Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 12 noon
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces the honorees at this year’s TRU Love Benefit which will mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the organization. This year’s theme is Connections: Bringing People Together to Create and Experience the Arts. The event will take place on Sunday, November 6, 2011 beginning at 12 noon at Caroline’s on Broadway, 1626 Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets, NYC.
The 2011 recipient of the TRU Spirit of Theater Award will be Bruce Lazarus, a producer of Broadway and off-Broadway shows including Say Goodnight Gracie, The Gathering, Only Kidding, Shakespeare’s R&J and Maybe, Baby It’s You and an entertainment attorney who in his 20 year career has represented such shows as the original productions of Blue Man Group and The Lion King, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Aida in his capacity as head of business and legal affairs for Walt Disney Theatricals. The award is given to a member of the theater community who has demonstrated exceptional generosity of spirit, and a willingness to support emerging artists and producers. “Bruce Lazarus is a longtime friend who has been instrumental in the growth of TRU,” says TRU president Bob Ost. “We want to acknowledge him for that, as well as for his tireless efforts to bring the theater community together through both his online networking and informational sites and his off-line meet-and-greet events. The spirit of community that he helps engender is at the heart of what TRU believes matters in this business, as well as in life.” Lazarus’ community initiatives include founding and moderating the on-line Broadway Producers and Investors Group and its in-person networking meetings, and his free video classes for theatre producers at BroadwayAttorney.com. He was also producing partners with the late Frederic Vogel, the first recipient of the TRU Spirit of Theater Award, with whom he brought the Commercial Theater Institute to colleges and universities throughout the country.
TRU will also present their annual TRU Humanitarian Award to Ben Cameron on behalf of Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for their invaluable work supporting the arts during this period of economic crisis, and for their commitment to supporting theater as a means of improving the quality of people’s lives. The Program Director for the Arts at DDCF since 2006, Cameron is the former Executive Director of Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and a frequent speaker worldwide on the state of the performing arts, including an inspirational speech on “The true power of the performing arts” given at the 2010 TEDxYYC conference in Calgary (http://tinyurl.com/3usyohc). This year’s award for a successful self-producing artist, the TRU Entrepreneur Award, will be given to Lou Rodgers for keeping her company Golden Fleece Ltd. vital for over 25 years, supporting new works of musical theater and commissioning new works for over 19 years.
The proceeds from this event directly benefit the programs of Theater Resources Unlimited, a not-for-profit service organization that educates people in the business of the arts, with a focus on producers, emerging theater companies and self-producing artists. Programs include monthly panels, workshops, a Producer Development and Mentorship Program, a new plays and new musicals reading series and a community e-newsletter of jobs, services, resources and theater events. Caroline’s on Broadway, the scene of the last four TRU benefits, will again host.
The afternoon will feature a cocktail hour with passed hors d’oeuvres, a three-course luncheon and an awards show with entertainment. Talent from the Broadway and cabaret stages that have performed at TRU benefits over the past 10 years have included Joanna Gleason (Into the Woods), Melba Moore (Purlie!), Nancy Anderson (Yank!), Fisher Stevens, Jana Robbins, Chuck Cooper (The Life) and Tonya Pinkins (Caroline or Change).
Tickets for the event will be $175 Premium Patron Level reserved seating on the first tier near the stage and $150 for Patron Level reserved seating on the first tier sides and second tier. Non-reserved General Admission tickets may be purchased for $100. Tickets are available through the TRU Store at www.truonline.org/store-new.html.
For inquiries about the event or to request a formal invitation package, email [email protected] or call 212/714-7628.
TRU was founded in 1992 to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the business capability of producing organizations, individual producers, self-producing artists and other theater professionals. The company holds monthly seminars on a wide range of subjects important to theatrical producers and artistic directors conducted by panels of experts from both the commercial and not-for-profit segments of Broadway, Off-Broadway and the motion picture industry.
TRU also publishes a monthly email community newsletter of services, goods and productions. In addition, TRU presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series, new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new works as well as new producers for theater. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute to encourage the development of aspiring producers, created a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need.
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.
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