Theater Resources Unlimited announces Town Hall (live and streamed) Now You See It, Now You Don’t: The Disempowerment of D.E.I.A.

from Emily MT

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces a return of their live bi-monthly Town Hall discussions with Now You See It, Now You Don’t: The Disempowerment of D.E.I.A. on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 6:30pm ET at Polaris North Studio, 245 W. 29th Street, 4th floor, NYC and streaming on zoom. For more information and to register visit, https://truonline.org/events/town-hall-now-you-see-it/.



Co-hosted by Nicolette Blount (she/her - enrolled Chickasaw with Seminole ancestry), writer, composer, lyricist, performer, and producer at Take My Shot Productions; Ariel Estrada (he/him), actor, singer, arts advocate, producer, Founder & Producing Artistic Director of Leviathan Lab creative studio for AANHPI performing artists, past National Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator for Actors’ Equity Association Office of Diversity & Inclusion; Anita Hollander (she/her), actress, singer, director, producer and National Chair of the SAG-AFTRA Performers with Disabilities Committee and a member of the Actors Equity/Broadway League Diversity Coalition; Jorge Huerta(he/him), Chicano scholar, author and theater director specializing in Chicano and US Latinx theater; Jaye Hunt(they/them), multi-disciplinary theater artist and literary manager of Parity Productions and Break a Leg Productions; Janel C. Scarborough (she/her), producer/creative investor (Single Black Female, Thoughts of a Colored Man, Tony nominated revival for colored girls...), co-founder TRU Diversity. Facilitated by TRU executive director Bob Ost.



A continuation of TRU monthly conversations about issues of current cultural significance, with a particular focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. This month we confront the uncomfortable reality that our government is now pushing back on the hard-earned progress that has been made in gaining fair and equitable treatment for all Americans, particularly those in marginalized communities. The unthinkable is finding a foothold in normalcy. Democracy is more delicate than we ever imagined, and with powerful people pulling at the threads of our basic values, we see signs of our freedoms unraveling. This is extreme. Funding is even being withdrawn from arts organizations that continue their efforts to move forward with programs that support D.E.I.A. Is there a way back? Though many of us are feeling dismissed and disrespected, perhaps we should not be dismissive in response. Why is this happening? We will consider the roots in our culture that have led to this state of affairs and try to find ways to generate conversations that might help us foster mutual respect.



TRU offers this as an opportunity for everyone to learn from actual experiences and find ways to support each other while exploring initiatives that might bring us closer to genuine respect and acceptance. All attendees are encouraged to participate in this conversation.



Doors open at 6:30pm for networking and roundtable introductions of everyone in the room – come prepared with your best 20-second summary of who you are, and what you need. The Open Forum will start at 7:00pm. Free for members of TRU, Polaris North and members of LPTW; $15 for non-members (with a $5 ticket option available to anyone who needs it). Please use the bright red reservation box on our web page, or email at least a day in advance (or much sooner): [email protected]



Panelists

NICOLETTE BLOUNT is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation with Seminole and European ancestry, a songwriter, playwright, singer, actress, director, and producer dedicated to telling and supporting powerful, untold stories from underrepresented voices. She is the first Native American recipient of the Dramatists Guild Foundation’s National Musical Theatre Fellowship (2024). She co-wrote, composed, and wrote lyrics for Savage: The Unconquerable Wanda Savage, inspired by her great-grandmother’s true story, exploring identity, resilience, and Indigenous erasure, incorporating the endangered Chickasaw language. Savage has earned honors including the 2025 & 2024 O’Neill NMTC Semifinalist, an American Playwriting Foundation’s Relentless Award Honorable Mention, and a residency at Creative Nation’s First Storytellers Festival. Nicolette is also writing a creative nonfiction book on Wanda, represented by Park & Fine Literary Management. Her music has over 68,000 streams, with all proceeds benefiting the Oklahoma Alliance Against Violence. She has presented work at Broadway Sessions, NYMF, 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, and Focus on Native Composers. She has been a featured speaker at several events including Voices of Change: First Storytellers at Longmont Museum, CO. Nicolette founded NativeTheatreArtists.com to support Indigenous creatives. As a producer, her highlighted projects include co-producing A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet (Off-Broadway) and In Pieces (in development), as well as serving as an associate producer on the Broadway concept album Winner, set for release in time for Pride Month. Through TRU she produced Rolling with the Punches (reading) and Reprieve (short filmed play). She is an investor in the Museum of Broadway, Millennials Are Killing Musical and helped financially support the Native off-Broadway musical, Distant Thunder. She is a member of ASCAP, Dramatists Guild, RISE, MUSE, Maestra, TRU, Songwriters Guild of America, and the Society of Composers and Lyricists.



ARIEL ESTRADA is Webby Award-winning producer, actor, writer, and advocate for Asian American Pacific Islander performing artists. As an actor, he has performed on television, film, commercials, digital media, and Off-, and Off-Off-Broadway. As a producer, Ariel is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director for Leviathan Lab, a nonprofit creative studio for Asian American performing artists. As an arts administrator, he is the Associate Director of the Theatre Program at Fordham University, and the Marketing & Membership Director for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists. His leadership has been recognized by artEquity, New York Foundation for the Arts, and Theatre Communications Group. arielestrada.com | leviathanlab.com | LI: /arielestrada

ANITA HOLLANDER has worked throughout Europe, Asia, Russia and America as an actress, singer, composer, lyricist, director, producer, and teacher. She has premiered new works of composers and playwrights at Carnegie Hall, Playwrights Horizons, and New York Shakespeare Festival, where she sang original work of Philip Glass. She received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical for the Olney Theatre premiere of The Fifth Season and originated the title role in the award-winning play Gretty Good Time at the Kennedy Center in Washington. As a two-time cancer survivor, Anita has negotiated over half her 50-year performing career on one leg, using her disability not only to enhance her roles, but to enlighten the world about disability and promote greater visibility and employment for performers with disabilities. The Kennedy Center presented her original one-woman musical Still Standing: A Musical Survival Guide for Life's Catastrophes, which won the Audience Award at the United Solo Theatre Festival in NYC and has garnered critical praise and awards from the New York Times, ASCAP, Billboard, and Back Stage Magazine, for writing as well as performance. Having served on the National Board of SAG-AFTRA, Anita is former National Chair of SAG-AFTRA Performers with Disabilities Committee and a member of the Actors Equity/Broadway League Diversity Coalition. A founding member of Inclusion in the Arts' project DEAL (Disability in Entertainment & Arts Link), she adjudicates for the ReelAbilities Film Festival and VSA Arts Playwright Discovery Program. Anita served as a National Co-chair of the I AM PWD Campaign (Inclusion in the Arts & Media of People with Disabilities) and maintains a Watchdog Report of disability activity in film, TV & theatre.

JORGE HUERTA is a Chicano scholar, author, and theater director. He specializes in Chicano and United States Latinx Theatre. He has written and edited several books specializing in Chicano theatre and is considered to be an authoritative expert in his field. He founded El Teatro de la Esperanza in 1971. This traveling Latino theater company toured the United States, Mexico, Central America, and Western Europe and put on performances until the 1990s. He also co-founded Teatro Máscara Mágica, a San Diego-based theater, in 1989. Huerta has contributed to over 30 scholarly articles for various academic journals. He has also served on editorial boards for academic publications, including The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, GESTOS: Teoría y práctica del teatro hispánico, the Southern Illinois University Press' Theatre in the Americas and Theatre Forum.

JAYE HUNT (they/them) is a multidisciplinary theater artist. They are the Literary Manager of Parity Productions, where they are largely responsible for the annual Parity Development Award. They have collaborated with playwrights on developing many new plays and have extensive experience serving as assistant director on both new works and works in the American theatrical canon. Their work examines and questions normativity, and they work to create equity onstage and backstage. www.jayehunt.com

JANEL C. SCARBOROUGH is a multi-disciplinary producer, artistic advisor, script developer and dramaturg of Caribbean heritage; her innate balance of creative spirit and business acumen is fortified with decades of knowledge in front of and behind the scenes of the entertainment industry, she is currently developing a wide array of event, film, television and theater projects around the world. Select productions include executive producing the award-winning film In Time which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by HBO Network; internationally producing and starring in the thought-provoking stage play Single Black Female; directing the anniversary celebration of the iconic hit television show CLUB MTV; receiving an AUDELCO Award nomination for performing in Love and Marriage and New York City directed by Woodie King Jr. During Broadway's recent reopening season, she invested in Thoughts of a Colored Man and contributed to capitalizing the Tony nominated revival of for colored girls... Janel serves on the board of directors of Theater Resources Unlimited and co-founded TRU Diversity.


Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-two-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.



TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, opportunities and productions; presents weekly Community Gatherings; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. TRU serves writers through the TRU Voices Play Reading Series, TRUSpeak: Hear Our Voices evening of short plays about social issues, Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.



Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Montage Foundation, The Storyline Project and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.



For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.



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