Saturday, April 13th, 2019
10am to 6pm
Shetler Studios, 244 W. 54th Street, PH1

This is an amazing opportunity for directors and writers to meet, and hone their ability to talk productively with each other! We are honored that feedback will be given by commercial producers Jennifer Manocherian (Meteor Shower, Dead Accounts, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Mountaintop, War Horse, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, August: Osage County) and Ric Wanetik producer (Tony nominated Twilight Los Angeles: 1992, Broadway’s Marlene, Off-Broadway’s Jolson and Company) and senior advisor for America to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC); and entertainment attorney/mediator Eric Goldman. TRU executive director Bob Ost will facilitate the day.

Writers, use this form to submit: DIRECTOR-WRITERLab-writer-app - deadline for writer submissions is Wednesday April 3rd. Email to TRUStaff1@gmail.com with "Writer Lab Submission" in your subject line.

Directors may send an email to TRUnltd@aol.com to inquire about availability for future labs, and include your resume. Right now all director slots are filled, but we welcome observers to come and watch the workshop interactions. 

One of the most important - and most sensitive - relationships in theater is that between playwright and director. In some ways, the entire success of a show can hinge on the shared understanding,  trust and mutual respect between these two artists. The director and the writer need to see the show with the same eyes, otherwise their collaboration won't work.  This is important to establish in the initial meetings. TRU's program will train theater artists in the crucial skills of communication. It is led by commercial producers, since the producer is generally the real-world mediator in writer-director disagreements, and has the better overview of a production.

In this Lab we will team up to ten directors with up to ten writers prior to the Lab itself. OBSERVERS ARE ALSO WELCOME TO COME WATCH AND LEARN, LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE. Playwrights will email us a synopsis, pitch and production history, plus 5-10 sample pages of a script; directors will select a project that interests them from those submitted, request and read the script and prepare for a preliminary director-writer discussion about the play. We will watch and guide that discussion in the Lab. You will:

• Discover your personal communication style
• Learn to identify the style of the person you are with, and adjust to it for maximum mutual understanding
• Explore non-threatening ways of discussing text, communicating and listening
• Identify your domain of authority, and determine protocols

Confirmed directors: Cate Cammarata, Dennis Corsi (2-time Fresh Fruit Festival winner Best Production for Phillie Trilogy and The Fierce Urgency of Now, Off-Bway Alliance Award for Ragtag Cinderella, Winterfest Best Director for Nell Dash), Miriam Eusebio, Stephen Lloyd Helper (assistant to Jerome Robbins for Fiddler revival, creator of Smokey Joe's Café), Anthony Inneo, Christopher Michaels (winner Best Director in the Strawberry Theatre Festival, 2016), Katherine Ray, James A. Rocco (former AD of Ordway Theatre), Laurie Rae Waugh. 

COST (writers and directors):
$85 non-members 
$75 TRU members 

TESTIMONIALS:

I found it helpful and illuminating in a number of ways. Coming shortly after my first experience of selecting a director, it made me aware of the necessity of a lengthy and focussed discussion before any commitments are made. It was useful both to talk through the issues raised by my own play with a director like Cate [Cammarata] and to observe other couples going through the process of discovering whether they could work together or not. It was also moving to witness unexpected dramatic moments in the course of the day. And finally the presence of two such knowledgeable and successful Broadway producers as Ken [Waissman] and Margot [Astrachan] commenting freely on the proceedings was a huge bonus. ~ Dennis Porter, playwright

One of the things that I find invaluable about the TRU Director/Writer Communications Lab is the opportunity to see my fellow directors in action. We don't very often talk about "our method," so being able to observe another director meet a particular challenge or negotiate with a writer is special indeed. I walked away with many new ideas I'll use – and even a few things I plan to avoid. ~Brent Buell, director

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  CATE CAMMARATA

  is an Off-Broadway producer, director and dramaturg in NYC specializing in the development of new plays and musicals, and has been the Literary Manager for Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) for ten years. She is the Founder and Executive Producer of CreateTheater's New Works Festival and Artistic Director of The Experts Theater Company. Her company CreateTheater.com has developed and produced dozens of new plays and musicals since its founding in 2016. Off-Broadway: The Assignment, My Father's Daughter. Regional: My Life Is a Musical (Bay Street Theater), Bran Castle (Porchlight Theater). In development: Atlantis (book by Ken Cerniglia & Scott Morris, music & lyrics by Matthew Robinson), The Falling Season, a new hip hop musical by international hip hop legend Masta Ace,. During the shutdown of 2020-2022 CreateTheater developed and/or produced more than 70 shows with online readings, workshops and dramaturgical guidance. For this work Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) has honored her with the TRU Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2022. Cate holds a BFA in Acting/Directing from Syracuse University and an MFA in Dramaturgy at SUNY Stony Brook, and is Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at CUNY Baruch College. Her book, "Contemporary Monologues for a New Theater," published by Applause Books, was listed as one of the Top Ten Books for theater lovers by BroadwayDirect in 2018. www.CateCammarata.com  www.CreateTheater.com
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  ANDI LEE CARTER

  is a New York-based director, writer, and performer. He is a second year student in the NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. His first original full-length musical Rent a White Guy was dubbed “very funny” by The New York Times. Andi directs and performs regularly at the People's Improv Theatre with his sketch comedy troupe Adam's Summer Class. He is an Artistic Associate for Random Access Theatre Company and the National Queer Theatre. He is an active member of Ring of Keys, Trans Actors Guild and Trans Voices Cabaret. He is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild of America and founding member of the Musical Theatre Factory and original moderator of its monthly Women/Trans Writers Representation Round Table. He and his work has been seen at many New York venues including Under St. Marks, Theatre Row, Joe's Pub, and Feinstein's 54 Below. 
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  DENNIS CORSI

  is a queer director specializing in new work development and queer work. As a certified health & wellness coach, he fosters rehearsal rooms that prioritize well-being. His directing style is fast-paced and bold. Transitions are rehearsed as much as the rest of the play. His casting always prioritizes diversity and inclusion. Dennis is currently studying ASL. His dream is to one day stage a killer exorcism. Dennis is the Artistic Director of the Fresh Fruit Festival, which develops and presents theatre by queer artists. He is the Director of New Works at Live & In Color, a creative incubator developing new plays and musicals celebrating diversity. Dennis is the co-director of the Chesley Chambers reading series at TOSOS, NYC’s oldest and longest-producing LGBTQ+ theater company. Dennis is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Directors Lab West, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Observership program. Associate Member SDC. www.denniscorsi.com   
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  MIRIAM EUSEBIO

  director and sometime actor in NY.  She recently directed a filmed online reading of the musical Look For Me by Liz Schiller whom she met here at the communication lab!  If you would like to see it please contact Miriam.  Miriam’s directing work includes the acclaimed Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through MIT’s Male Math Maze written and performed by Gioia De Cari, touring since 2009, and Happy Days by Samuel Beckett at WOW Café Theatre.  Work in classic theater includes Pericles, Taming of the Shrew, and Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles.  With young people: The Twelve Huntsmen by Briandaniel Ogelsby, Escape From Happiness by George Walker, several works by Thornton Wilder, and Handsel and Gretel, the opera by Engelbert Humperdink.  As staged readings she had directed include Illegal Helpers by Maxi Obexer with Voyage Theater, and The Mysteries of Monet Berzoff by Sharon Jane Smith at Wow Cafe Theater. Her directing work has been seen at Dixon Place, New Jersey Repertory Company, Wow Cafe Theater among others. Acting credits include Suzanna in Murder of Crows by Mac Wellman, Banana in Asshole Differential by Moira Cutler and Dromio of Syracuse in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, and she sang in the band for The Kandake Dance Theatre for Social Change’s 1001 Nights: Love Stories from Death Row.  Miriam also sings with The Glass Menagerie chorus which was part of the Mile Long Opera by David Lang in October 2018. She in a member of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, Wow Cafe Theater and an associate member of SD.
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  STEPHEN LLOYD HELPER

  A graduate of Yale in Directing and Playwriting, Steve began his career apprenticing with the best: Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Ruth Mitchell and Richard Maltby, Jr. For Jerry, Steve directed a Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof that was nominated for the Best Revival Tony Award. Steve was also a conceiver of the hit musical revue, Smokey Joe's Café. Spending a great deal of his working life in Sydney, he directed numerous productions at the Sydney Opera House and in the best arts centers throughout Australia. Adept at both plays and musicals, his production of the play Syncopation by Allan Knee toured 40 theaters around Australia and remains the most successful original touring play in that country. Other credits include: Follies in Concert (Sydney Opera House with Sydney Symphony Orchestra), Love Letters, Simply Weill – A Kurt Weill Cabaret, Agnes of God, Marry Me a Little. Original musicals: What the World Needs Now the songs of Bacharach and David, Café Rebetika!, Lola Montez, The New Black and his own play A Sign of the Times. Currently, Stephen is working with New York playwright David Simpatico on a production of his play Waiting for the Ball to Drop starring Mario Cantone.
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  CHRISTOPHER MICHAELS

  is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of IndieWorks Theatre Company in New York City and the Executive Producer and Resident Director of the multi-award-winning podcast series, Bite-Sized Broadway: A Mini-Musical Podcast. He has been the lead producer and resident director for numerous productions, concerts, cabarets, and projects large and small, including the Off-Broadway musical, The Giant Hoax (Theatre Row), “fan favorite” festival productions of Casper, The Not-So-Friendly Ghost and Empty Frames, The Commuters… (the most-nominated production of the year including a nomination for Best Musical and a win for Best Director) to name a few. He is the Executive Producer for IndieWorks’ Summer Cabaret Series, for the short musical film, Valley High (based on the song by Drew Gasparini), and the hit Dungeons & Dragons-inspired improv show, The Campaign. Christopher is a current member of the TRU Producer Development and Mentorship Program, an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and a certified Covid Compliance Officer for theatre production and patron safety. www.ChristopherMichaels.nyc | @itscmikes on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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  KATHERINE RAY

  is a visual artist equally at home in broadcast, film genres as well as theatre. 15 years experience as a director of photography and camera operator, as well as technical line producer and production manager.  She brings her knowledge of video and tech to her directing, creating visual compelling stories.  She is trained in Frantic Assembly methods and improv, challenged by working in drama, comedy, musicals and political theatre. In the end it’s all about telling the story, and collaborating with actors to bring text to life. Recent regional credits include An Act Of God (CT premier), Spring Awakening, Fences (CT critics best of the year award winner), Peter and the Starcatcher, Bingo the Final Bloodsport, Avenue Q, Assassins, The 39 Steps, Glengarry Glen Ross, American Idiot, The Green Car (workshop), It Takes a New Aged Village (Manhattan Rep Theater). Co- producing artistic director for Planet Connections Theatre Festival 2011-2014. She is a member of The League Of Professional Theatre Women and the SDC. 
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  JAMES A. ROCCO

  is the co-founder of Thirty Saints Productions, which created The Broadway Songbook® Series and currently produces Songbook Live. Together with Broadway Asia, Thirty Saints toured Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat® to Tokyo and led the artistic team for the US Air Force's 9/11 tribute video There Are No Words, seen by millions of viewers. Thirty Saints is an investor in the current Broadway, National Tour, and Toronto productions of Come from Away and Magic Mike in London. Rocco's theatrical career started as the youngest member of the (Art) Linkletter Totten Tots! He appeared in Oliver! with Ray Walston and Jules Munschin; Carousel as Enoch Snow Jr, with John Raitt; and as Sheppard in Sidney Lumet & David Merrick's thriller, Child's Play.  James produced his first show in New York at 16 (Henry, Sweet Henry, at the Mercer Arts Center and the Lamb Theatre).  As a performer, he appeared in the original Broadway production of Cats. In addition, Rocco was seen in the International and TV Ashai Productions of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, sang back up for Frank Sinatra, was the lead singer for Herbie Hancock and the Super Sounds, and had an FMQB hit with the song And The Night Stood Still. From 2005-to 2017, Rocco was the VP of Programming and Producing Artistic Director at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Before joining the Ordway team, Rocco was Producing Artistic Director of Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. His freelance work as a director/choreographer includes award-winning productions of 33 Variations, Grey Gardens, Singin' In the Rain, Yankee Doodle Dandy, (World Premiere), Sweeney Todd, The Wizard of Oz, Chess, She Loves Me, Violet, South Pacific, White Christmas, As Bees in Honey Drown, A Little Night Music, Songs For A New World, In The Heights, Damn Yankees, Pirates of Penzance, Guys & Dolls, On the Town, A Christmas Story, Annie, Jesus Christ Superstar and many more from classic repertoire to world premieres.   In 2019, he was recognized by The Broadway League and The Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds for 30 years of dedication, craft, and contribution to the theater.  Rocco commissioned the holiday musical A Country Christmas Carol and was part of the creative teams behind the off-Broadway cult hits Nite Club Confidential and Streakin'! In addition, his re-visioned stage production of Singin' in the Rain has been seen around the world. His newest venture is Thirty Saints Music Licensing which acquires music clearances for stage shows. Clients include Stage Rights Publishing, Broadway Licensing, Members of The Broadway League, The Dramatist Guild, and The National Alliance of Musical Theatre.

   
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  LAURIE RAE WAUGH

  began her theatre career in NYC as a Stage Manager. She stage-managed over 21 shows in 7 years. Her most notable one was STAMP OUT AIDS- a one-night only show at The Ballroom on 7/4/87 dedicated to Michael Bennett. Laurie began directing with Dreams Forgotten… at the Gowanus Arts Center, and several one-act plays for the TSI/Playtime Series. She turned her attention to working with Endtime Productions, were she worked for the first two seasons on their Vignette for the Apocalypse and Naked Holidays NYC Series at the Gene Frankel Theatre. Directed The Acting Lesson and The Gray List for Legacy Stage Ensemble. Laurie received 2016 ATA Award for Best Dramatic Director, Mirrors by Steve Silver, 2015 ATA Award for Best Director, Drama, A Spanish Harlem Story by Steve Silver and the 2010 Jean Dalrymple Award for Best Director, Code Name Daniel by Jerry J. Pollock. Laurie has directed over 19 plays for the American Theatre of Actors. She has worked on two collections of plays at The Producer’s Club called RELATIONSHIPS and PRESSURE- NOT ME! She was the Assistant Director for Ripple Effect Artists production of Twelfth Night. 

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  ERIC GOLDMAN

  For over 25 years, Eric has provided legal services to Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award winning talent, and to technology and internet entrepreneurs. Recent projects include representing the writers of the Broadway smash hit Come from Away and the producers of the highly successful Off-Broadway musical parody of the television show Friends. Before launching his own firm in 2011, Eric worked for 15 years as a Senior Associate for entertainment attorney Mark Sendroff of Sendroff & Baruch LLP. Eric also served as in-house counsel for St. Martin’s Press and Hertz Computer. His first job out of law school was working as an associate for copyright guru Stanley Rothenberg.  Eric is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and New York University School of Law.
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  JENNIFER MANOCHERIAN

  Credits include Meteor Shower, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; Dead Accounts; The Mountaintop; A Little Night Music; La Cage aux Folles; The Norman Conquests; The 39 Steps; August: Osage County; Spring Awakening;The Little Dog Laughed; Caroline, or Change; Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Thoroughly Modern Millie; The Crucible; Jane Eyre; Stomp.
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  RIC WANETIK

  President of Ricochet Group LLC, a strategic planning and communications advisory.  Known for his onboarding of leadership at major theaters here and in England, Ric is a frequent advisor to several regional theaters and is an active producer, investor and production supervisor.   He is the Senior Advisor for America to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), currently represented on Broadway with Matilda the Musical.  He is also the President of RSC America, a US entity supporting the work of the Royal Shakespeare Company here and around the world. An investor in over 35 Broadway and Off- Broadway productions, Ric was the lead producer and Tony nominated for Anna Deveare Smith’s Twilight Los Angeles: 1992. In 1999, he was the lead producer for Broadway’s Marlene, and was the sole producer of Off-Broadway’s Jolson and Company.  For eight years Ric was the supervising producer for the Victoria Secret’s Fashion Show on CBS-TV and has produced several TV Specials for cable, PBS and universities including: Segment Producer, Great Performances Anniversary Special; Executive Producer, A Tribute to Comden and Green directed by Patricia Birch;  Producer for Ohio TV Network and CBS, What Ohio Kids Need. He is a frequent speaker and lecturer on theatre management and marketing.