TRU And Back Stage Host Networking Panel 12/17

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) and Back Stage will host the networking panel, How to Run That Theater Company That's Been Running Your Life, a follow-up to September's panel, on Wednesday, December 17 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC.

Panelists include Paul Adams, artistic director of Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT); Jan Buttram, artistic director and Doug DeVita, marketing director of Abingdon Theatre Company; Sarah Rulfs, development associate of Abingdon Theatre Company; Jeff Corrick, artistic director of Wings Theatre; Tim Errickson, artistic director and Frank Kuzler, managing director of Boomerang Theatre Company; and other panelists to be announced.

Topics for discussion will include:

* the structure of a successful theater company;

* the art of delegating and who does what;

* how to grow beyond a one-person operation;

* how a mission statement affects funding position; and

* how to put together and successfully lead a board of directors.

The panel will be co-moderated by Sherry Eaker, editor-at-large of Back Stage. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments; panel begins promptly at 7:30pm. Admission is FREE for members of TRU; $12 for non-members. To reserve a space at the panel or to become a member of TRU, please call 212-714-7628 or e-mail TRUnltd@aol.com.

TRU was founded in 1992 to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the business capability of producing organizations, individual producers, self-producing artists and other theater professionals. The company holds monthly seminars on a wide range of subjects important to theatrical producers and artistic directors conducted by panels of experts from both the commercial and not-for-profit segments of Broadway, Off-Broadway and the motion picture industry. These educational forums have been a core program of TRU since its inception, and in recent years executive director Ost has partnered with Ms. Eaker to generate topics of interest to both TRU membership and Back Stage readers. "Through TRU, Back Stage is able to reach beyond its actor base to a wider theater community," said Ost, "and we get more visibility through the Back Stage connection."

TRU also publishes a monthly email community newsletter of services, goods and productions. In addition, TRU served as the umbrella organization for a co-production by several of its member companies as a part of the first annual New York Fringe Festival. From that experience, the organization has expanded its production efforts by creating the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings of new works for theater. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute, to encourage the development of aspiring producers, and most recently created a Producer Mentoring Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater. In March, TRU was associate producer of its first Equity showcase, Missives at 59E59 Theatre, a play that was developed in the 2006 TRU reading series. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition Event, Resource Nights and "Speed Dating" as well as free monthly actor events, including workshops.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar's National Foundation Association.

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