Theater Resources Unlimited April Community Gatherings

Theater Resources Unlimited marks one full year of weekly TRU Community Gatherings via Zoom and announces these upcoming conversations:

4/16 – Still Swimming Up-Stream: New Advances in Virtual Musical Presentation
4/23 – The Regional Perspective, 4: Rethinking and Redefining As We Prepare for the Future
4/30 – The Mystery of the Successful Podcast…Solved!

A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) marks one full year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings this Friday, having offered to date 50 conversations and unlimited camaraderie since April 17th2020. TRU hosts their Community Gatherings every Friday at 4:30pm ET via Zoom, to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of COVID-19. Ask questions, bring answers, be part of a community – it’s an opportunity to network with theater professionals and talk about keeping theater alive during these challenging times.

To receive the Zoom invitation, email TRUnltd@aol.com with “Zoom Me” in the subject line. Check the upcoming schedule and reserve at truonline.org/tru-community-gathering. These gatherings are free for TRU members, pay-what-you-can for non-members.

Friday 4/16 at 4:30pm ET – Still Swimming Up-Stream: New Advances in Virtual Musical Presentation. In the room: Joe Barros, Artistic Director and Jen Sandler, Associate Artistic Director of New York Theatre Barn, return to update us on the evolution of their ongoing programming of incubating original musicals in real time and in front of live audiences, and their quest to making musical theatre development the most accessible that it’s ever been both for artists and audiences. We’ll continue our previous conversation from last July, about virtual development and projects that converge at the intersection of theatre and film.

Friday 4/23 at 4:30pm ET – The Regional Perspective, 4: Rethinking and Redefining As We Prepare for the Future. In the room: Gretchen Shugart, executive director, Carl Sylvestre, director of development and R.K. Greene board member of Theater Forward, a nonprofit organization supporting a network of 19 prominent regional theaters in their efforts to build communities and make theatre accessible to all; with Kit Ingui, Managing Director and Betty Monz, Director of Philanthropic Engagement at Long Wharf Theatre; and Tom Parrish, managing director of Trinity Rep. What’s happening generally at regional theaters now, and what we can expect in the future? Besides the challenges of COVID-19 there new challenges as they re-define their purpose and roles in their respective communities, and try to address social issues.

Friday 4/30 at 4:30pm ET – The Mystery of the Successful Podcast … Solved! (Date Change) In the room: writer Dorothy Marcic and producer Bill Franzblau of MANSlaughter, a podcast based on Marcic’s true crime book about the murder of her uncle, and it made it to #1 on the Apple Podcast list! A conversation about adapting a book for podcast, the technical skills needed to generate a professional and engaging product, as well as effective marketing and distribution. 

“Last year I didn’t think we could do it successfully, but TRU has embraced the reality of where we are now and reinvented ourselves for a virtual new world,” said Bob Ost, executive director of TRU. “One by one our programs are being rethought and offered in virtual format. The weekly Community Gathering was the program that launched us into a new way of doing things so we can continue to serve our community, offering ongoing information and a little less isolation.” Videos of past Community Gatherings may be viewed on TRU’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UC43rsChi4fA23dNLeloaF_A/. 

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a twenty-seven-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, goods and productions; presents monthly panels as well as the new 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, 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 and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation. For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.