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First Floor Studio Performance Project

A reading of a new one act play
by Andrew Marvel

Sunday July 13 | 7:30pm
HB First Floor Studio | 120 Bank Street
Free! | RSVP online

Each evening will be followed by a talk back.

Directed by Joshua Lombard
With John Carhart, Omar Cruz, Dennis Joel Henriquez & Marshall Simon.

Gay weddings for republicans. REALLY? Mark, a 47-something New Yorker thinks the whole idea is absurd. So when an invitation arrives to celebrate the union of Mark’s ex-lover to an up-and-coming rightwing politician, Mark decides there is only one way he can attend: in drag. Admittedly, he’s no RuPaul, but that’s just fine by Mark, who relishes the idea of making people uncomfortable at this pretentious affair. BRIDAL SHOWER is a one-act play that explores the very different effects mainstream acceptance is having on the gay community.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

The Fall Term begins September 15. Sign up for your audition today.

New students wishing to study above our Level 1 class offerings are asked to audition before a faculty panel.
For audition schedule, details and sign up info, visit the Auditions & Prerequisites page.

Level 1 offerings are open to all without prerequisite or audition.

The Fall Term runs 10 weeks, September 15 – November 23. Fall Term registration begins August 1.

Interested in a trial class before registering? Audit classes this Summer to plan your Fall schedule. The fee for an audit is $20. Call 212-675-2370 for details and to schedule an audit.

HB notes with sadness the passing of Stuart Vaughan. We are honored and grateful for the time and wisdom Stuart shared with us this year.

A memorial/celebration of Stuart’s life is being planned for September at The Public Theatre.

“Stuart Vaughan, who directed the first productions of the New York Shakespeare Festival and later seeded several regions of the country with classic works, starting repertory theaters in Seattle and New Orleans and another that toured community centers and colleges, died on June 10 at his home in High Bridge, N.J. He was 88.

The cause was prostate cancer, his wife, Anne Thompson Vaughan, said.

As a director, Mr. Vaughan earned a reputation as a specialist in Shakespeare who professed a loyalty to the text and an aversion to what he called “revisionist approaches aimed at achieving ‘relevance.’ ” In the early 1960s, he directed a well-received “Hamlet” and “Henry IV” Parts 1 and 2 on Broadway.

But he was largely unknown when the producer Joseph Papp asked him to direct “Julius Caesar” and “The Taming of the Shrew” in 1956 at an amphitheater on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the first two productions of what became a New York summer tradition — free Shakespeare outdoors…”

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HB notes with sadness the passing of Pennie (Helen Quinn) duPont on Friday, our longtime friend and colleague.

Helen Quinn (Pennie) duPont, 75, of Greenwich Village, New York passed away peacefully at the Methodist Country House in Wilmington, Delaware on June 13, 2014.

Pennie was born in Johnstown, PA in1939 to the late Helen L. Rodgers and James Q. duPont. She is survived by her sister Deborah duP. Riegel of Wilmington, and by two brothers, P. Coleman duPont of Wilmington and Jamie MacKenzie of Taconic, Connecticut. She is also survived by two nieces, two nephews, two grand nieces and one grand nephew.

Pennie graduated from Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut and Bradford Junior College in Haverhill, Massachusetts before going on to the Yale Drama School in New Haven, Connecticut. After attending The Yale Drama School, Pennie studied with Uta Hagen in New York and then worked in theater both on and off Broadway. A meticulous, knowledgable, and universally respected professional who brought her experience to many domains, Pennie’s career also included casting major motion pictures such as The Karate Kid, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Arizona Dream for directors Fred Schepisi, John Avildsen, Francis Ford Coppola and Emir Kusturica. She also did the west coast casting on Star 80 for Bob Fosse and Annie for John Huston. She was a founder of the City Center Young Peoples Theater and produced The Shrinking Bride off Broadway, introducing Danny de Vito.

Pennie began casting films when Ray Stark hired her to do a search for Annie. She did five other films for Stark; then went to work for Daniel Melnick’s IndiProd, casting such films as Roxanne and Quicksilver. She worked for Columbia and Tri Star in Los Angeles until returning to New York. She co-hosted the television show The Good Life with John Newcomb, syndicated in the US and Australia. As a writer, she sold a number of screenplays, including the award-winning Torn Between Two Fathers, an ABC after school special.  During the 90’s, she directed and produced short archival films for The New York School of Interior Design.

Pennie also taught acting and directing at NYU, both in New York City and Singapore, and at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute. One of the high points of her career was a project with Karen Ludwig to produce and direct Uta Hagen’s Acting Class, a renowned teaching documentary of her incomparable teacher and friend.

Pennie was a member of WAC; a feminist activist group of the late 80’s and early 90’s which organized actions around reproductive rights and equal pay. She loved going to movies, rowing on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn and just being outdoors. She will be deeply missed by all her family, friends, neighbors, students and colleagues. The family would like to recognize the extraordinary care given Pennie by all the staff at the Methodist Country House and Compassionate Care Hospice.

Services are private. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to:  HB Studio,
120 Bank Street, 
New York, NY 10014.

Taught by Amanda Quaid, this is an advanced workshop for foreign actors who are working towards auditioning and performing using an American Accent. It is suitable for actors who are already proficient in the signature sounds of General American English who want to bridge the gap to scene study and auditions:

Acting in Accent: General American
Tuesdays & Thursdays
July 8, 10, 15 & 17
10am – 12pm, $145
Applications due June 24!