Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre
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Formation | 1928 |
---|---|
Type | Drama school |
Headquarters | 340 East 54th Street New York City |
Region served
|
United States |
Website | neighborhoodplayhouse |
The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is a full-time professional conservatory for actors located at 340 East 54th Street in New York City, and is known as the home of the Meisner technique.
Contents
History
Neighborhood Playhouse had originally been founded as an off-Broadway theatre by philanthropists Alice Lewisohn and Irene Lewisohn in 1915, but closed in 1927. The following year, it re-opened as the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre with the addition of Rita Wallach Morgenthau. Sanford Meisner joined the faculty in 1935 from the Group Theatre. Meisner used his study of Russian theatre and acting innovator, Konstantin Stanislavski's System to develop his own technique, as an alternative to Lee Strasberg's Method acting.
The Executive Director Emeritus of the Playhouse, Harold G. Baldridge, a graduate of the school himself, had been head of the school for 32 years. Pamela Moller Kareman serves as the current Executive Director, also a graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
The school offers a Two Year Certificate Program, with admission to the second year dependent upon unanimous approval of the faculty. There is also a Six Week Summer Intensive.
The Neighborhood Playhouse also offers Playhouse Juniors, a popular Saturday training program for children in grades 1–12. Children attend a fixed curriculum of singing, acting and dancing classes in a non-competitive environment.
Playwright Horton Foote met actor Robert Duvall at Neighborhood Playhouse when Duvall starred in a 1957 production of Foote's play, The Midnight Caller. Foote recommended Duvall to play the part of Boo Radley in the 1962 film, To Kill a Mockingbird.[1]
Notable alumni of the Neighborhood Playhouse include: Gregory Peck, Diane Keaton, Mackenzie Davis, Steve McQueen, Mary Steenburgen, Leslie Moonves, Tony Randall, Allison Janney, Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, David Mamet, Brian Geraghty, Ashlie Atkinson, Jeff Goldblum, Stephanie Courtney, Chris Noth, and Sherie Rene Scott.[2]
Alumni
- R.J. Adams
- Nancy Addison
- Dorothy A. Atabong
- Kim Basinger
- Amanda Bearse
- Pamela Bellwood
- Ted Bessell
- Richard Boone
- Connie Britton
- James Caan
- Matthew Carnahan
- June Carter
- Leonardo Cimino
- Dabney Coleman
- Charles E. Conrad
- James Doohan
- Illeana Douglas
- Charles S. Dubin
- Keir Dullea
- Griffin Dunne
- Robert Duvall
- Timothy Farrell
- Mary Fickett
- Joe Flanigan
- Meg Foster
- Leonard Frey
- Betty Garrett
- Brian Geraghty
- Jeff Goldblum
- Farley Granger
- Lee Grant
- Jennifer Grey
- Tammy Grimes
- Dustin Hoffman
- Anne Jackson
- Allison Janney
- Jocelyn Jones
- Diane Keaton
- Grace Kelly
- Ken Kercheval
- Walter Koenig
- Christopher Lloyd
- Tina Louise
- David Mamet
- Daniel Mann
- Kathleen Martin
- Dylan McDermott
- Darren McGavin
- Steve McQueen
- Christopher Meloni
- Peter Miller
- Yoko Narahashi
- Leslie Nielsen
- Chris Noth
- Edmund O'Brien
- Chris Paine
- Gregory Peck
- Joanna Pettet
- Suzanne Pleshette
- Sydney Pollack
- Tom Poston
- Tony Randall
- Sally Jessy Raphael
- James Remar
- Bert Remsen
- Burt Reynolds
- Jean Rosenthal
- Kelly Rowan
- Mark Rydell
- Sherie Rene Scott
- Marian Seldes
- Liza Snyder
- David Sobolov
- Mary Steenburgen
- Kenneth Tobey
- Paula Trueman
- Tom Tryon
- Gloria Vanderbilt
- Eli Wallach
- Jessica Walter
- Al Waxman
- Elizabeth Wilson
- Joanne Woodward
- Otis Young
- Michael Bendetti
References
External links
- Use mdy dates from November 2015
- Pages with broken file links
- Pages using infoboxes with thumbnail images
- Theatres in Manhattan
- Drama schools in the United States
- Performing arts education in New York
- Lewisohn family
- Educational institutions established in 1928
- Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre
- Midtown Manhattan
- Arts organizations established in 1928