Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces that the 2010 recipient of the "TRU Spirit of Theater" Award will be producer Patricia Flicker Addiss. Given to a member of the theater community who has demonstrated exceptional generosity of spirit, and a willingness to support emerging artists and producers, the award will be presented at the annual TRU Love Benefit on Sunday November 14 at Caroline's on Broadway, 1626 Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets, NYC. There will be a cocktail hour at noon with passed hors d'oeuvres, a three-course luncheon at 1pm followed by entertainment and the awards ceremony.
TRU will also present a TRU Humanitarian Award to Michael Presser, founder and artistic director of Inside Broadway, for producing Broadway's classic musicals in city schools, and passing down the legacy of America's musical theater to future generations. Appropriately, the theme of the benefit will be "Fulfilling Promises, Fulfilling Promise," with a nod both to Ms. Addiss' work as a co-producer of the Broadway hit Promises, Promises and her tireless devotion to nurturing young artists, as well as an acknowledgment of Mr. Presser's work in tapping the artistic promise of more than 30,000 school children each year, throughout New York City.
New this year is an award for a successful self-producing artist. The TRU Entrepreneur Award will be given to TEd Greenberg, a comedian and Emmy Award-winning writer for "Late Night with David Letterman," who parlayed his one-person show The Complete Performer from the Fringe into a two-year run at the Soho Playhouse, which is still going strong.
Besides Promises, Promises on Broadway, Ms. Addiss is currently represented off-Broadway with the long-running legend The Fantasticks. She has also been a producer on Little Women, Spring Awakening, Passing Strange, Bridge and Tunnel and the recent off-Broadway Housewives of Mannheim, to name a few. A former board member of Theater Resources Unlimited, Ms. Addiss was instrumental in the growth of TRU, a service organization created to educate and support producers, emerging theater companies, self-Producing Artists and anyone interested in learning the business of theater.
The Honorary Benefit Committee brought together to honor Addiss, Presser and Greenberg includes producer Judith Ann Abrams, media executive Janet Z. Barbash, publisher and entertainer Suzanna Bowling, author and entertainer Myra Chanin, executive coach Alisa Cohn, producer and reviewer Sandi Durell, educator Barbara Ziet Glickman, entertainment correspondent Magda Katz, producer Vasi Laurence, Snapple Theatre general manager Catherine Russell, Inside Broadway company manager Nicholas Sala, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter and gerontologist Merrill Stone. Entertainment will include songs and scenes from Addiss productions, as well as a performance by the students of Inside Broadway.
Tickets for the event will be $175 Premium Patron Level reserved seating on the first tier near the stage and $150 for Patron Level reserved seating on the first tier sides and second tier. Non-reserved General Admission tickets may be purchased for $100. Tickets are available through the TRU Store at www.truonline.org/store-new.html.
For inquiries about the event or to request a formal invitation package, email TRUnltd@aol.com or call 212-864-3753.
TRU was founded in 1992 to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the business capability of producing organizations, individual producers, self-Producing Artists and other theater professionals. The company holds monthly seminars on a wide range of subjects important to theatrical producers and artistic directors conducted by panels of experts from both the commercial and not-for-profit segments of Broadway, Off-Broadway and the motion picture industry. These educational forums have been a core program of TRU since its inception, and in recent years executive director Ost has partnered with Sherry Eaker to generate topics of interest to both TRU membership and Back Stage readers. "Through TRU, Back Stage is able to reach beyond its actor base to a wider theater community," said Ost, "and we get more visibility through the Back Stage connection."
TRU also publishes a monthly email community newsletter of services, goods and productions. In addition, TRU served as the umbrella organization for a co-production by several of its member companies as a part of the first annual New York Fringe Festival. From that experience, the organization has expanded its production efforts by creating the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings of new works for theater. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute, to encourage the development of aspiring producers, created a Producer Mentoring Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In March '08, TRU was associate producer of its first Equity showcase, Missives at 59E59 Theatre, a play that was developed in the 2006 TRU reading series. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition Event, Resource Nights and Speed Dating as well as free monthly actor event, including workshops.
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar's National Foundation Association.
For more information about TRU membership, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
