmly in opera, how far does he stray in his taste for musical theater? Just how different are these two art forms? And what are the secrets of successful collaboration? Click here to register and receive the zoom link.
UPCOMING:
8/15 – Where Do You Start: Do Different Countries Offer Different Paths of Development? In the room: Australian producer Neil Gooding (Broadway: Sunset Boulevard, Gypsy, Operation Mincemeat, Harmony; Back to the Future in London and New York, Holding The Man in London, UK productions of What’s New Pussycat and Little Voice; Australian premieres of Sunset Boulevard, Gypsy, Harmony, Operation Mincemeat, Gutenberg! The Musical!, Dogfight and 33 Variations and New York productions of Islander, Church and State, Handle with Care, The 39 Steps); UK producer Chris Grady, director at CGO Institute, fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts; US producer Martin Platt of Perry Street Theatricals general management (Tony winner for Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike; also Dames at Sea revival, Bedlam’s Hamlet/St. Joan, off-Broadway award winning In the Continuum and an oak tree; Lend Me a Tenor and 4 other productions on the West End, 16 touring productions in the UK), James Steel, UK general manager for new international products. We’ll talk about financing strategies in early stages of development, differing approaches to front money from country to country, comparative costs as well as the challenges and potential opportunities in different markets, with a focus on US, UK and Australia. Click here to register and receive the zoom link.
8/22 – Tips for Early Career Artists: Getting Your Work Out There and Getting Noticed. Facilitated by members of TRU’s Young Professionals and Artists Circle (YPAC): Camila Grunberg, business development representative at Aurie Consulting, and Jordan Richards, actor, writer, and director. In the room: Mêlisa Annis, award-winning Welsh playwright, director, and adjunct professor at NYU Tisch. Her work has been developed and presented by Playwrights Horizons, Primary Stages, The Lark, Rattlestick Theater, Paramount Theatre, ATF Theatre, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, The Wales Millennium Centre, Clutch Productions, BMG Music, Parity Productions, The New School, The Playground Experiment, Rosalind Productions, and more. Mêlisa will discuss her career trajectory, sharing how she has gained recognition and secured productions with leading American theater companies. She will also explore the role academia plays in building a successful career in theater and share her advice for early-career professionals. Click here to 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 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-two-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 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.