Performances & Events

LUCKY PENNY

lucky pennyLUCKY PENNY

Friday January 15th & Saturday January 16th at 8pm

Sunday January 17th at 3pm
HB Playwrights Theatre | 124 Bank Street

Free! RSVP online

Written and performed by David Deblinger*
Featuring Songs and sounds performed by Fred Johnson
Directed and Developed by Ben Snyder

From a juvenile detention center in New Jersey to a fabled plaza in Madrid, from the piers of San Francisco to a Staten Island state mental hospital, Lucky Penny is a hilarious and surreal tale of love, loss, and laughter interwoven with songs sung by renowned Jazz vocalist Fred Johnson

Stage Manager Katie Kavett*
Technical Director/Lighting Designer Brian Kafel
Production Manager Daniel Nelson
Graphics Achilles Lavidis

Equity Approved Showcase (*) designates member of AEA

THE MAKERS

Makers PosterA FIRST FLOOR STUDIO RESIDENCY
Workshop Presentation

Written by Julia Izumi
Directed by Logan Reed
Produced by Natalie Gershtein

Saturday & Sunday
November 21 & 22 @ 7:30pm
FREE! | RSVP ONLINE

HB Studio, First Floor Studio
120 Bank Street

In the beginning there was darkness.  And a giant egg and mud and puppies and snakes and cow chips and kettles and scones.  And loneliness too. In the beginning storytelling brought us together and gave us reason and hope, as they still do today. THE MAKERS is a mash-up of creation myths and origin stories from around the world in attempt to find what unifies us all as human beings.

People Who Make Theatre: John Jesurun

PWMT_John Jesurun_EblastPeople Who Make Theatre
A Conversation with John Jesurun

Moderated by Asta Hansen

Monday, October 26 | 7:30pm
HB Playwrights Theatre | 124 Bank Street
$10 suggested donation | $5 HB students/staff
RSVP Online

John Jesurun is a writer, director and media artist based in New York. His presentations integrate elements of language, film, architectural space and media. Continue reading →

The World of Agnes de Mille: A Conversation with Gemze de Lappe and Helen Gallagher

PWMT_demillePeople Who Make Theater

The World of Agnes de Mille: A Conversation with Gemze de Lappe and Helen Gallagher

Moderated by Mindy Aloff


Monday, October 19 | 7:30pm

HB Playwrights Theatre | 124 Bank Street
$10 suggested donation | $5 HB students & staff

RSVP Online

HB is exploring the canon of the American musical theater this year, with support from the Frederick Loewe Foundation.

 Continue reading →

Performance Lab: PAL JOEY

PAL JOEYPalJoey2
Music and Lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

Directed by Robert McQueen

7pm | September 26 & 27, 2015
First Floor Studio, 120 Bank Street
Click here to RSVP

Using scenes from the musical PAL JOEY this lab will focus on strengthening each participants’ rehearsal process, beginning with score preparation, table work and will then move into staging and choreographic rehearsals. Open performances will be a mix of staged and choreographed scenes and table readings.

This project is made possible through the generous support of the Frederick Loewe Foundation.  Continue reading →

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered: Playing PAL JOEY – A Conversation with Helen Gallagher & Rita Gardner

PWMT_BBB_Playing Pal Joey_eblastPeople Who Make Theatre
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered: Playing Pal Joey
A Conversation with Helen Gallagher & Rita Gardner

Moderated by Robert McQueen

Helen Gallagher (No, No, Nanette, Sweet Charity, Ryan’s Hope) won her first Tony as Gladys Bumps in the 1952 revival of Rodgers & Hart’s Pal Joey. This production also starred Elaine Stritch, as Melba, Harold Lang as Joey with Bob Fosse as Lang’s understudy. Rita Gardner (Luisa in the original cast of The Fantastics, Ben Franklin in Paris, The Wedding Singer) played the role of Linda English in the 1963 revival which featured Bob Fosse as Joey along with Viveca Lindfors. Robert McQueen, director of HB’s fall performance lab of Pal Joey, will join Helen and Rita in conversation about playing in this provocative Rodgers & Hart gem, which was based on a series of short stories by John O’Hara and scandalized audiences at its 1940 premiere. This evening is made possible with support from the Frederick Loewe Foundation and is part of HB Studio’s series celebrating the American Musical Theater canon.

Monday, September 21 @ 7:30pm
HB Playwrights Theatre, 124 Bank Street
$10 suggested donation, $5 HB Students & Faculty
RSVP online

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation presents “The HB Playwrights Theatre: A West Village Haven for Theatre”

124bankgarageA LECTURE WITH DRAMATIC READINGS

Thursday, September 10, 6:30 P.M.
HB Playwrights Theatre, 124 Bank Street
Hosted by Alan Pally (HB Board Member and former Manager of Public Programs at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center)
With readings by Rochelle Oliver & Fritz Weaver.
RSVP

This event will provide the general public with an introduction to and overview of the history of the HB Playwrights Theatre. Geared towards newcomers interested in becoming acquainted with HB and its history.

The HB Studio was already a thriving fixture in New York City’s cultural landscape when in 1965 founders Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen realized their dream of establishing a theater. From his work on the film Cleopatra, Berghof earned the money to purchase the one-story garage they would convert to a 73-seat performance space.

For 50 years HB has presented productions, readings, panels, talks, and other theatrical events in this West Village gem. Now in its 70th year, HB Studio continues to provide a nurturing space for theater artists to work and practice, free from pressures related to commercial success.

Join us for a talk about the history of HB and its theater with short readings by HB notables from a few of the many plays performed there.

First Floor Residency – NEVER ODD OR EVEN

NEVER ODD OR EVEN

First Floor Studio Residency

Work-in-progress Performance Presentation
(Ending with Q&A, Topic: DIY Theater)
Sunday, August 23 at 7pm
RSVP

Open Rehearsals – No RSVP, Come anytime!
Saturday, August 15, 4pm-8pm
Sunday, August 16, 4pm-8pm (ending with Q&A, Topic: devised theater)
Saturday, August 22, 4pm-8pm 

TITLE:POINT productions
Directed by Theresa Buchheister
Written by Ryan William Downey, Theresa Buchheister, Scott Ries, Spencer T. Campbell
Featuring: Justin Anselmi, Ryan William Downey, Glor Klar, Catrin Lloyd-Bollard & J.R. Rose

Title:Point turn their hectic gaze toward beginnings and endings
in the palindromic fever dream, Never Odd or Even.
Five isolated human shapes
Pivot through time and space while
Navigating the fantastical beasts,
Dead playwrights,
Confounding mathematicians,
And earnest cowboys
They encounter and become.

Developed by residencies at
Pilot Balloon in Lawrence, Kansas and
HB Studio in New York City.

Title:Point is proud to present
Their phantasmagorical delve
Into the interiors
Of
The
M
I
N
D
.

Catch a full performance of NEVER ODD OR EVEN
at The Brick Theater, Williamsburg Sep 08, 2015 – Sep 19, 2015
www.bricktheater.com
Use discount code PALINDROME for $12 tickets! (regularly $18)
www.titlepoint.org

First Floor Studio Residency
 – HB Studio is dedicated to training and practice for the theatre and to the ongoing artistic development of actors, directors, and playwrights. The Studio will, at intervals throughout the year, make workshop performance space available in our First Floor Studio for the development of creative projects that further the training and artistic practices fostered at HB. The Studio is not a producing organization, nor should these presentations be construed as “showcases” or “productions.” Rather, we offer an opportunity for associated artists to collaborate on experimental projects, to be shared among peers and colleagues, for constructive critical feedback and mutual growth. 

NEA and NYSCA Acknowledgement