The Playroom Theatre
151 W. 46th Street, 8th floor

With panelists David Garfinkle, producer (A Gentleman's Guide..., On the Town, The Realistic Joneses, Ghost, Spider-man) former entertainment attorney and adjunct professor with Duke University's 'Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship'; Eric Krebs, producer (That Physics Show, Bill Maher: Victory Begins At Home, Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party, Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, Electra), professor at Baruch and theater manager (formerly the John Houseman and Douglas Fairbanks Theatres, currently The Playroom Theatre); Dorothy Marcic, self-producing writer (Respect, Sistas) and author of 15 books, including the best-selling Understanding Management; Bailie Slevin, Entertaining Finance, financial advisor to the arts.

Blending creativity with business sense is a challenge, and it is business that too often takes a back seat in the arts. "Starving artists" are often brilliantly talented people who haven't taken the time to learn and master the basics of their business, and even producers and not-for-profit practitioners may forget to be the practical-minded CEO's of their companies. TRU has always been dedicated to developing the business capacity of artists and producers, and we are proud to assemble a lineup of experts in the area of entrepreneurship. Come consider the delicate balance of the emotional-creative right brain and the analytical-practical left brain and how it takes both sides to be successful.

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 one-minute summary of who you are, and what you need. Free for TRU members; $15 for non-members  ($12.50 in advance). Please call at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: 212-714-7628; or e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com

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  DAVID GARFINKLE

  is producer and chief executive officer of Hello Entertainment, theatrical production company. He was the producer of Ghost the Musical in London's West End (developed since inception) on Broadway, on tour in the UK and behind 9 other Ghost productions; the founding producer of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, as well as The Immigrant (Drama Desk nominations Best Book and Orchestrations), A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award, Best Musical),  In Transit, On the Town, The Realistic Joneses, three-time Tony winner Hinton Battle's Hinton Battle: Largely Live, American Dance Machine and Anne and Emmett. He has been an adjunct professor at Duke University (Leadership in the Arts, Law School and Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship); and Columbia Film School. David founded and was managing partner of the Entertainment & Intellectual Property Group law firm.
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  ERIC KREBS

  has worked as a producer, a theater founder and operator, a college professor and occasionally as a performer. He built and operated Off-Broadway’s John Houseman Theater Center and Douglas Fairbanks Theater for over 20 years, more recently built and oeprated the Playroom Theater and The Physics Theater in New York City and current runs Theatre 555 on West 42nd Street. He produced on Broadway: Bill Maher: Victory Begins At Home (Tony nomination for Best Special Theatrical Event), Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party, It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues (nominated for 4 1999 Tony Awards including Best Musical) and Electra (nominated for 3 Tony Awards). Current and recent Off-Broadway productions include: That Physics Show (Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience), Sing: A South African and American Celebration, A Class Act, Greed: A Musical for Our Times, Laughing Liberally, For Lovers Only, Will Durst: The All-American Sport of Bipartisan Bashing, Toxic Audio (2004 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience), Rounding Third, Langston Hughes’s Little Ham, Golf:The Musical, Tallulah Hallelujah starring Tovah Feldshuh, A Pure Gospel America, The Big Bang, the world premiere of Bash by Neil LaBute, Serenade The World: The Music and Words of Oscar Brown, Jr., and This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan. Other New York producing credits include: Capitol Steps, Fyvush Finkel From Second Avenue To Broadway, The Passion Of Dracula, Fool For Love, King Of Schnorrers, The Rise Of David Levinsky, By And For Havel and Paul Robeson (starring Avery Brooks). Mr. Krebs produced Geoffrey Ewing’s Ali, the biography of Muhammed Ali, a theatrical production featured at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, as well as at the Mermaid Theater in London.

  In the not-for-profit theater, he founded and for fourteen years was the Producing Director of the George Street Playhouse, a professional (LORT) theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey. For 25 years, he was the chairman of Amas Musical Theatre, a not-for-profit theater founded by Rosetta LeNoire and dedicated to the training of “city kids” in the performing arts and the creation of new musicals for multi-ethnic casts. He was awarded the Robert Whitehead Award for excellence in producing in February, 1999.
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  DOROTHY MARCIC

  is a playwright, whose productions have played in over 40 cities, including three years of her Off-Broadway musical SISTAS. She is adjunct professor at Columbia University, and a former professor at Vanderbilt University. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Prague, has two masters and a doctorate, and is the author of 15 books, including the best-selling Understanding Management and RESPECT: Women and Popular Music. In 2003, Dorothy left full-time academia for playwriting. She turned her Respect book into a musical, tracing women’s development through Top-40 music with content-analysis research of how women are depicted in popular music lyrics. Dorothy has also been working on several plays. The reading of Intentions in June 2013 resulted in a Broadway producer optioning the piece, and it is currently in development, with an Industry Reading scheduled for April 2015. Dorothy started her career in the arts as a production assistant on the TV program, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, while in graduate school. She has appeared on C-SPAN, CMT, and Bravo Network.
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  BAILIE SLEVIN

  is the founder of Financial Wellness Companion, Entertaining Finance, and is the current Sales Trainer at MediaRadar. She has made a study of language and how people communicate value, be it screenwriting, playwriting, sculpting, performing, painting, or commercial sales. Bailie helps to translate the creator’s passions to others in a business setting. With her15 years in the personal financial planning industry, Bailie developed a niche in the arts and freelance communities, specializing in working with people with an uneven income. She has also spent significant time in the theatre industry as a stage manager, general manager, and producer. She is a Life Purpose Life Coach and a New York Mental Health Peer Specialist. She lives in New York City with her rescue pup, Lorelai.