TRU to Host 'Is Off-Broadway Broken?' Panel This Month

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) and The Playroom Theatre present theTRU July Panel - Is Off-Broadway Broken? And Can We Fix It? on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at 7:30pm (doors open for networking at 7pm) at The Playroom Theater, 151 W. 46th Street, 8th floor, NYC 10036. For more details, visit truonline.org/events/is-off-broadway-broken.

With panelists Darren Cole, owner/manager of The Soho Playhouse; Erika Feldman, general manager of Theatre Row Theatres; Ed Gaynes, producer and owner St. Luke's Theatre, booking manager at the Actors Temple; Josh Goodman, producer (Tony award winning Pippin and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, also Rocky and Come From Away); Meredith Lucio, producer (Tony Award winning Porgy and Bess, Rooms: a rock romance, The 39 Steps, Bedlam Theatre's St. Joan/Hamlet; upcoming: Absolutely Filthy).

Off-Broadway was born in the 1950's to fill a perceived need in theater: it evolved as an alternative to the commercialism of Broadway, and a more affordable means of getting works (and artists) seen. Here was an incubator for new works with a less commercial bent, a home for the artsy, the odd and the edgy, as well as a training ground for generations of up-and-coming actors, playwrights and directors. Once upon a time off-Broadway was an affordable means to develop new works and has nurtured some of our greatest artists, but the financial realities of our business have challenged success and made off-Broadway seem financially unviable. Are there still ways to make use of this essential component of our theater culture? Can it still provide a useful step in a development plan for new works? What does it take to break even, and are there producing models that increase the odds of success? Today not-for-profits and regional theaters are the pipeline for both commercial and non-commercial works. Can off-Broadway reclaim its place in the food chain of New York Theater? Or has it taken on a new purpose?

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 30 second summary of who you are, and what you need. Free forTRU members; $15 for non-members ($12.50 in advance online at truonline.org/events/25-years-of-tru). You may also reserve by phone at least a day in advance (or much sooner): 212-714-7628, or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com.

For more details, visit truonline.org/tru-event-category/monthly-panels.

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 Adam Brunner 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 TRUunderwrites 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. TRUserves 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 Legislatureand the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district former 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.

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