The first annual Joel and Phyllis Ehrlich Award for a socially relevant new work of theater will be awarded to one of the four plays being showcased in June as part of the TRU Voices New Plays Reading series, announced Bob Ost, President of Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU). The winner of this newly created award will be announced on June 26, at the conclusion of the series, and will be given to a play that reflects on a current issue within our culture (regardless of the time period of the play itself).
The award is named for Joel and Phyllis Ehrlich, driving forces in the entertainment world. Joel was Senior Vice President at Warner Bros. and Senior Vice President at Marvel Entertainment. He has been named New York State Teacher of the Year and won the prestigious Brandweek Magazine's Youth Marketer of the Year award. He is now president of The Harmony Entertainment Group, developing and producing a wide variety of exciting projects in New York City and around the country. Phyllis is an award-winning cable television writer and a Senior Vice President for the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim TV Network. The husband-and-wife team has recently started collaborating as theater producers and developers of new talent. "We are excited about helping TRU nurture and encourage serious new works for theater," states Phyllis.
The TRU Voices Play Reading Series is unique in that it seeks to develop new producers as well as new works, and the Ehrlich award will be given to both the writer and producer of the selected play.
Producers in the TRU series come from all levels of experience, from first-timers to those with off-Broadway and Broadway credits, as demonstrated in the current series. The series opens Monday June 4th with To Barcelona! by Michael Niederman, produced by newcomer Sarah Melissa Rotker, directed by Elyzabeth Gorman. Monday June 11th brings a more high-profile team: The Jesus Hickey by Luke Yankee (son of the late great legendary actress Eileen Heckart), produced by Jack W. Batman, whose Broadway credits include Enchanted April, and who is just coming off of producing the 2007 Gayfest Series. The play will feature Broadway and TV star Frances Sternhagen, and is directed by Casey Childs, the founding artistic director of Primary Stages. Monday June 18th shines with Sparks by Helen Sheehy, produced by Pat Addiss, whose Broadway credits include Little Women, Bridge & Tunnel and Spring Awakening; she is partnered with producer-director Ludovica Villar-Hauser who has been represented off-Broadway with the long-running hit The Countess and Duet. The final play will perform Monday June 25th: The Ibsen Follies by Skot Davis, produced by RK Greene and The Storyline Project LLC, recently represented off-Broadway with the comedy hit revival of the classic farce Room Service.
All performances will be at The Players Theater, 115 MacDougal Street, New York beginning at 7 PM and each will be followed by a "Dollars and Sense" panel featuring prominent commercial producers, artistic directors and general managers discussing the play and giving advice to its producers. Scheduled panelists include commercial producers Ken Davenport (Altar Boys, Awesome 80's Prom), Pam Koslow (Jelly's Last Jam, Jane Eyre), Jennifer Manocherian (Adrift in Macao, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Caroline or Change, Stomp); Dan Markley (High Fidelity, Damn Yankees revival, Stomp, Vagina Monologues, Shockheaded Peter), Cheryl Wiesenfeld (Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, The Exonerated, Caroline or Change, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Legally Blonde); general managers Peter Bogyo of the Sprecher Organization (Sly Fox w/Richard Dreyfus, Fortune's Fool, Madame Melville, The Unexpected Man), and Ricky Stevens (Radio Golf); and not-for-profit leaders Elysabeth Kleinhans of 59E59, artistic director of Animated Theaterworks, James Morgan, artistic director of the York Theatre Company and Michael Parva, artistic director of The Directors Company.
TRU was founded in 1990 by award winning playwright/composer Ost, his writing partner Gary Hughes and playwright Cheryl Davis, who was a 2005 recipient of the prestigious Kleban Award for her libretto of the musical Barnstormer. The organization was created by this trio of writers to help producers and self-producing artists strengthen their understanding of the business side of the arts. Many of the productions and actors in the TRU Voices Play and Musicals Reading Series have achieved subsequent success, including The Great American Trailer Park Musical and nor'mal.
