Theater Resources Unlimited, Back Stage and The Players Theater present Maybe There’s Still Hope: Redefining the Off-Broadway Model Panel and Discussion Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 7:30pm

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents its next monthly networking panel, Maybe There’s Still Hope: Redefining the Off-Broadway Model,on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 7:30pmat the Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm.

Contrary to the discouraging word on the street, off-Broadway’s not dead yet. Not if you find new ways of doing things. Because of rising costs and modest ticket pricing, the traditional off-Broadway model of producing seems to be no longer financially feasible. Sure, suddenly a producer can take branded Broadway shows and extend their lives in smaller theaters, but what about new works? Some producers are facing down the odds and exploring new ways of doing things. This crucial TRU panel will look at cost-effective measures like split week rentals, low-cost marketing strategies and other money-saving tactics, as well creative partnerships and slow and steady development paths that can lead to success.

Panelists will include Brenda Bell, artistic director of Literally Alive Productions; Ed Gaynes, manager of St. Luke’s Theatre and Actors Temple Theatre, producer (The Rise of Dorothy Hale, The Big Voice: God or Merman?, A Brush With Georgia O’Keeffe, Picon Pie); Jeremy Handelman, producer (F#@king Up Everything, White’s Lies); Philip Katz, producing director Broadway Theatrical, LLC (John Tartaglia’s ImaginOcean); Michael Sgouros, owner/manager of The Players Theatre; Jack Thomas, producer (Triassic Parq, Freud’s Last Session, Almost Maine, Colin Quinn: Long Story Short).

Admission is $12 (free for TRU members).Please RSVP by email to [email protected] or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least a day in advance.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-year-old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.

TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and “Speed Dating” as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.

TRU’s monthly panels have been a core program of TRU since its inception, and in recent years executive director Ost has partnered with Back Stage to generate topics of interest to both TRU members and Back Stage readers. Founded in 1960, Back Stage is the world’s most trusted name in casting, auditions, and entertainment-industry opportunities. “Through TRU, Back Stage is able to reach beyond its actor base to a wider theater community,” said Ost, “and we get more visibility through the Back Stage connection.” For information about Back Stage, visit http://www.backstage.com

Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940’s, the Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical’s Laura Bell Bundy. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.