TRU Voices New Plays Reading Series to Kick Off with CATHARSIS

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces Catharsis, the first show of the TRU Voices New Plays Reading Series, on Monday, June 12, 2017 at 7pm at Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, NYC.

A "Dollars and Sense" talkback on the future development of the presented works will be held after each performance, and the prominent industry panelists are now announced.

Admission is free. Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) by calling 212/714-7628, or e-mailing TRUVoicesReservations@gmail.com.

The three selected works are as follows:

Catharsis - June 12, 2017 at 7pm

Written by Academy Award winning screenwriter and playwright Mayo Simon, directed by Carl Andress (world premieres of Charles Busch's critically acclaimed plays, The Tribute Artist, The Divine Sister, The Third Story, Judith of Bethulia, Cleopatra, Bunnicula, Queen Amarantha and Shanghai Moon, as well as the New York production Die! Mommie Die!); and produced by Filmus, Inc./ Ben Goldstein and associate producer Yoni Vendriger, featuring J.D. Taylor, Keira Keeley, and Amy Rutberg. Robert Gregory will narrate.

A violently funny dramatic comedy. A beautiful Greek island. A tacky hotel. A young married couple at each others' throats. It's kill or be killed in this fantasy of revenge, death and rebirth.

"Dollars & Sense" panel to include Jack DePalma, producer (PopNation, The Band Wagon) former Play Development Director at The Old Globe (The Whipping Man, Duncan Sheik's Whisper House, Leslie Bricusse's Sammy, The First Wives Club, Robin and the 7 Hoods), former Creative Director for NAMCO (Chicago, Annie Get Your Gun, Wonderful Town); Lawrence D. Poster/Asparagus Entertainment, producer (Rags, Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging, Fingers and Toes); Ron Simons, producer (Tony Awards for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Porgy & Bess and Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike; off-Broadway's Turn Me Loose, Bedlam Theatre's Hamlet/St. Joan); Frank Zuback, producer (Roof of the World, Taking Leave, American Soldier).

The series continues on June 19 and June 26, 2017.

Moonshadow - June 19, 2017 at 7pm

A romantic comedy by Bryan D. Leys, directed by Charles Abbott, former artistic director of Maine State Music Theatre, and presented by Sharon Weiss and Eileen B. Weiss of Tweiss Productions (Hell's Belles, Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking, Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging). Starring Broadway notables Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll and Hyde, Les Miserablesas well as Empty Nesters in a previous TRU Series) and Amy Bodnar (Ragtime, revival of Oklahoma!, off-Broadway's What We Wanted).

A '60s radical is in for a radical change. What happens when a Yippie agitator arrives in Buffalo to promote his new book? Will it just be another appearance at Barnes & Noble or will he rekindle a 30- year-old affair? Moonshadow is a comedy about recognition, resurrection and romance.

"Dollars & Sense" panel to include Peter Bogyo, general manager (The Trip to Bountiful, Stick Fly, Time Stands Still, The Blonde in the Thunderbird, Voices in the Dark, A Moon for the Misbegotten w/Kevin Spacey, Sly Fox w/Richard Dreyfus, Fortune's Fool, Madame Melville, The Unexpected Man); Patricia Klausner (Scottsboro Boys, Stick Fly, The Trip to Bountiful, Pippin revival); Daniel Kuney, Co-President of Jumpstart Entertainment (Rock of Ages, Fela!, Reasons to Be Pretty, 39 Steps on Broadway, The Homecoming, Talk Radio, Heathers, Altar Boyz, Dog Sees God, My Name is Rachel Corrie; Frank Zuback, producer (Taking Leave, American Soldier, Roof of the World).

Radio Galaxy - June 26, 2017 at 7pm

A new play by Michele Aldin Kushner whose 31 Bond was commissioned and produced by Brooklyn Lyceum and has had three shows in FringeNYC (Dear America, The Program and The Text of Sex); directed by Daisy Walker, assistant director of Jersey Boys (Broadway, national tour, regional), former artistic associate at Classic Stage Company. The producing team includes Jeanette Bonner, founder of Kelly's Pool Hall Productions & creator of Ghost Light: the Web Series and the upcoming series The Scoop; Jessica McCoy, who was associate producer of gUN COUNTRY at A.R.T./NY this spring and is associate producer of off-Broadway's upcoming The Crusade of Connor Stephens and producer of Night Tide at New York Musical Festival, her past productions include the Virginia regional premieres of The Motherf*cker With The Hat and Or, at Live Arts Theater, Charlottesville, VA; and Melissa Nally, associate producer of The Wrong Box and Morgan Street, plus shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

The stakes and potential risks of bone marrow donation and racial, cultural and class differences spark conflicts between the two families, and a 17 year-old science prodigy is caught in the middle. His newly discovered sister's life - and his dream - hangs in the balance.

"Dollars & Sense" panel to include Ken Cerniglia, dramaturg & literary manager for Disney Theatrical Group (High School Musical, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast Jr., Camp Rock, Newsies, Peter and the Starcatcher); Josh Goodman, (Tony awards for Pippin and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, also Rocky and Come From Away); Frank Zuback, producer (Taking Leave, American Soldier, Roof of the World).

The purpose of the series is to help develop new plays, help producers develop the skills needed to produce new works, and foster the producer-writer relationship for future development beyond the series. Each reading will be followed by a "Dollars and Sense" panel discussion with prominent New York producers, general managers and artistic directors focusing on potential venues, marketing and budgeting of the works presented.

According to TRU Literary Manager Cate Cammarata, "The TRU Voices Reading Series has been a recognized path of new play development. I am proud of our success in finding engaging new work and giving writers a crucial stepping stone to productions in festivals (About Face NYMF 2008, OPA! MITF 2008, Volleygirls NYMF 2013, Appendage in the First Irish Festival 2016), regional theaters (Saint Heaven at Stamford Center for the Performing Arts 2006 and The Village Theater 2008, Meester Amerika Garage Theater 2009, The Forgetting Curve Bridge Repertory Theater of Boston 2014, My Life is a Musical Bay Street Theater 2015), and Off-Broadway (The Great American Trailer Park Musical 2005, Pied-A-Terre 2007, The Assignment2017, Echoes of Octavia due 2018). I look forward to seeing our current winners move toward production as well."

Admission is free for everyone. But reservations are required. Please reserve at http://truonline.org/tru-voices (click for the show you wish to reserve), or call at least a day in advance for reservations: 212/714-7628, or e-mailTRUVoicesReservations@gmail.com.

TRU will next be accepting submissions for the 2018 TRU Voices Musicals Reading Series. For details, visit http://truonline.org/tru-voices-details-and-history/. Deadline for submissions will be in September 2017.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a twenty-four year old 501c3 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 a community email newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include the Annual Combined Audition plus Resource Nights and "Speed Dating."

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislatureand the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens; and with support from the Montage Foundation and the Friars National Association Foundation.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212 714-7628.