Theater Resources Unlimited Will Host TRU Community Gathering Via Zoom 'Is Australian Theatre Back To Business As Usual? And What Exactly Is That?'

A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is now in its fourth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings this Friday, having offered to date over 200 conversations and unlimited camaraderie since April 17, 2020. TRU hosts their Community Gatherings every Friday at 5pm ET via Zoom, originally presented to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of COVID-19, and now to ensure that these crucial conversations continue going forward as theater reopens.

7/12 - Is Australian Theatre Back to Business As Usual? And What Exactly Is That? In the room: Australian producer Neil Gooding (Back to the Future in London and New York, Holding The Man in London, UK productions of What's New Pussycat and Little Voice; Australian premieres of Gutenberg! The Musical!, Dogfight and 33 Variations and New York productions of Harmony, Islander, Church and State, Handle with Care, The 39 Steps); Nancye Hayes, member of the Order of Australia for services to the entertainment industry, legendary Australian actress, dancer, singer and choreographer/director and narrator, a leading figure in Australian musical theatre (starring in Sweet Charity, Chicago, Guys and Dolls, 42nd Street, Annie, My Fair Lady, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park, Follies and Australian productions of new work) as well as plays (Born Yesterday, Same Time Next Year, Stepping Out, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks and new work); Paul J. Hodge, an award-winning writer-composer from Brisbane (Clinton the Musical Off-Broadway, London, Edinburgh, Western Australia, JOH for P.M.; upcoming Martin Guerre); Jason Langley, an award-winning Australian director (The Hello Girls, The Production Company's revivals of Dusty, Brigadoon and The Boy From Oz at Melbourne's State Theatre, Australian tour of The Woman in Black, Wonderful Town at the Sydney Opera House) and actor (Australian premieres of Spamalot as Brave Sir Robin and Mothers and Sons as Cal) with thirty-two years in the theatre. A 14-hour time difference is the easy part. Australia and the US are worlds apart in terms of a career path in theater, the development of new works and the very business itself. What can we learn from each other? Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

UPCOMING:

7/19 - Abroad Perspective: The Potential for International Theater Partnerships. In the room: Chris Grady, producer, director at CGO Institute, fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, staunch networker; Martin Platt of Perry Street Theatricals general management, producer (Tony winner for Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike; also Dames at Sea revival, Bedlam's Hamlet/St. Joan, off-Broadway award winning In the Continuum and an oak tree; Lend Me a Tenor musical in London). After two years of shutdown dominated by zoom, like it or not we have entered an era of greater global opportunity in theater. And we have (hopefully) discovered colleagues beyond our national borders. Martin has produced both in the US and the UK, and can address the differences, plus some of the advantages (and challenges) of partnerships. Chris is actively engaged in current initiatives to foster stronger ties among producers, including a database to link producers from different countries as he puts his focus on international collaborations that generate opportunities to find what connects us all as human beings. With quarantine behind us, let's consider ways to broaden our horizons as we move our projects forward once again. Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

7/26 to be confirmed, but we promise we will have something of interest.

8/2 - Prison Breakthroughs: How Art Can Transform Lives. In the room: Leslie Lichter, executive director of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), a company that has run theater and other arts programs in 8 prisons in NY State (and expanding) for 27 years. We met and interviewed one of the RTA program facilitators a few months ago, TRU member Brent Buell, and learned how his experiences led to the newly released acclaimed film Sing Sing. Now we take a broader look at RTA, the breadth of their programs, and their mission to open people’s eyes to the humanity behind prison walls and to recognize the transformational power of the arts, and theater in particular. Their core program is a comprehensive in-prison arts program which teaches critical life skills. They also have a social reentry program which helps inmates focus on inevitable social and emotional issues, and they engage RTA members after their release, as they rejoin and thrive in our communities. We'll explore the challenges as well as the achievements of these invaluable programs. Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

8/9 - Free Introduction to our Producer Development & Mentorship Program. Open at 4:45pm ET, presentation will start at 5:15 sharp. In the room: Master class instructor Jane Dubin, producer (Is This a Room, Dana H., The Prom, Tony winning The Norman Conquests, Farinelli and the King, Bandstand, Peter and the Starcatcher and An American in Paris; plus off-Broadway Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, The 39 Steps, Ann) and Foundations instructor Blair Russell (Slave Play, Sweeney Todd off-Broadway). A free meet-and-greet info session about our Producer Development and Mentorship Program, the only theater production program to offer in-depth instruction from accomplished producers at an affordable price. The fall semester will start in Late September or October. Prospective applicants will have the opportunity to learn from and network with our commercial producer instructors. You will also meet and hear from successful program graduates at this Intro evening. Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

Check back at TRU's web page for future 2024 gatherings: truonline.org/tru-community-gathering. To receive the Zoom invitation for weekly meetings, email TRUnltd@aol.com with "Zoom Me" in the subject header. These gatherings are free for TRU members, non-members are asked to make an optional tax-deductible donation or consider joining TRU at truonline.org/membership to support the organization during these challenging times.

Videos of past Community Gatherings may be viewed on TRU's YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UC43rsChi4fA23dNLeloaF_A/. And a podcast series, TRU Talks About Theater featuring 2023 Community Gathering conversations is now available wherever you get your podcasts; or tune in at ElectraCast: https://electracast.com/?s=Theater+Resources

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-one year old 501(c)(3) 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, opportunities and productions; presents weekly Community Gatherings; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. TRU serves writers through the TRU Voices Play Reading Series, TRUSpeak: Hear Our Voices evening of short plays about social issues, Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Montage Foundation, The Storyline Project and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.