TRU Holds Writer-Director Communications Lab, 2/19

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents the TRU Writer-Director Communications Lab on Saturday, February 19, 2011 from 1pm to 7pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, Studio 3C.  If accepted into the lab, the cost is $75 ($60 for TRU members).  Writer applications are available at www.truonline.org/DirectorLabFeb11.htm. Interested directors may email TRUnltd@aol.com and attach a brief resume. The lab will be taught by producers Pam Koslow (Jelly's Last Jam, Jane Eyre, Yank!) and director Robert Kalfin, former artistic director of Chelsea Theatre (Yentl, Strider, Candide).
 
One of the most important - and most sensitive - relationships in theater is between playwright and director.  In some ways, the entire success of a show can hinge on the shared understanding, trust and mutual respect between these two artists.  TRU Executive Director Bob Ost explains, "The director and the writer need to see the show with the same eyes, otherwise their collaboration won't work.  This is important to establish in the initial meetings. TRU has created a brand new, experimental program that will train theater artists in the crucial skills of communication."
 
In this Lab, ten directors will be teamed with ten writers prior to the Lab itself. Playwrights will send a synopsis, pitch and production history, plus 3-5 sample pages of a script; directors will select a project from those submitted, then request and read the script and prepare for a preliminary guided director-writer discussion about the play.
 
Participants will:
· Discover personal communication styles;
· Learn to identify the style of the director and adjust to it for maximum mutual understanding;
· Explore non-threatening ways of discussing text, communicating and listening; and
· Identify domain of authority to determine protocols.
 
To apply as a writer, download the application from www.truonline.org/DirectorLabFeb11.htm and email to TRUnltd@aol.comwith 3-5 sample script pages from the project to be considered, pasting the script sample at the end of the application. Directors will choose projects; if playwrights are not chosen at this time, they will submit you for future labs.  The cost is $75 if accepted ($60 for TRU members).
 
Pamela Koslow co-produced YANK! the musical at the York Theatre (nominated as best musical of the year by the Outer Critics Circle and the Lucille Lortel Award) and JANE EYRE THE MUSICAL at the Brooks Atkinson Theater in NY.  Her additional Broadway credits include the Tony® Award-winning musical JELLY'S LAST JAM written by George C. Wolfe and starring Gregory Hines.  Ms. Koslow produced FLOATING RHODA AND THE GLUEMAN written by Eve Ensler, author of the long-running and internationally-acclaimed VAGINA MONOLOGUES. She served as executive producer for HANDSHAKE, a new American play premiered off Broadway in Manhattan and was a producing consultant for THE HENRY PROJECT, based on the music of Henry Mancini, conceived and directed by Otis Sallid.  Other producing credits include CAPTAIN LOUIE, based on the children's book by Ezra Jack Keats, music by Stephen Schwartz, presented at The York Theater in Manhattan., SMART ALECK, MONA ROGERS, and HOW I GOT THAT STORY.  Pam has served on the boards of Manhattan Class Company, Second Stage Company, American Tap Dance Foundation and New York Theater Barn.
 
Robert Kalfin, founder of New York's Chelsea Theatre Center, (winner for its work of five Tony Awards, four Tony nominations and 21 Obie Awards) has directed more than 200 productions and workshops in venues on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in major American regional theaters, internationally in Europe, the Middle East and as far abroad as Siberia.  Broadway productions include STRIDER, YENTL [starring Tovah Feldshuh], TRULY BLESSED, and HAPPY END [starring Meryl Streep and Christopher Lloyd], and as Co-Producer with Harold Prince of the Chelsea production of CANDIDE.   His PBS televised production of THE PRINCE OF HOMBURG starring Frank Langella is now available on DVD.  Other representative productions include OUTWARD BOUND for the Keen Company, [nominated for two Drama Desk Awards]; OTHELLO for the Cornell Schwarz Performing Arts Center; Israel Zangwill's THE MELTING POT and Eugene O'Neill's ANNA CHRISTIE for the Metropolitan Playhouse; the off-Broadway production of William Mastrosimone's A STONE CARVER; and Brecht's LIFE OF GALILEO at the NYU Skirball Performing Arts Center. Subsequent productions of MARIE ANTOINETTE: THE COLOR OF FLESH and A BRUSH WITH GEORGIA O'KEEFFE played off-Broadway for six months in alternating repertory.  Other work includes the Mirror Repertory Theatre Production of THE SHANGHAI GESTURE, TO PAY THE PRICE, at the Mint Theater and A CABLE FROM GIBRALTAR at Medicine Show Theatre. The book Chelsea On The Edge details Mr. Kalfin's contributions to the American Theater.
 
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.   This month's topics include Funding: The Current Crisis on January 20th and New Models of Success: The Commercial/Not-for-Profit Partnership on Thursday evening January 27th. Details can be found at www.truonline.org/currentpanels.htm

TRU also publishes a monthly email community newsletter of services, goods and productions.  In addition, TRU produces 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 Development 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 events, including workshops; TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a new Director-Writer Communications Lab.
 
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.