TRU LOVE BENEFIT

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces that Joanna Gleason, Jenny Powers, Fisher Stevens and Ramsey Faragallah will perform at the Ninth Annual TRU Love Benefit. Gleason is a Tony Award-winner for "Into the Woods", star of Broadway’s "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", and appeared in the movies "Hannah and Her Sisters", "Sex and the City" and "The Wedding Planner"; Powers made a splash as Rizzo in the recent revival of "Grease" and has appeared in the musicals "Little Women" and "Happiness"; Faragallah is a film and TV actor who appeared off-Broadway in "Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom", "Betrayed and Afterplay"; and Stevens played Jigger in the revival of "Carousel" on Broadway, Chuck Fishman in TV’s "Early Edition" and appeared in the movies "Short Circuit" and "Hackers". They will be joining Nancy Anderson ("A Class Act", "Wonderful Town", "Fanny Hill"), Brian Dykstra ("Clean Alternatives", "Cornered and Alone", "A Play on Words"), Mark Mozingo and Eli Zoller. The TRU Love Benefit will be held on Sunday, November 8, 2009 from noon-4pm at Caroline’s on Broadway (at 49th Street), NYC.

The theme of the benefit is “Opening Doors,” and performances will include representative scenes and songs from shows developed and nurtured at the theaters of this year’s two honorees, Elysabeth Kleinhans of 59E59 Theaters and Allan Buchman of Culture Project. The show will include a song from "Gutenberg the Musical", Mozingo and Zoller reprising their roles from the hit spring 2009 production of "Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge", "Clean Alternatives" with writer/actor Dykstra and excerpts from "The Exonerated" and "Guantanamo" performed by Gleason, Stevens and Faragallah. TRU will also present songs from upcoming musicals being developed by TRU producers: Jenny Powers will preview a song she will sing in TRU advisory board member Randall Wreghitt’s upcoming Broadway musical "Pure Country", and Nancy Anderson will preview one of her solos from TRU producer friend Pam Koslow and mentee Maren Berthelsen’s "Yank!", which will open at the York Theatre in February 2010.

The event begins with a cocktail hour at noon followed by a full luncheon plus performances and the awards ceremony. Friends and supporters of the honorees who are lending their names to the Benefit Committee include actor/producer Bob Balaban, critic Michael Feingold, Elliott Fox and Andrew Leynse of Primary Stages, Dr. Gail Furman, Stephen and Ruth Hendel, George Heslin of Origins Theatre, Peter Kleinhans, Barbara Iams Korein, Cara Reichel of Prospect Theater Company, actor Fisher Stevens, Peter Tear of 59E59 and producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld.

The event will also feature a Silent Auction with tickets to "A Steady Rain", "Fela!", "Memphis", "Superior Donuts", "The Toxic Avenger" and other Broadway and off-Broadway shows; plus a Day at the Races at Meadowlands, a Sutton Place brunch for four with critic Michael Feingold, VIP tickets to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, plus dozens of gift items and services. Many items will move from the event to an Online Auction; to be an auction bidder, email TRUnltd@aol.com with your name, phone number and address.