A dependable haven for theater professionals, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is in its sixth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings, having led over 300 consecutive conversations about aspects of the arts. The series has offered the theater community information, inspiration and unlimited camaraderie since April 17, 2020. TRU hosts these gatherings every Friday at 5pm ET via Zoom, originally presented to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of shutdown, and now to ensure that these crucial conversations continue going forward.

Click https://truonline.org/events/fringe-benefits-26/ 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.

6/5 – Accruing Fringe Benefits ’26: The Edinburgh Experience and How to Work It. In the room: Catherine Lamm, director, audition coach, dramaturg and Edinburgh Fringe reviewer for the British Theatre Guide; Michelle Mangan, Edinburgh Festival Fringe publicist representing major Fringe venues as well as individual shows; Samantha Streit, Fringe solo actress (Letters to Joan, returning this year). Catherine started attending and reviewing at the Fringe in 2001 and has been helping artists navigate this opportunity for most of these years. Michelle has been a publicist with EdFringe for over ten years. Samantha debuted in the Fringe last year and will talk about finding a commercial producer who is bringing her back this year. An in-depth 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. Click https://truonline.org/events/fringe-benefits-26/ for more info, and to register and receive the link.

PANELISTS:

CATHERINE LAMM is a senior critic and feature writer for the British Theatre Guide and has covered the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for more that 25 years. She was former literary manager & casting director of TRU, is a director and coach who has trained with the Royal National Theatre, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, and the American Film Institute. She was formerly the casting director for the Chelsea and West Side Theaters. Catherine was also a feature writer and critic for Stage Press Weekly. A veteran theater professional, she has worked with The Players’ Guide, Samuel French, and Broadway producers Mordeccai & Associates, and is a dramaturg/literary consultant to various NYC-based theatre companies and producing organizations. A professional actor with Off Broadway and West End credits, Catherine is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience with actors, playwrights and other theater professionals and emerging artists. www.catherinelamm.com

MICHELLE MANGAN has managed communications and PR for Traverse Theatre, Citizens Theatre, SHEDINBURGH Fringe Festival, Summerhall, Royal Lyceum Theatre, French Film Festival UK, Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival, DANCE:FILM Festivals, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, EMI Music, National Theatre of Scotland, Outsiders Film Festival and Virgin Records amongst others. For over 15 years she has promoted successful venues and work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and spent four years as Senior PR and Marketing Manager for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society. She is on the Board of Trustees for Scottish Documentary Institute.

UPCOMING:

6/12 – Putting It Together, and What It Costs: Tips for a Successful Reading of Your Musical. Moderated by Cheryl L. Davis, co-founder and VP of TRU, award winning playwright-librettist-lyricist. In the room: the creative team for the upcoming reading of Unzipped in the TRU Voices New Musicals Reading Series: producer R.K. Greene of the Storyline Project (Beau the musical, Fifth Avenue; previous: Harmony, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Lightning Thief tour, Farinelli and the King, A Time to Kill, Terms of Endearment, Cougar the Musical, Room Service); co-composers/librettists/lyricists Eva Margolies and Douglas J. Cohen; and off-Broadway director Debra Whitfield. A look at the steps and rules of putting together a staged reading of a new musical, the pluses and minuses of a live reading versus a virtual reading. Plus the development history of Unzipped, the selection process for the TRU Voices series, adapting for a 90-minute presentation, casting and the rehearsal and prep for the presentation. Click here to register and receive the link.

6/19 – Which Way to Go? Producing Paths, Commercial and Not-for-Profit. In the room: TRU Master Class instructor Jane Dubin, producer (Is This a Room, Dana H., The Prom, Tony winning The Norman Conquests, Farinelli and the King, Bandstand, Peter and the Starcatcher and An American in Paris; plus off-Broadway Still, Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, The 39 Steps, Ann) and b0ard co-chair of Houses on the Moon. Equally at home in both the commercial and not-for-profit worlds, Jane will share insights about the spectrum of possibilities when developing new works. That includes identifying the best environment for a show and coming up with a plan to get you there. Bring your questions about producing – this will be an open forum for Q&A. Click here to register and receive the link.

More information about upcoming dates 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, Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Comley, 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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