- Neighborhood Playhouse
-
The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is an actor training school at 340 East 54th Street in New York City, generally associated with the Meisner technique of Sanford Meisner.
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 of the Playhouse, Harold G. Baldridge, a graduate of the school himself, has been head of the school for 25 years.
The school offers a two-year / certificate program, with admission to the second year dependent upon unanimous approval of the faculty. Additionally, shorter workshops for professional and youth actors are also available.
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]
Alumni
- R.J. Adams
- Nancy Addison
- Amanda Bearse
- Pamela Bellwood
- Richard Boone
- Connie Britton
- James Caan
- Matthew Carnahan
- Dabney Coleman
- Charles E. Conrad
- Tom Cruise
- 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
- 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
- Leslie Nielsen
- Chris Noth
- Edmund O'Brien
- Chris Paine
- Gregory Peck
- Joanna Pettet
- Suzanne Pleshette
- Sydney Pollack
- Tony Randall
- Sally Jessy Raphael
- James Remar
- Bert Remsen
- 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
External links
References
- Notes
- ^ Robert Duvall (actor), Gary Hertz (director) (2002-04-16). Miracles & Mercies (Documentary). West Hollywood, California: Blue Underground. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383509/. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
Categories:- Theatre stubs
- Theatres in New York City
- Drama schools in the United States
- Performing arts education in New York
- Lewisohn family
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
