TRU Hosts Panel 'Artistic Director vs. Commercial Producer' Tonight

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces the February panel Artistic Director vs. Commercial Producer: The Blurred Line Between Art and Commerce tonight, February 19, 2014 at 7:30pmat The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, Mainstage Theatre, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, presentations and roundtable introductions start at 7:30pm (come prepared with your best half-minute summary of who you are, and what you need).

Guests will includeproducer Bill Franzblau(Tony Award nominee for Say Goodnight Gracie, American Buffalo revival, Wonderland; off-Broadway: Evil Dead the Musical, Jewtopia, Sistas the Musical, iluminate; on tour: Little House on the Prairie); Andrew Leynse, artistic director Primary Stages; Cara Reichel, producing artistic director Prospect Theater Company; Cheryl Wiesenfeld, commercial producer (Rocky, All the Way, Tony winner Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Tony winner The Gershwin's Porgy & Bess, Tony winner Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, The Exonerated, In the Continuum, Legally Blonde, A Steady Rain); plus others to be announced.

Both artistic directors and commercial producers aim to bring works to the stage that they believe in and that will please their audiences, yet artistic directors tend to be well-respected leaders of companies who are perceived to do "important" work, while commercial producers are often viewed with distrust. Both are generally the guiding vision behind a body of work, and both must balance artistic and commercial concerns. This panel will discuss the differences and similarities between the two titles and explore whether it is possible for an individual to work successfully in both roles.

Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212/714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-two 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 theater. 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; TRU 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 and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition, scheduled for April 5th and 6th this year, and quarterly Resource Nights and "Speed Dating" as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.

Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940's, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical's Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU's panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.

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

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