Theater Resources Unlimited Community Gatherings via Zoom 3.26 – 4.23

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) hosts weekly 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 reserve a spot and receive the Zoom invitation, email TRUnltd@aol.comwith “Zoom Me” in the subject line. Check the upcoming schedule at truonline.org/tru-community-gathering.

3/26 – A Conversation with David Armstrong (and the Podcast Pivot)
4/2 – BroadwayRadio Has Been Listening to Us. What Has It Heard?
4/9 – Advocacy, Opportunity and Inspiration During (and After) COVID
4/16 – Still Swimming Up-Stream: New Advances in Virtual Musical Presentation
4/23 – The Mystery of the Successful Podcast … Solved!

Friday 3/26 at 4:30pm ET – A Conversation with David Armstrong (and the Podcast Pivot). In the room: David Armstrong, voice of the Broadway Nation podcasts about the roots of American musical theater; director (Scandalous on Broadway), writer, producer, lecturer, educator and choreographer. The journey from artistic director of the influential Fifth Avenue Theater in Seattle to podcaster, and how he single-handedly created a full year of 37 podcasts. We’ll explore the technical challenges of creating a professional sounding podcast, as well as offer lots of thoughts about how outsiders helped shape the Broadway musical. Visit https://truonline.org/events/david-armstrong/ to register and receive the Zoom link.

Friday 4/2 at 4:30pm ET – BroadwayRadio Has Been Listening to Us. What Has It Heard? In the room: host James Marino and co-hosts, theater reviewers Peter Filichia and Michael Portantiere, have been interviewing the theater community since 2009. On radio. The perfect socially distant medium. Has the audience increased during shutdown? What have people been saying? What has changed in the last year? And what are the predominant views of the future of post-pandemic theater?Visit https://truonline.org/events/broadway-radio/ to register and receive the Zoom link.

Friday 4/9 at 4:30pm ET – Advocacy, Opportunity and Inspiration During (and After) COVID. In the room: Aimee Todoroff, director, Managing Director of the League of Independent Theater and Chris Harcum, award-winning actor, producer, and playwright (and Director of a Bright Future for LIT). They are co-founders of Elephant Run District indie theater company. The power of advocacy and the founding and evolution of the League of Independent Theater, including initiatives to help theater venues, as well as theater artists, survive the shutdown. And the difference between Open Culture and NY Pop Ups, and their roles in bringing back live performance. Visit https://truonline.org/events/advocacy/ to register and receive the Zoom link.

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 Mystery of the Successful Podcast … Solved! 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.