Theater Resources Unlimited Announces Free Introduction To TRU's Producer Program

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces a Free Introduction to TRU's Producer Program on Wednesday, August 22, 2018 from 6pm-8:30p mat Clinton Cameo Studios, 307 W. 43rd Street, NYC. Tickets are free but space is limited - only ten spots remain! RSVP at https://truonline.org/events/introduction-to-pdmp/.

On August 22, TRU will host a free meet-and-greet info session about their Producer Development and Mentorship Program (PDMP). Prospective applicants will have the opportunity to learn from and network with our Broadway producer instructors: Jana Robbins, who runs the Basic Class, and Jane Dubin & Rachel Weinstein who run the Master Class which is open to graduates of Basic Class, and a limited number of producers with a high level of experience. (Due to a scheduling conflict, Basic Class instructor Erin Craig will not be at the event.) Participants will also meet and hear from successful program graduates.

PDMP's purpose is to give members the knowledge and resources to become commercial theater producers, non-profit theater producers and/or self-Producing Artists. (There may come a time in every theater artist's life when you need to self-produce a show and create your own opportunities, and PDMP aims to provide the tools for that occasion.) Our program teaches necessary skills such as developing a business plan, raising money, marketing and putting together creative production teams. For more information, here is the link to the full program description, and application. (Note: a revised curriculum is still being formed.)

PDMP is the only theater production program to offer such in-depth instruction from accomplished Broadway producers at such an affordable price. TRU's Basic Class meets one evening of each month for 10 months, and the cost last year was $295 ($29.50/class), though prices for next year are not set yet. There will be limited discount "scholarships" for college students and recent grads. The informational session on August 22nd is completely free. Reserve using the red ticketing box at https://truonline.org/events/introduction-to-pdmp/ Master Class costs $425 for 9 sessions, and has a highly competitive submission process. Email TRUMentor@gmail.com for more details.

SPEAKERS

Jana Robbins is the recipient of the 2017 TRU "Spirit of Theater Award"and is both a Broadway actor and producer having played leading roles on Broadway in Good News, I Love My Wife, Crimes of the Heart, Gypsy (playing the "bump it with the trumpet stripper Mazzeppa while covering Tyne Daly as Mama Rose) and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (covering both Linda Lavin and Michele Lee and starring opposite Valerie Harper in the National Tour). Jana founded Better World Productions in order to "present theater that not only entertains, but also educates; and inspires us to create a Better World. She made her Broadway producing debut with Little Women. Other Broadway producing credits include the revival of Ragtime and a financial stake in War Horse and Something Rotten (currently on National Tour). Off-Broadway productions includes I Love You Because, Through The Night andWhite's Lies. She's also a producer on Marianne Elliot's Heisenbergand the upcoming Company in London this season. Shows in development include: Roof of the World (World Premiere at KC Rep), The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit (developed at The Workshop Theater) and The Jazz Age (World Premiere at 59/E59th) slated for a London production spring of 2019. For more info: www.janarobbins.com

Jane Dubin is a TONY Award-winning producer and the President of Double Play Connections, a theatrical production and management company committed to supporting emerging artists and playwrights in the creation and development of new works. Jane is a graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute's 14-week (NYC) and O'Neill Center Intensive (CT) Producing Workshops and past Director of Theater Resources Unlimited's Producer Development Program, and current Director of the program's Master Class. Current: Bandstand, An American in Paris (4 TONY Awards) now on Tour and in London, Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey (on Tour). Upcoming Broadway: Farinelli and the King, starring Mark Rylance (opening in December), Fingersmith. Previously: Peter and the Starcatcher (Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tour), winner of 5 TONY Awards; Ann, starring Holland Taylor (Lincoln Center); The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (London); The 39 Steps (OB, Tour); The Norman Conquests(TONY Award, Best Play Revival), Groundswell (The New Group), Beebo Brinker Chronicles (2008 GLAAD Media Award for Theatre). Other: OPA! at TBG Theatre (Best Commercial Production, MITF 2008), Take Me America (Best Musical, MITF 2007), Count Down, (Bank Street Theatre) and the one-woman show that started it all, MentalPause by Margaret Liston. Ms. Dubin is a full member of the Broadway League. She is Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Houses on the Moon Theater Company and a Board member of the League of Professional Theatre Women. For two years she was co-curator of the Hudson Valley Writers' Center New Play Reading Series. She co-produced Hudson River Rising, presenting events for One Billion Rising (V-Day) 2013 and 2014. She was a strategic consultant to SPACE on Ryder Farm, an artists' residency in Brewster, NY and a member of the Grand Jury for NYMF's 2015, 2016 and upcoming 2017 seasons.

Rachel Weinstein is a Broadway producer with over two decades of experience in professional performing arts management. Rachel began her career in the not-for-profit sector holding leadership positions at theatre companies around the globe including: Roundabout Theatre Company (New York), Donmar Warehouse (London), Writers' Theatre (Chicago) and The Old Vic (London/New York). In 2012, Rachel segued to the commercial side of the business producing for Broadway. Her producing credits include: The Heiress (starring Jessica Chastain), the Pulitzer-prize winning Disgraced, Hughie (starring Forest Whitaker), the world premiere musical of An American in Paris, which is currently enjoying a US National Tour as well as a West End production and Farinelli and the King (starring Mark Rylance), which is scheduled to open on Broadway in December 2017. Rachel is also an Associate Producer of the Tony Award-winning musical, Dear Evan Hansen, which is currently playing on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre. Rachel is a graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute's 14-week Intensive (New York) and a former member of TCG's National Council for the American Theatre.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a twenty-five 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.

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