Join us Fridays at 4:30pm for weekly virtual Community Gatherings, conversations about creativity and theater in the time of COVID-19, led by TRU executive director/founder Bob Ost. These gatherings are free for TRU members; we ask that non-members consider making a donation to TRU to help keep us running during these challenging times, or join as a member.
To receive the Zoom link for each week's conversation, email TRUnltd@aol.com and use the word "Zoom" creatively in your subject line.
Click here for 2021 season
Friday 12/18 - Private Viewing Party of Estella Scrooge, a new musical. With intro and Q&A with the producer Michael Alden, and Tom Polum, founder of StreamingMusicals.com. Still interested in seeing it? CLICK HERE for a link for tickets, now through January 31. The cost: $29.99, with 30% of the ticket price donated to TRU.
Friday 12/11 - Real Services and Support for Your Virtual Performance: Platform, Editing, More. In the room: Daniel Abrahamson of Stream Stage, which offers a free platform suitable for a mix of live and recorded content, as well as help designing and implementing your broadcast; Iben Cenholt, audio and video editor at RuneFilms, a full service production and editing resource; and Henry Garrou/Whitetree, LLC. Conversation will include virtual collaboration tools that offer low latency for effective musical presentation, plus video capture/editing options, audio editing and more.
Friday 11/6 - Virtual Multi-Tasking: A Conversation with John McDaniel. In the room: Emmy and Grammy Award winning John McDaniel will tell us about the creation of a virtual benefit of his anti-bullying musical Sticks and Stones, and how a writer can also music direct, co-direct and co-produce his own work. Including an international talent search for 135 ensemble members.
Friday 10/30 - Think Outside the (Black) Box: New Virtual Platforms. In the room: Brendan Bradley who has created the new Future Stages platform, integrating emerging technologies in live performance and supporting the next generation of multi-disciplinary storytellers. Learn about his ubiquitous streaming tools for live performance, including a customizable virtual theater.
Friday 10/23 - Embracing and Executing the Live Web Medium. In the room: Neal Davidson, creator, producer, actor, and founder of TheSharedScreen Co, a nonprofit web theater production company producing live web performances that spark profound conversations (www.thesharedscreen.com). We will use his adaptation of Tape by Tony/Emmy nominee Stephen Belber as a case study.
Friday 10/16 - Regional Perspective, 2: Fundraising and Audience Engagement During COVID. In the room: Katy Brown, Producing Artistic Director of the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA; Gil Cates, Jr., Executive Director of the Geffen Playhouse; and theatre artist, producer and fundraiser Jeff Coon, Annual Fund and Foundation Manager at Lancaster PA’s historic Fulton Theatre. Fundraising in COVID times, and exploring other non-traditional ways of programming to keep audiences engaged and donors supportive.
Friday 10/9 - A Conversation with Producer Mara Isaacs. In the room: Mara Isaacs, Tony award winning producer of Hadestown and founder of Octopus Theatricals, whose work ranges from commercial to experimental including the innovative (and now online) Theatre for One. We'll talk about her unconventional road to Broadway, the current detour into virtual presentation, and how her company has been uniquely positioned, perhaps, to adapt to the new world we find ourselves in. Email trunltd@aol.com for a private link to the YouTube recording.
Friday 10/2 - Read All About It: What's Happening During COVID? In the room: Sandi Durell, publisher/editor of TheaterPizzazz.com, and Adam Feldman, Time Out New York theater editor and critic, and Marcina Zaccaria, writer and administrative assistant at TheaterPizzazz.com. How our go-to theater publications are adjusting to the absence of live performance. So what's there to write about? How are they creating alternative content and keeping the community informed and engaged? And what's happening that we might not know about?
Friday 9/25 - The Not-for-Profit Pivot: Successful Strategies for Navigating the Pandemic. In the room: Lisa Fane, general manager The Irish Repertory Theatre, and Aaron Simms, general manager of the York Theatre Company. How to keep a company afloat during a time of economic crisis, rethinking programming for online platforms, staffing challenges, specific sources of income during COVID and how to find them.
Friday 9/18 - When Sitting All Alone in Your Room IS a Cabaret. In the room: Bernie Furshpan, managing partner of Metropolitan Room and founder of MetropolitanZoom virtual cabaret; Natalie Douglas, actor, cabaret performer, educator, music historian; Alexis Fishman, actor, cabaret performer/coach; Mardie Millit, cabaret performer. Some of the game-changing initiatives that cabaret is taking to generate intimate performances on isolated platforms. And how performance material needs to meet the current cultural moment.
Friday 9/11 - The Impact of the Pandemic on Writers. In the room: Cheryl Davis, general counsel of Authors Guild, and Emmanuel Wilson, managing director of Dramatists Guild. The organizational pivots writers' guilds have made during the pandemic ... what initiatives they are taking to help members get through all this ... how their members are surviving this challenging time.
Friday 9/4 - Alternatives to Live Theater, During COVID (and Beyond). In the room: West Hyler, director, formerly with NYMF, story writer/scene director for Cirque Du Soleil Paramour, current AD with Shelley Butler of Artistic Stamp, an immersive theatrical experience using hand-written correspondence; and AD's Molly Rice (lead playwright) and Rusty Thelin (lead director/producer) of RealTime Interventions, a company that creates theatrical events and public experiences that depend upon the immediate nature of real time.
Friday 8/28 - The COVID Effect, Regional Perspective. In the room this week: Raymond Bobgan, Executive Artistic Director of Cleveland Public Theatre; Mary Miko, special events coordinator for Goodspeed Musical Theatre. Other than shutting everyone down, what impact is COVID having on regional theaters? How are they adjusting their ticketing and fundraising strategies to these challenging times?
Friday 8/21 - Updates on Virtual Presentations: Whose Domain Is It Anyway? In the room this week: producer/general manager Martin Platt of Perry Street Theatricals (Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Dames at Sea, Bedlam's Hamlet/St. Joan), and Cate Cammarata of CreateTheater.com. Clarifications of the agreements needed to use union actors in your virtual presentation, when you need a SAG signatory, costs of producing a recorded/edited large cast show, more.
Friday 8/14 - Are Producers Artists? In the room: commercial producers Tom Polum (The Toxic Avenger, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, founder of StreamingMusicals.com) and Patricia Klausner (Tony award for The Band's Visit and Pippin revival, Scottsboro Boys, Stick Fly, upcoming Marie); Tony winning actreess, director, producer Tonya Pinkins (Jelly's Last Jam, Caroline or Change; TV's Livia Frye on All My Children); performing artist, producer and activist Maria Aponte. Moderated by Emileena Pedigo of The Show Goes On Productions. Creative producer, money raiser, self-producing artist, associate: what type of producer are you and how does that inform your career? This conversation will revolve around the exploration of producing as an Art.
Friday 8/7 - Producer Basics: What You Need to Know, COVID Edition. In the room: producer Jane Dubin (The Prom, Farinelli and the King, Peter and the Starcatcher, An American in Paris), entertainment attorney/producer Lee Feldshon (Austen's Pride the Musical), self-producing solo artist Jessica Sherr (Bette Davis Ain't for Sissies) and producer/general manager Evan Bernardin (We Are the Tigers, Afterglow, Counting Sheep; National tours Million Dollar Quartet, Charlie Brown Christmas). Moderated by TRU Board Chair Sandy Silverberg.
Friday 7/31 - The Intersection of Theater and New Tech: VR, XR and more. In the room this week: Emileena Pedigo of The Show Goes on Productions will moderate, with guests D.J. Smith, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at The Glimpse Group, a holding company for a portfolio startups focused on the virtual and augmented reality industries; and Eric Roffman, host of the New York eXtended Reality Meetup & the StoryForward Meetup; and Julie Saltman, producer, developing Bway's first techno-enhanced immersive production using AR, video mapping and avatars.
Friday 7/24 - Casting Your Virtual Presentaton. In the room: casting director Jamibeth Margolis, Katy Grenfell of Breakdown Services/Eco Cast and Eve Pomerance, casting director and producer. Eco Cast is designed for Casting Directors to use, for selecting, organizing, combining, grouping, putting actors in the appropriate roles, etc. so they can present to the Producers. This is a great conversation for actors, but we also gear it to producers and self-producers to understand how to cast your projects.
Friday 7/17 - The Virtual Advantages of a Top Technical Team. In the room: Carlos Armesto, Founding Artistic Director of theatreC; Attilio Rigotti, Associate Producer and technical director of theatreC; Jim Kierstead, Tony winning producer, and founding producer of Broadway Virtual. (theatreC creates unique theatrical experiences that mix the seemingly un-mixable: parties, plays, musicals and special events that meld puppetry and burlesque, video and dance, acrobatics and installations, hip hop rock and salsa, and more.
Friday 7/10 - Swimming Up-Stream: Overcoming the Obstacles of Virtual Musical Presentations. We'll look at the options of livestreaming versus recording and then working out the kinks in post-production. In the room: Joe Barros, artistic director and Jen Sandler, associate artistic director of NY Theater Barn; and producer Tom Polum of StreamingMusicals.com
Friday 7/3 - Life on Hold: The Conversation Continues. In the room: Broadway producer Margot Astrachan (The Prom, A Gentleman's Guide.., The Realistic Joneses, Ghost the musical tour; on hold: Diana the Musical), producer R.K. Greene (Peter & the Starcatcher, A Time to Kill; on hold: Beau) and producer/general manager Martin Platt of Perry Street Theatricals (Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Dames at Sea, Bedlam’s Hamlet/St. Joan, In the Continuum).
Friday 6/26 - Finance and the Arts: Surviving COVID. In the room: Bailie Slevin, financial advisor, to talk about rethinking your financial plan now that COVID has changed things; and a broader discussion about financial planning for artists.
Friday 6/19 - Effective Uses of Virtual Media for Social Change. In the room: Benny Sato Ambush, producer-director and former professor at Emerson University; Tonya Pinkins, Tony and Obie Award winning actress (Jelly's Last Jam, Caroline, or Change), director and activist. Click here for streamed presentation on YouTube.
Friday 6/12 - Virtual Opportunities - In the room: Ryan Bush and Lauren Kardos. The team from OnTheStage.com will talk about their their virtual performance initiative as well as their upcoming livestream efforts. With Ryan Bush, President of On The Stage, Lauren Kardos, Manager of Client Success.
Friday 6/5- Virtual Virtuosity: Acting in Isolation. In the room: Valerie David, actress (The Pink Hulk); Talisa Friedman, actress (The Way Out); Sharlene Hartman, actress; Andy Lachman, Actor, Comedian and Writer (Perspectives-Web Series, Senza Nome Musical Improv, Metamorph Dramatic Improv, Kong Show Sketch Show); Julie McNamara, actress; Rhonda Musak, (The Adventures of a Girl with a Pain in Her Brain), Art & Soul Acting/acting coach; Inger Tudor, actress.
Friday 5/29 - Finding Your Platform. In the room: Emileena Pedigo The Show Goes On Productions, and Cate Cammarata of CreateTheater.com. We've researched the choices we have for virtual presentations, which platforms offer what, and how much they cost.
Friday 5/22 - Virtual Presentations: What We Think You Can and Cannot Do (But We're Probably As Confused As You Are). In the room: Cate Cammarata, curator of the Monday Night Reading Series on CreateTheater.com; entertainment attorney Lee Feldshon; Jim Kierstead, producer (Hadestown, The Inheritance, Ain't Too Proud, Mrs. Doubtfire) and founder of Broadway Virtual presentation platform; and general manager/producer Martin Platt (Woman in Black, Dames at Sea, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, In the Continuum, an oak tree).
Friday 5/15 - Marketing Strategies for Virtual Performances. In the room: Roger Gonzalez, Editor & Publisher Alliance Media & Communications / LocalTheatreNY.com and Monica Hammond, Director of Marketing for Davenport Theatrical. How do we hold on to our audiences during COVID? Monica and Roger will talk about how marketing strategies may have changed in our new Virtual society, and what still works. And how to reach out to a virtual audience.
Friday 5/8 - Making Music Virtually. In the room: Ted Arthur, conductor for the virtual Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration, talking about coordinating the parts of a musical presentation for virtual isolated performance.
Friday 5/1 - An overview of best practices for virtual performance. In the room: attorney Lee Feldshon and attorney/theater journalist Matt Windman addressing some of the legalities connected with the new virtual isolated performance model.
Friday 4/24 - Adapting to a New Medium. In the room: directors James A. Rocco and Dennis Corso, discussing how to adapt your theatrical vision to assommodate virtual presentation, including new ways of directing for maximizing the "theater experience" of a virtual performance.
CLICK HERE for 2021 Community Gatherings
