THE 2012 TRU LOVE BENEFIT: MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE!

THE 2012 TRU LOVE BENEFIT

MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE!

Sunday, November 11, 2012 at 12 noon

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) organizes events to help producers, writers and other develop their careers.  It presents events that are valuable for beginners and sophisticates, and for OOB to Broadway. TRU complements the Commercial Theater Institute (which has an extraordinarily important program of courses and events that are almost a prerequisite for becoming a Broadway Producer). 

I’ve attended TRU events and they were excellent!

TRU is expanding its work and holding a benefit on Sunday, Nov 11.  The cause is good, and the event is very interesting!

Here’s some of what’s happening:

Cocktails at noon.

Luncheon at one

Performances and Awards at two.

It all takes place at the wild and notorious Lucky Cheng’s, which only just recently opened its new branch at 240 W. 52^nd Street in New York’s theater district.

Now in its 21st year as a not-for-profit service organization, TRU is proud to recognize one of their own by presenting the 2012 TRU Spirit of Theater Award to Van Dean in recognition of his rise from first-time producer in the TRU Voices reading series in 2005 (Saint Heaven) to a current Tony Award winner (Porgy & Bess) and prolific Broadway producer and creator of The Broadway Consortium, a new investment model that helped bring Bonnie & Clyde, Ching•lish, revivals of Evita and The Best Man and more to the Broadway stage.  

TRU will present the annual TRU Humanitarian Award to Broadway director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, Legally Blonde and the upcoming Cyndi Lauper musical Kinky Boots) for his selfless work and passionate, generous spirit as the creator of Broadway Bares, raising over 9.9 million dollars for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  

This year’s TRU Entrepreneur Award will be given to Edith O’Hara in celebration of the 40^th anniversary of the 13^th Street Repertory Company, which for four decades has provided a valuable first home for so many artists who move to New York to pursue theater.

Stark Sands, star of TV (Six Feet Under), movies (Pack of Dogs, Shall We Dance) and stage (American Idiot, Tony nominee for the Broadway revival of Journey’s End) will be offering up a preview of the new incoming musical Kinky Boots by Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein.

Andrea McArdle (Annie, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, State Fair), as well as an array of talent that has appeared – or is appearing - in Dean and Mitchell productions will perform.

Laura Osnes will sing a song from Dean-produced Bonnie & Clyde as well as the upcoming first ever Broadway production of Rodger and Hammerstein’s classic Cinderella;

Kerry Butler (Xanadu, The Best Man) will be featured in her star turn solo from Catch Me If You Can, which Dean produced and Mitchell choreographed;

Celina Carvajal (Disney’s Tarzan) will  be singing a song with composer Paul Scott Goodman from his musical Rooms: A Rock Romance, Dean’s first off-Broadway venture before forming The Broadway Consortium;

Tanesha Ross (Hair) and Darren Ritchie (Wonderland) will sing a duet from Saint Heaven, Dean’s very first musical production which he found through the TRU Voices New Musicals Reading Series;

Lauren Zakrin (Legally Blonde, Wicked) and D.B. Bonds (Legally Blonde, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Last Five Years, associate director of incoming Kinky Boots) will be recreating their roles of Elle and Emmett in Legally Blonde, which Mitchell directed and choreographed;

and young Isabela Moner (Evita) will be singing a song from Dean-produced Evita.

The event promises a few more firsts, with a kick: Lucky Cheng’s and sponsor Absolut Vodka have created special cocktails named for the honorees. Attendees will be the first to sample the Vandini, the Cherry Mitchell and Mama Hare’s Tea.

The event will include a Silent Auction whose more than 60 items include

• A weekend stay at the Trump International Hotel in New York;
• VIP tickets to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade;
• Tickets to Kinky Boots, Evita, War Horse, The Anarchist, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Peter & the Starcatcher and much more;
• Plus over 50 gift items and services.

Bidding will start Friday 11/9 online, and continue at the event itself; items that do not reach their guarantee bid will continue bidding online during the following week. 

For information about being a bidder, email TRUAuction@gmail.com.

 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. 

Tickets for the event are

• $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. 

Details are available at www.truonline.org/TRULove12.htm,
and tickets are available through the TRU Store at www.truonline.org/store-new.html.

For inquiries about the event, email TRUnltd@aol.com or call 212-714-7628.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), as well as generous support from the Friar’s National Foundation Association and the Montage Foundation. Additional sponsorship for TRU Love is provided by Peroni Beer, The Players Theatre and Pure Audio Systems, with open captioning for people with hearing loss provided by Lauren Schecter and C2 Caption Coalition.

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