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On Sunday, June 1, HB Studio presents a special conversation between actor and new HB instructor Hadi Tabbal and HB Studio faculty member Reza Salazar.

A Conversation with Hadi Tabbal and Reza Salazar
Sunday, June 1 at 5PM
HB Playwrights Theatre | 124 Bank Street
Pay-What-You-Wish, $30 Recommended

Hadi Tabbal, star of the Pulitzer Prize-winning and 2025 Tony Award-nominated play English and a new addition to the HB Studio faculty, sits down for an open-hearted and uncensored discussion about his career path, acting experiences, personal challenges, and advice to young actors.  The evening will be moderated by fellow HB Studio faculty member Reza Salazar, who recently performed alongside Tabbal in the Folger Shakespeare Library’s production of The Winter’s Tale.

Hadi Tabbal will also be teaching the workshop Theater to Camera this summer – register here

A spring showcase of voice, artistry, and musical storytelling as students from Singing Voice 1 share their work on June 1

Singing Voice 1 with John Bowen – Spring 2025
Sunday, June 1 at 2PM
HB Playwrights Theatre | 124 Bank Street
Pay-What-You-Wish, $30 Recommended

Join us for an afternoon of song as the students of Singing Voice 1 with John Bowen take the stage to share their work. Through dedicated study of vocal technique, interpretation, and performance, these emerging artists have explored the fundamentals of singing—connecting breath, tone, and emotional expression to bring songs to life.

Featuring performances by Kristen Brown, Danyal Budare, Juan Diego Correa, Valentine d’Hauteville, Claire Donnelly, Janielle Moye, Rachel Murdy, Mio Nakanishi, Toby Nguyen, Charity Nwadike, Pratiba Premkumar, Michelle Reiss, Sunday Santiago, Luis Segura, Sarah Shields, and Claire Wu, this showcase highlights their growth and artistry in vocal performance.

Under the expert guidance of John Bowen, these performers have worked to develop confidence, clarity, and authenticity in their singing. Whether you’re a friend, family member, or a lover of musical performance, come support these artists as they step into the spotlight.

Reserve your seat now and celebrate an afternoon of music and artistry!

John Bowen will also be teaching a Singing Voice 1 course this summer – register here

Where storytelling meets song – experience the power of music brought to life through performance at our Acting the Song showcase on May 30

Acting the Song with Lorraine Serabian – Spring 2025
Friday, May 30 at 3:45pm
Helen Gallagher First Floor Studio | 120 Bank Street
Pay-What-You-Wish, $30 Recommended

Join us for a captivating afternoon of musical storytelling, featuring the talented students of Acting the Song under the direction of the esteemed Lorraine Serabian. This performance is the culmination of their intensive work, showcasing the fusion of song and acting to bring lyrics to life with depth, nuance, and authenticity.

Performers include Sara Beneke, Burton Borovetz, Kim Bruno, Pat Clune, Natsumi Hashimoto, Rian Keating, Kenneth Linsley, Cierra Marco, Suzanne McAndrews, Mio Nakanishi, David Odukoya, James Park, Steve Saracino, Gaela Solo, and Laura Zarama.

Experience an afternoon of powerful performances as these artists interpret and embody songs through character-driven storytelling. Whether you are a friend, family member, or a theater lover, this event offers a rare glimpse into the process of merging song with deep, emotional truth.

Reserve your seat now and celebrate the artistry of these performers!

Lorraine Serabian will also be teaching Acting the Song courses this summer – register here

Discover what makes HB Studio a space for passionate, disciplined artists at our HB Open House on May 31

Behind the Studio Doors: An HB Open House
Saturday, May 31 at 2pm
HB Playwrights Theatre, 124 Bank Street
Free – RSVP Here

Curious about HB Studio? Step inside the room where artists train, grow, and connect. Join us for a free-to-attend special event featuring conversations with HB Studio’s distinguished faculty and current students.

The Open House will include excerpt performances from a variety of HB classes, including:

• In-process student work from HB’s advanced acting training from Acting 2 with Francesca Ferrara (a presentation from Arthur Miller’s All My Sons with students Chris Georgetti and David Woodman)
• An example of how HB encourages emotional and narrative truth in musical performance from Acting the Song with Jermaine Rowe (a musical performance from students Delilah Dunn and Benjamin Simon)
• a live demonstration of training in movement, physical storytelling, and onstage safety from Stage Combat class with Christian Kelly-Sordelet

Whether you’re considering enrolling in classes or want to better understand the HB philosophy, this is an easy, no-cost opportunity to engage with faculty, hear from students, and ask questions about training at HB Studio.

Join us in person or online and discover what makes HB Studio a space for passionate, disciplined artists.

Storyweaving Workshop Performance with Spiderwoman Theater
In Association with Aanmitaagzi
Friday, May 16 at 7pm
Saturday, May 17 at 7pm
HB Playwrights Theatre, 124 Bank Street
Pay-What-You-Wish, $30 Recommended

Us / Kistonoon / Maatapiiks / Newe / Hono’ut / Ashkoota / Diné / Ké / Iga^bi / Wicha^sta’bi

The NYC-based Spiderwoman Theater is the oldest continually running Indigenous feminist theater company in the Americas. Activism, self determination and storytelling are at the core of Spiderwoman’s programming, which stands continuously rooted in an urban Indigenous sensibility. Over the past forty-five years, their body of work has addressed critical, cultural, social and political issues through live theater performance and traditional and contemporary storytelling, bridging ancestral cultural practice and Western theater methodology. They call this creative practice “storyweaving,” where personal and traditional stories of the ensemble are intertwined with movement, text, sound, music and visual images. This creative framework serves as a blueprint for all Spiderwoman’s productions, training, and outreach activities.

This storyweaving workshop performance carries many names as it keys into disparate words for “collective” sourced from the Indigenous language of the company’s students. As such, its English title is Us, but it is also properly known as Kistonoon and Maatapiiks (“us” and “people” in Blackfoot), Newe (“the people” in Shoshone), Hono’ut (“all the people” in Arapaho), Ashkoota (“tribe” in Crow), Diné and Ké (“the people” and “us” in Navajo), and Iga^bi and Wicha^sta’bi (“us” and “people” in Stoney Nakoda).

The Spiderwoman creative team includes Muriel Miguel (director), Penny Couchie (choreographer), Imelda Villalon (vocal choreographer), and Louis Mofsie (Indigenous song and dance direction). The performing ensemble includes Eva Brander Blackhawk, Ian King, Darylina Powderface, Gavin Scott, Isaiah Welker, Penny Couchie, and Imelda Villalon. The design team includes Sherry Guppy (scenic design and installation), Sam Biondolillo (lighting designer), and Carter S. King (costume design). The production and administrative team includes Deborah Ratelle (production manager), Melisa Kucevic (stage manager), and Ananya Garg (production assistant). This performance is in association with Aanmitaagzi.

This workshop is made possible by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs’ Cultural Development Fund, Materials for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts

Tonight in the HB Basement Studio, we are excited to host a showcase with the students from American Scoreboard, a Spring Term workshop that explores how the language of our past continues to shape the present, led by instructors Fran Kirmser and Chris Burney

American Scoreboard Workshop Reading – Spring 2025 Showcase
Wednesday, May 14 at 7:30pm
Basement Studio at HB Studio, 120 Bank Street
Pay-What-You-Wish, $30 Recommended

HB Studio is excited to host an open rehearsal and reading with students from American Scoreboard, a Spring Term workshop that explores how the language of our past continues to shape the present. In this special presentation, students will share selected readings from historical Congressional transcripts that resonate with today’s issues, followed by a discussion about process and performance. Conceived and produced by Fran Kirmser and created and produced by Chris Burney, American Scoreboard invites citizens of all backgrounds to engage with the words of our elected officials—and the ongoing impact of their decisions.

Fran Kirmser is a two-time Tony Award-winning producer who began with creating and producing theater in the West Village and recently produced Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ on Broadway. Kirmser co-produced the award-winning August Wilson play Radio Golf, the last play and final chapter in an epic ten-play cycle by Wilson. Kirmser also produced Glengarry Glen Ross starring Al Pacino, and she has earned two Tony Awards for the Broadway revivals of Hair (2008-09) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (2013-14). She also served as Executive Producer for the film Lombardi. Kirmser has taught master classes at The New School, New York University, Columbia, Fordham, The Field, and Commercial Theater Institute. Having started out her performing arts career as a young professional dancer and self- produced choreographer, her passion is teaching self-producing and fundraising to emerging artists of all disciplines and helping them to realize their projects to the stage.

Christopher Burney is the Artistic Director of New York Stage and Film. Previously, he was the Tony-nominated Artistic Producer of New York’s Second Stage Theatre. Highlights of the over 100 productions he has shepherded include the 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner Between Riverside and Crazy, 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Water by the Spoonful, 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner Next to Normal, Dear Evan Hansen, The Last Five Years, and many more. As a champion of emerging artists, he has launched the careers of Rajiv Joseph, Leslye Headland, Michael Golamco, Chisa, Hutchison, Kenneth Lin, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Brooke Berman, and Adam Bock, among many others. An advocate for the importance of fostering future generations of theater artists and practitioners, he is on faculty at Columbia University where he teaches creative producing. He has lectured at Barnard College, The Einhorn School for the Performing Arts at Primary Stages, The Juilliard School, Bard College, and more.

The performance takes place in the Basement Studio at 120 Bank Street on Wednesday, May 14 at 7:30pm, and tickets are pay-what-you-wish. Come watch a staged reading from Kirmser and Burney’s students – friends, family, and fellow artists are invited to support them as they demonstrate their hard work in a welcoming, educational setting.

This workshop is made possible with the generous support of the Noël Coward Foundation.