TRU to Host REINVENTING OFF-BROADWAY Panel at Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, 7/16

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces its July panel, Reinventing Off-Broadway for a New Audience: Site-Specific, Interactive and Immersive Theater on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre's Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, 3rd floor, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm.

Panelists include Ryan Bogner, Director of Creative Development and Production for RKO, and producer of the upcoming The Orion Experience scheduled for Manhattan's XL Nightclub; Rachel Chavkin, director of club-crowd phenomenon Natasha and Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; Maria Goyanes, director of special projects for The Public Theater including the audience immersive Here Lies Love; Stephanie Ybarra, artistic associate at The Public Theater; Stephen Squibb of Woodshed Collective whose site-specific works have included The Tenant at the West Park Presbyterian Church & Parish House, Herman Melville's The Confidence Man on a decommissioned Coast Guard ship and 12 Ophelias in McCarren Park pool; Ana Margineanu & Molly Morris of PopUP Theatrics, a new company dedicated to site-specific/site impacting theatrical events in collaborations with theater artists worldwide.

With the economics of off-Broadway making it increasingly difficult for productions to break even, producers are now searching for models that can infuse fresh life into theater beyond the branded Broadway fare. In an effort to attract new and younger audiences, there is a great deal of experimentation with hybrid theatrical experiences that blend in elements of club-going, livestreaming or even texting and other now-normal forms of inter-activity. This panel will explore the recent success of site-specific, interactive and immersive theater experiences, jumping off from the current successes of shows like Natasha & Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Here Lies Love and Murder Ballad and extending to less high-profile works from smaller companies. Attendees will learn the logistics of producing for these types of productions, the challenges of using non-traditional spaces and how to reach new audiences with these new models.

Admission is $12 (free for TRU members). Please RSVP by email toTRUStaff1@gmail.com or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least one day in advance.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-one 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 and quarterly Resource Nights and "Speed Dating" as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.

TRU's monthly panels have been a core program of TRU since its inception, and in recent years executive director Ost has partnered with Back Stage to generate topics of interest to both TRU members and Back Stage readers. Founded in 1960, Back Stage is the world's most trusted name in casting, auditions, and entertainment-industry opportunities. "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." For information about Back Stage, visit http://www.backstage.com.

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, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation, as well as support from the Friar's National Foundation Association.

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

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!