TRU and The Playroom Theatre to Host 'WHY SOLO SHOWS?' Panel

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) and The Playroom Theatre present the December panel Solo Performance: Why Solo Shows? Understanding the Appeal, Mining the Market, on Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. at The Playroom Theater, 151 W. 46th Street, 8th floor, NYC 10036. Doors open at 7 p.m. for networking and refreshments; roundtable introductions of everyone in the room will start at 7:30 p.m.. For more details visit truonline.org/events/solo-shows.

Panelists will include Broadway producer Michael Alden (Off-Broadway, Not That Jewish at New World Stages, Tony and Obie winning Sarah Jones' Bridge & Tunnel, Becoming Dr. Ruth, Not That Jewish, Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, Tony Award nominee for Grey Gardens and Disgraced); Kayhan Irani, Emmy-award winning writer, producer, and a Theater of the Oppressed trainer; Peter Michael Marino, co-producer/creator of SOLOCOMwhich has premiered over 270 new solo comedies at The PIT; Michael Wolk, Gorgeous Entertainment and the All-in-One Festival; Prudence Wright Holmes, writer/performer (Bexley, OH!! at NY Theatre Workshop, plus touring solo shows about Willa Cather, Agatha Christie, and Harper Lee).

The solo show is a mainstay of our theater culture, with festivals dedicated to this specialized form. From the literally thousands of one-person shows developed by writers and writer-performers, a few make it into commercial production. What elevates a one-person show and gives it commercial potential? What are the essential elements that come together to turn solo performance into effective storytelling, the dramaturgical principles that can elevate this to art? Some audiences are wary of the confessional and overtly personal nature of some one-person shows. Why is it worth overcoming our suspicion, why is the work uniquely valuable, where is the audience for it, and how do you command attention in this crowded market?

Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, roundtable introductions of everyone in the room will start at 7:30pm - come prepared with your best one-minute summary of who you are, and what you need. Free for TRU members; $15 for non-members at the door ($12.50 if you register in advance above), free for TRU members. Please register above, or call at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628, or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com.

The Playroom Theater, a small theater with a purpose on West Forty Sixth Street. Created by longtime theatrical producer Eric Krebs, The Playroom Theater features a 62-seat boutique theater, appropriate for rehearsals, readings, auditions, producers' presentations and workshop productions. Conceived of as an artists' workspace for writers, directors, composers, actors, producers and others committed to the professional theater arts and its industry. "The idea of The Playroom has grown out of my desire to create a small and financially manageable space in the heart of the theater district," commented Krebs. "I want this to be a place where industry professionals can pop over for a reading, a backer's audition or a small production of a work in progress." For more information on The Playroom Theater, call Frankie Dailey, General Manager, at 212-967-8278.

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 an email community 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, Resource Nights and "Speed Dating" as well as actor workshops.

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 Legislature and 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.