Stark Sands to Preview KINKY BOOTS Song at 2012 TRU Love Benefit, 11/11

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) has announced that Stark Sands, star of TV (Six Feet Under), movies (Pack of Dogs, Shall We Dance) and stage (American Idiot, Tony nominee for the Broadway revival of Journey's End) will be offering up a preview of the new incoming musical Kinky Boots by Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein at the 2012 TRU Love Benefit. The event will be held Sunday, November 11th with cocktails and hors d'ouevres at noon, luncheon at 1pm and performances at 2pm. Attendees will get a preview of a new Broadway song as well as a new venue: it all takes place at the wild and notorious Lucky Cheng's, which only just recently opened its new branch at 240 W. 52nd Street in New York's theater district.

Now in its 21st year as a not-for-profit service organization, TRU recognizes one of their own by presenting the 2012 TRU Spirit of Theater Award to Van Dean in recognition of his rise from first-time producer in the TRU Voices reading series in 2005 (Saint Heaven) to a current Tony Award winner (Porgy & Bess) and prolific Broadway producer and creator of The Broadway Consortium, a new investment model that helped bring Bonnie & Clyde, Chinglish, revivals of Evita and The Best Man and more to the Broadway stage. TRU will present the annual TRU Humanitarian Award to Broadway director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, Legally Blonde and the upcoming Cyndi Lauper musical Kinky Boots) for his selfless work and passionate, generous spirit as the creator of Broadway Bares, raising over 9.9 million dollars for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. This year's TRU Entrepreneur Award will be given to Edith O'Hara in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 13th Street Repertory Company, which for four decades has provided a valuable first home for so many artists who move to New York to pursue theater.

Stark Sands will be joining a stellar lineup of stars headed by Andrea McArdle (Annie, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, State Fair), as well as an array of talent that has appeared - or is appearing - in Dean and Mitchell productions. Laura Osnes will sing a song from Dean-produced Bonnie & Clyde as well as the upcoming first ever Broadway production of Rodger and Hammerstein's classic Cinderella; Kerry Butler (Xanadu, The Best Man) will be featured in her star turn solo from Catch Me If You Can, which Dean produced and Mitchell choreographed; Celina Carvajal (Disney's Tarzan) will be singing a song with composer Paul Scott Goodman from his musical Rooms: A Rock Romance, Dean's first off-Broadway venture before forming The Broadway Consortium; Tanesha Ross (Hair) and Darren Ritchie (Wonderland) will sing a duet from Saint Heaven, Dean's very first musical production which he found through the TRU Voices New Musicals Reading Series; Lauren Zakrin (Legally Blonde, Wicked) and D.B. Bonds (Legally Blonde, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Last Five Years, associate director of incoming Kinky Boots) will be recreating their roles of Elle and Emmett in Legally Blonde, which Mitchell directed and choreographed; and young Isabela Moner (Evita) will be singing a song from Dean-produced Evita.

The event promises a few more firsts, with a kick: Lucky Cheng's and sponsor Absolut Vodka have created special cocktails named for the honorees. Attendees will be the first to sample the Vandini, the Cherry Mitchell and Mama Hare's Tea.

The event will include a Silent Auction whose more than 60 items include a weekend stay at the Trump International Hotel in New York; VIP tickets to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; and tickets to Kinky Boots, Evita, War Horse, The Anarchist, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Peter & the Starcatcher and much more; plus over 50 gift items and services. Bidding will start Friday 11/9 online, and continue at the event itself; items that do not reach their guarantee bid will continue bidding online during the following week. For information about being a bidder, email TRUAuction@gmail.com. The proceeds from this event directly benefit the programs of Theater Resources Unlimited, a not-for-profit service organization that educates people in the business of the arts, with a focus on producers, emerging theater companies and self-Producing Artists. Programs include monthly panels, workshops, a Producer Development and Mentorship Program, a new plays and new musicals reading series and a community e-newsletter of jobs, services, resources and theater events.

Tickets for the event are $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. Details are available at www.truonline.org/TRULove12.htm, and tickets are available through the TRU Store at www.truonline.org/store-new.html.

For inquiries about the event, email TRUnltd@aol.com or call 212-714-7628. For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.

Pictured: Stark Sands and Billy Porter in KINKY BOOTS. Photo Credit: Sean Williams.