People 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 →
Performances & Events
Performance Lab: PAL JOEY
PAL JOEY
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
People 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”
A 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.
BLACK PROTAGONIST – First Floor Studio Residency
BLACK PROTAGONIST
First Floor Studio Residency
Workshop Performances
Saturday June 27th & Sunday June 28th at 7pm
Saturday July 11th & Sunday July 12th at 8pm
Featuring: James Dow, Peregrine Heard, Lauren LaRocca, Cyndii Johnson, Emily Stout, Casey Worthington
The Associates create plays through a process of research, improvisation, new playwriting techniques, and daring. We poke at the place where the mundane and the grotesque converge: in the nooks and crannies of human desire. Our plays aim to change the trajectory of story-telling tradition. The workshop we are presenting through HB’s First Floor Studio Residency is the product of a revision of our (dark) identity comedy, Black Protagonist, and a new look at forms of audience participation.
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.
This program is made possible through the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and many generous supporters.
THE CENTRAL PARK PLAYS
A 10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL featuring
selected work from the playwriting classes of
Donna de Matteo and Julie McKee.
RSVP
or call 212-989-7856 between 1pm-5pm, Monday through Friday
HB Playwright’s Theatre
April 23, 24, 25, & 26 at 8pm and April 25 at 3pm
First Floor Studio Residency – ILLINOIS
ILLINOIS 
First Floor Studio Residency
Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 5pm
April 4 & 5, 11 & 12, 18 & 19, 25 & 26
Written and Directed by: Terry Gibson
Featuring: Rachel Errington, Daren Kelly, Andy McCutcheon, Michele Severino
“David and Elizabeth, two young Manhattan financial advisors, get to know each other before enticing clients into making investments in art.”
RSVP
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.
Performance Lab – ACROSS THE WAY
True or False?
Boundaries are meant to be crossed, obliterated even, to protect the ones we love?
…Someone is about to find out.
ACROSS THE WAY
HB Studio 2015 Winter Performance Lab
Friday, February 20 | 8pm
Saturday, February 21 | 8pm
Sunday, February 22 | 7pm
First Floor Studio | 120 Bank Street
Director: Amy Wright
Written by: Perry Guzzi
Cast:
Chantelle Goulevitch
Louise Mittelman
Will Arvidson
Crew:
Set Design: Nikolay Sviridchik
Music: Gaya
Sound Design: George Port
House Technician: Brian Kafel
Assistant to Director/Stage Manager: Ashish Pant
TWENTIETH CENTURY BLUES: NOT JUST A TALENT TO AMUSE
Readings of scenes from Fumed Oak, Post-Mortem, A Song at Twilight, The Vortex, and others, as well as songs and poetry by “The Master,” Noël Coward.
Saturday, February 28 | 7:30pm 
HB Playwrights Theatre, 124 Bank Street
$10 suggested donation | $5 HB students & staff
RSVP online – Online reservations are full, a walk in list will be made on the night of the reading and we will accommodate as many guests as possible! Thank you!
Cast: Laura Esterman, Eric Michael Gillett, Rochelle Oliver, Amanda Quaid, Mark Blum, Erik Singer, Noel Velez and Fritz Weaver.
Curated by: Alan Pally
This program is part of Don’t Let’s Be Beastly, HB Studio’s year-long celebration of the work of Noël Coward, made possible by the generous support of the Noël Coward Foundation.