Author: Catrin Lloyd-Bollard

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!

BY MARIA IRENE FORNES
DIRECTED BY GEORGE BARTENIEFF

AUDITIONS: 
Tues, June 3, 3pm – 5pm
Fri, June 6, 6pm – 8pm
Tues, June 10, 3pm – 5pm
Fri, June 13, 6pm – 8pm

To schedule your audition visit or call the registration office: 212-675-2370 x. 1

– Please read the play prior to your audition. Copies are available to read in the registration office.
– Prepare sides, available for pick up in the registration office.
– Please bring headshot & resume to your audition.

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:
• ORLANDO (m) – A young career officer
• LETICIA (f) – Several years older, always speaks her mind, wife to Orlando
• ALEJO (m) – Schoolteacher friend to Leticia
• OLIMPIA (f) – Servant to the house
• NENA (f) – Woman of color, prisoner to Orlando

This lab is offered free of charge to current and recent HB students: those registered for the 2014 Summer term or those previously enrolled during the 2014 Spring or 2014 Winter terms.

The Lab meets June 18 2014 – July 18, 2014, Wed, Thu, Fri, 6:30pm – 9:30pm
With additional performances on Sat & Sun, July 19 & 20.

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Registration is now open for the Summer Term! Summer Term runs 10 weeks, June 16 – August 24.

Auditions for new students wishing to study above level 1 will be held May 8, June 3, 5, & 12. Visit our Audition page for more information and to sign up.

Browse our class offerings and register online, or call the registration office: 212-675-2370 x. 1

First Floor Studio Performance Project

Written and Performed by Brian Kelly

Saturdays, May 3, 10, 17, & 24  |  7pm
Sundays, May 4, 11, 18, & 25  |  6pm
HB Studio, First Floor Studio  |  120 Bank Street
Free!

Stories from a dam with no water, behind the bar, offshore, on deck, across the table, from the side of the road, under the influence, with imaginary flashbulbs. I am. Nowhere. Full pitch full blast drifting open.

Editing, guidance, and direction: Christina LaPrease,
Therese Plummer and Eric Michael Gillett
Sound design: Jun Mizumachi

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.

A collaborative staged reading of selected new 10 minute plays from the students of Julie McKee directed by the students of Jack Hofsiss, with set design by Nikolay Sviridchik.
Show date is June 2nd.

AUDITIONS: MONDAY, APRIL 28^th  | 6:30pm – 9:30pm |  FIRST FLOOR STUDIO.
For consideration, please sendheadshot/resume to play’s director:

DINNER FOR TWO, by Peter Klein. Directed By Kenneth Thompson
Submit to Kthompson@hbstudio.org
Carol: (50) Attractive and attentive, likes to stay at home. Feels that her husband has grown distant and maybe is having an affair.
Henry: (50) Carol’s husband, a dental surgeon. Feels that life has passed him by. Tries to be polite but is irritable and prone to headaches.

THE GREATER GOOD, by Jane L. Watson. Directed By Jennifer Bond
Submit to jenniferbond383@gmail.com
Aimee: (20’s) A young, attractive college girl in trouble after a brief affair with her professor.
Betty: (50’s-60’s) A jaded nun who attempts to create her own “miracle”.

HOME, by Zoe Lasden-Lyman. Directed By Craig Perkins
Submit to cpengage@gmail.com
Woman: (60’s) In the late stages of Alzheimers
Nurse: (20’s) Worker Bee.

INTO THE FORREST, by Mayumi Lane. Directed By Stephan Schmidt
Submit to stephan@chatlag.net
Hans: (M, 30’s) A woodcutter.
Heidi: (F, 19) Hans’ second wife, a stay at home mom.

CAFFEINE ADDICTS ANONYMOUS, by Claire Torn. Directed by Vero Barr
Submit to a.veronica.barr@gmail.com
Stephan: (25-30) Coffee shop barista. Serious, attentive, expressive.
Olivia: (25-30) Coffee shop customer. Coffee addict; Eccentric, loud, obnoxious, charming.

JUST DESSERT, by John Mahoney. Directed By Laurent Wilson
Submit to laurentcw@gmail.com
Sofia: (mid/late 20’s) Italian American woman hailing from NJ. Attractive, feisty and determined to rise above her blue collar.
Marty: (late 40’s) Italian American man with a bad habit of dealing with the mob. A menacing guy from the streets with a great love of family and his daughter

COFFEE AND MURAKAMI, by Inna Tysyrlin. Directed By Alina Sokolova
Submit to alinka_malinka@ymail.com
Mandy: (early 30’s) She is excited and enthusiastic at the start, but cautious and skeptical as the play continues
Ben/Rick: (early/mid 30’s) He is attractive in a subtle way, and is very attracted to Mandy

April 21, 2014 | New York, NY— National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa announced last week that HB Studio is one of 886 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. HB Studio is recommended for a grant to support professional development courses, workshops, labs, and residencies.

These programs offer artists opportunities to both strengthen core competencies in acting, playwriting, and directing, and to experiment with new skills that expand their repertoire. Theatre artists, like artists in all fields, require time and space away from audiences and critics to hone their craft. Each artist faces different hurdles as he or she progresses professionally. Some actors are pigeonholed into roles; some directors become the go-to person for a particular style; some playwrights take time away to raise families or seek work in other fields. These programs provide these artists a supportive and challenging environment to go out on a limb artistically and break creative habits; to build the needed versatility to become competitive in new areas of their business; and to test new ideas that are not yet ready for public evaluation.

NEA Acting Chairman Shigekawa said, “The NEA is pleased to announce that HB Studio is recommended for an NEA Art Works grant. These NEA-supported projects will not only have a positive impact on local economies, but will also provide opportunities for people of all ages to participate in the arts, help our communities to become more vibrant, and support our nation’s artists as they contribute to our cultural landscape.”

Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts.  The NEA received 1,515 eligible applications under the Art Workscategory, requesting more than $76 million in funding. Of those applications, 886 are recommended for grants for a total of $25.8 million.

For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at arts.gov.

Moderated talk with NYC leaders of Latin American, Spanish, and Hispanic American theatre

Moderated by HB alumni Ingrid Wheatley and Reza Salazar

Monday, May 5, 2014 | 7:30pm (doors at 7pm)
HB Playwrights Theatre, 124 Bank Street, NYC
All are welcome! Meet & Greet Reception to follow
$10 suggested donation | $5 HB students & staff

RSVP HERE

JOSÉ ZAYAS (Resident Director, Repertorio Español) began working with Repertorio in 2004 when he was selected as a fellow of the Van Lier Young Directors Project. Ever since, he has directed seven productions for the company and was named Resident Director in 2013. His production of Caridad Svich’s THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, based on Isabel Allende’s novel, at Repertorio Español, won multiple ACE and HOLA awards, including best production and director. Other credits with Repertorio include MADRE, EL DRAMA PADRE ; LETTERS TO A MOTHER; NOWHERE ON THE BORDER;  NO BETTER FRIEND, NO WORSE ENEMY; IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES; and LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA.

His production of THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS had its international debut at the Mori Theatre in Santiago, Chile. In addition, his production of the same play at the Denver Center has won numerous Ovation Awards including Best Production and Direction and was selected as Best Production of the Year by the Denver Post. Zayas was born in Puerto Rico and graduated from Harvard and Carnegie Mellon Universities. He is co-Founder of The Immediate Theater Company. He held a residency at the Ensemble Studio Theater and was selected as one of nytheater.com’s 2007 People of the Year. He is also a Drama League Fellow and an alumnus of Lincoln Center’s Director’s Lab and Soho Rep Writer/Director’s Lab and has received fellowships such as the Phil Killian, Kenneth Frankel, John Pasquin and Van Lier.

His theatre credits include FEEDER by JD Carter (TERRAnova Collective); THE STRANGEST by Betty Shamieh (HERE Arts Center); THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD by Mando Alvarado and Tommy Newman (TheaterworksUSA); MILKMILKLEMONADE by Joshua Conkel (APAC); SOUTHERN PROMISES by Thomas Bradshaw (PS122); OKAY by Taylor Mac (Ensemble Studio Theatre); VENGEANCE CAN WAIT by Yukiko Motoya (PS122); AGAIN AND AGAINST by Betty Shamieh (The Lark); THE PAST IS NOT A FOREIGN COUNTRY (VERY) PERSONAL MAPS OF SEATTLE by Mallery Avidon (Soho Rep); THE WASPS and TECMESSA by Ken Urban (Target Margin); STROM THURMOND IS NOT A RACIST by Thomas Bradshaw (Brick Theater, 4 New York Innovative Theater Award Nominations); DEVIL LAND by Desi Moreno-Penson (Summer Play Festival/Cherry Lane Theatre); CROWNS by Regina Taylor (Virginia Stage Company). Zayas co-produced INTAR’s 2006 New Works Theater Lab. His credits as Assistant Director include TALK RADIO directed by Robert Falls and starring Liev Schreiber; REGRETS ONLY directed by Christopher Ashley; COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA directed by Michael Pressman.

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.