Tuesday evening March 19th, doors open at 7pm for networking, panel starts at 7:30
Polaris North Theatre, 245 W. 29th Street, 4th floor

Panel will include Luis Reyes Cardenas, co-founder and co-artistic director of Open Hydrant Theatre Company; Edward Corcino, managing director Harlem Repertory Theatre; Anne Hamburger, founder & artistic director En Garde Arts; Ty Jones, producing artistic director Classical Theatre of Harlem; Ralph Peña, producing artistic director of Ma-Yi Theater Company; Lorca Peress, founding artistic director of MultiStages.

The perspiration and inspiration it takes to start a theater company is daunting enough in itself. How do you keep your company vital and relevant from year to year? Starting out, a strong and specific mission statement can help you establish yourself. But sometimes your mission needs to evolve and change. How do you find your audience, and keep it engaged as you change? Where does the money come from to keep going? Partnerships are an important part of survival. How can you effectively partner without compromising your identity? What strategies have been useful in the growth of the companies you will be meeting? Come learn their secrets of success, the ones they planned for and the surprises along the way.

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 30-second summary of who you are, and what you need. Free for TRU members; $12.50 for non-members in advance ($15 at door).  Please use the bright red reservation box on this page, or email at least a day in advance (or much sooner) for reservations: e-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com (Note: we no longer have a phone message service, though we are working on it.)

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  LUIS REYES CARDENAS

  is Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Open Hydrant Theater Company, the first ensemble professional theater company in the South Bronx. Film: Shakespeare High Executive Produced by Kevin Spacey and From Bronx to Yale Executive Produced by The Guardian. Actor: Fools in Love at MET, BAM, Lincoln Center Boro-Linc and Open Hydrant, Balm in Gilead with Barefoot Theatre Company and Durang, Durang at Open Hydrant. Playwright: Play The Papers For Lupe, Visa Decline, Place of Assembly and Last Exit In New York. He is currently a member of the New Play Development at Laguardia Performing Arts Center and a member of The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre Company's Playwright Unit. He is the Director of Individual Events at The Stanford National Forensic Institute at Stanford University. 
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  EDWARD CORCINO

  is a Full Sail University and City College of New York graduate, with a Masters in Entertainment Business and Bachelors in Theatre respectively. Skilled in various fields in theater and video production, he has performed off–Broadway in a number of musicals and dramas, including two years as a resident company member for The Harlem Rep, while also producing music videos, promo videos and animation for independent artist and the HRT. In addition to his work as a resident company member, Mr. Corcino has also held various positions at HRT from being it's first business manager, Tech/animator, graphic designer, video producer/videographer, casting assistant, social media manager and marketing consultant.
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  ANNE HAMBURGER

  has a long track record for spearheading cultural innovation and entrepreneurship. She is nationally recognized for a distinctive approach to producing where content, form, place, community and audience are all interwoven into the process. She founded and led En Garde Arts from 1985-1999, and re-launched the company in 2014. En Garde was a pioneering force in the field of site-specific theatre and is highly respected for presenting inventive productions in inspiring locations across New York City. En Garde Arts received six OBIEs, two Drama Desks and an Outer Critics Circle Special Award. Anne was recognized with the Edwin Booth and Lee Reynolds Awards for her work. In 2014, she received an Exception Merit in Media Award from the National Political Women’s Caucus. Anne became Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse in 1999. The Tony award- winning musicals Thoroughly Modern Millie and Spring Awakening began production under her tenure. A year later, she became an Executive Vice President at Disney and led the creative development and production of all the major stage shows for the parks worldwide. For the first time in Disney’s history, she brought in renowned theatrical artists to create Broadway caliber theatre. Many of the shows developed under her tenure are still running today. Anne is a member of the League of Professional Theatre Women.  She graduated with an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
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  TY JONES

  is the Producing Artistic Director of the Classical Theatre of Harlem. He was recently seen in the critically acclaimed production of ENRON. His Broadway debut was in the role of Lt. Byers in Judgment at Nuremberg, and was also seen in the Tony Award Winning production of Henry IV and Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington. He won an OBIE Award for his portrayal of Archibald in the revival of the critically acclaimed Off- Broadway production The Blacks: A Clown Show. Also for the Classical Theatre of Harlem, Ty received Audelco Nominations for his performances in Macbeth, Trojan Women, Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death and won Best Actor for his portrayal of Nat Turner, in Emancipation: Chronicles of the Nat Turner Rebellion. He has been notably mentioned in a number of performances including Hamlet with the American Shakespeare Theatre Company in the title role, Paul in Six Degrees of Separation at the Baltimore Center Stage/MSC, Cory in Fences at the Guthrie, Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird at Indiana Rep., and various credits at the Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public and the Utah and New Jersey Shakespeare Festivals. 
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  RALPH B. PENA

  is the current Producing Artistic Director of Ma-Yi Theater Company. Recent directing credits include The Chinese Lady, Among the Dead, House Rules (Ma-Yi), The Orphan of Zhao (Fordham Theatre), Macho Dancer: A Musical (Cultural Center of the Philippines), Livin’ La Vida Imelda (Ma-Yi), The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra GO! (Cultural Center of the Philippines, Children’s Theater Co. and Ma-Yi, Off Broadway Alliance Award), Julia Specht’s Down Cleghorn, Joshua Conkel’s Curmudgeons in Love (EST Marathon), Mike Lew’s microcrisis (Youngblood, Ma-Yi), and House/Boy (Dublin and Singapore Theater Festivals). His theater work has been seen at The NYSF/Public Theater, Long Wharf Theater, Laguna Playhouse, NAATCO, Second Generation, Victory Gardens, and LaMama ETC, among others. Ralph has produced new works by Qui Nguyen, Lloyd Suh, Carla Ching, Michael Lew, and Hansol Jung, among other. He received an Obie Award for his work on The Romance of Magno Rubio. Ralph is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theater.
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  LORCA PERESS

  is a theatre director specializing in new works Off and Off-Off Broadway (plays, musicals, operas, multimedia hybrids) and the founding Artistic Director of MultiStages (www.multistages.org), a multicultural multidisciplinary NYC Co. Her multicultural (Puerto Rican/Polish/Sephardic) and artistic (theatre/visual arts/dance/music/writing) backgrounds led her to create MultiStages in 1997 (45+ productions, readings, festivals, and New Works Contests). In 2021, she created and produced “SpeakOut Protests Plays & More,” a theatre, multimedia and modern dance festival online. She has directed productions at Joe’s Pub, NYMF at the Acorn Theatre on Theatre Row, Theatre for New City, HERE, La MaMa, NYU, Hudson Guild, Cherry Lane, TheaterLab, on tour; 24 hour plays at the Public, Lortel, Signature; operas at Queens College; readings with PRTT, Repertorio Español, Urban Stages, and more. Member: NTC, SDC, AEA, SAG-AFTRA, League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW Co-President 2011-14), original member of the Creative Network for Federal Affairs Office for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Awards include: Creative Engagement (2020, 2019), Institute of Puerto Rico Cultural Award, 2015 Taino Areito in Theatre, LaMaMa Inky Award, 2013/2014 National Opera Competition 2nd Prize, 2012 HOLA Gilberto Zaldivar Award for Outstanding Production, 2011 and 2013 Honorable Mention Collaboration Award from Women in Arts and Media Coalition, Four Manhattan Community Arts Grant (LMCC), La Mia Ink! playwriting awards. Faculty: NYU Strasberg Studio, Strasberg Institute. Graduate of Bennington College (BA Drama), National Theatre Institute, and studied the method at Strasberg.