News & Events

Playing Together: Catalonia at HB Studio

HB Studio collaborates with Institut Ramon Llull to present a series of Catalan plays with artist talks

HB Studio is pleased to partner with Institut Ramon Llull to present Playing Together: Catalonia at HB Studio, a special showcase of select Catalan plays followed by discussions with the artists, hosted by HB Studio.

Institut Ramon Llull was founded with the purpose of promoting Catalan language studies at universities abroad, the translation of literature and thought written in Catalan, and Catalan cultural production in other areas like theatre, film, circus, dance, music, the visual arts, design and architecture.

Playing Together: Catalonia at HB Studio will feature screenings of select plays, including English subtitles, followed by in-depth discussions with the artists about their work and creative process.

Playing Together: Catalonia at HB Studio Presents an HB Public Conversation on SOLITUD and SOLITUD A STROMBOLI

Closing out our series will be the classic play, SOLITUD, based on/inspired by a novel with the same title written by a woman (Caterina Albert) under a man’s name (Victor Catala), and SOLITUD A STROMBOLI which compares SOLITUD to the film STROMBOLI by Rosselini.

Our talk will feature Alícia Gorina (director) and actors Maria Ribera and Pol López from SOLITUD and Fina Rius (actress), Núria Casado Gual (author and dramaturg), and Imma Colomer (director) from SOLITUD A STROMBOLI. Moderated by HB Teaching Artist Maria Fontanals.

Please join us for a lively discussion about the two Catalan plays from Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC)!

PLAYING TOGETHER: CATALONIA AT HB STUDIO

PRESENTING AN HB PUBLIC CONVERSATION ON SOLITUD and SOLITUD A STROMBOLI

Monday, October 18, 2021 | 2:00 P.M. ET / 8:00 P.M. CET

About SOLITUD

“After passing through Ridorta they had come across a wagon going their way…” The start of Víctor Català’s best known work is an invitation to immerse oneself in the fascinating literary richness of SOLITUD, and foreshadows some of its major themes: landscape as a vocabulary to express existence, animality in the face of cultural and technical evolution, or time as human geography.

With her great mountain novel, Caterina Albert gave a voice to one of the most exciting female characters in Catalan literature. A journey of enormous vibrant intensity, marked by the magnetic discovery of desire, the raw lesson of solitude and the lucid understanding of the pains that weigh upon the world.

Length: 2 hours. The play is performed in Catalan and presented with English subtitles. Learn more.

About SOLITUD A STROMBOLI

Dra. Nela Simari, a distinguished expert in the field of comparative literature, gives a peculiar “inaugural lecture” on the influence of Víctor Català on the acclaimed Italian director Roberto Rossellini. Her masterful lesson not only takes us into the parallel universes of Solitude and Stromboli, but also invites us to reflect on the concept of authorship, the creative fact itself, and above all, on who comes to light, and who remains in the shadows in the complex narrative of History. Learn more.

Playing Together: Catalonia at HB Studio Presents an HB Public Conversation on MIVION (RADIO SARAJEVO)

MIVION (RADIO SARAJEVO) is a piece of documentary theatre about the siege of Sarajevo and a journalist that resisted it through the radio, written and created together by Slobodan Minic, Arza Suljic, Marc Soler, Carles Fernández Giua and Eugenio Szwarcer. The talk hosted by HB Studio will feature Carles Fernández Giua (director), Eugenio Szwarcer (set and video designer), and Arza Suljic (performer, co-creator of the show), pictured above. Moderated by HB Teaching Artist Maria Fontanals.

Our talk, which features Azra Suljic whose family is from Srebrenica and arrived in Catalonia as a child fleeing from the war, will be presented just one day before the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre on July 11, 1995.

PLAYING TOGETHER: CATALONIA AT HB STUDIO

PRESENTING AN HB PUBLIC CONVERSATION ON MIVION (RADIO SARAJEVO)

Saturday, July 10, 2021 | 2:00 P.M. ET / 8:00 P.M. CET

About MIVION (RADIO SARAJEVO)

“Like water, life always finds a way.” – Slobodan Minic

MIVION is an acronym in the Serbo-Croatian language, formed by the abbreviation of the words “We”, “You” and “They”. MIVION was the title of a cultural program (referring to artists, audience and critics), conducted by Slobodan Minic, a renowned journalist who also was director of the Culture programming at Radio Sarajevo. In that radio show, Minic interviewed artists such as Bosnian poet Sidran, filmmaker Emir Kusturica and musician Goran Bregovic.

During the siege of his city (1992-1996), Minic resisted by doing what he knew best: radio and journalism. Finally, like thousands of other people, he fled through the tunnel excavated under Sarajevo and arrived into Spain, where he established himself together with his family in a little village on the coast of Catalonia, in Spain. There, he worked as a waiter and raised his two sons.

Minic’s story is a testimony to the progressive advance of intolerance, nationalism and authoritarianism, but also to the strength of culture. His story is about the power of the human voice to offer comfort as well as how words and speech can be used to promote hatred and construct an “us vs. them” mindset that can eventually lead to a civil war.

MIVION (Radio Sarajevo) also explores the crossing of cultures and generations. It is a set of mirrors between the voice and the experience of Minic and the lives of two young people, Bosnian Azra Suljic, who also arrived in Catalonia as a child fleeing from the war, and Catalan dancer and performer Marc Soler who was born in 1998 and hardly knew anything about the Bosnian war before joining the project.

MIVION (Radio Sarajevo), magically merges radio and theatrical languages. Journalist Slobodan “Boban” Minic is on the air broadcasting live from his house, just as he was at the station from which he resisted the siege of his city. On stage, two young people who, due to the pandemic had experienced a lockdown that somewhat connects their experiences to Minic’s, Azra Suljic, a translator and interpreter who has never performed on a stage before, and performer Marc Soler. There are also the images filmed in Bosnia and Serbia during the documentary travel, which was an essential part of the creative process of La Conquesta del Pol Sud.

The referential framework for the play is the eclecticism, variety and dynamism of the radio, the ‘natural environment’ of the protagonist. A language in which interviews, moments of reflection and intimacy, musical interludes, even connections with correspondents operating in other spaces are alternated. The language of the radio offers many possibilities for the imagination.

Length: 80 minutes. The show is performed in Catalan, Spanish and Bosnian, and presented with English subtitles. Learn more.

Playing Together: Catalonia at HB Studio Presents an HB Public Conversation on A.K.A. (ALSO KNOWN AS)

Institut Ramon Llull and HB Studio bring together artists from the award-winning play A.K.A. for a discussion about their intentions and creative process. Join us!

The talk will feature: Daniel J. Meyer (playwright), Montse Rodríguez Clusella (director) and Lluís Febrer (lead actor). Moderated by HB Teaching Artist Maria Fontanals.

PLAYING TOGETHER: CATALONIA AT HB STUDIO

PRESENTING AN HB PUBLIC CONVERSATION ON A.K.A. (ALSO KNOWN AS)

Saturday, May 22, 2021 | 2:00 P.M. ET / 8:00 P.M. CET

About A.K.A. (ALSO KNOWN AS)

A.K.A. tells the story of Carlos’ adolescence and invites you to play the role of judge as well as audience member. We are transported to a moment in which, through no fault of his own, his foundations, his roots, his identity begin to break down. Carlos was adopted through a, let’s say, less than legal process. Being adopted is not a problem for him because he feels local, he is local. But the critical eyes of others make him question his true identity. Maybe he is not totally who he has decided to be. Are we what we feel we are or what other people think we are? This is the question we explore in A.K.A. by revealing how these seeds take root in the life of Carlos. Learn more.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

2 MAX Awards (emerging theatrical text, lead actor)
2 MAX nominations (direction, short play)
4 Butaca Awards (theatrical text, short play, direction, lead actor)
3 Barcelona Teatre Awards (theatrical text, short play, direction)
1 Critics Award (best actor)
Audience Award: MIT RIBADAVIA, Galicia
Audience Award: Teatre del Mar, Mallorca
SGAE Foundation Express Theater Award

HB Studio stands in solidarity with Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities

HB Artists, Friends, and Colleagues:

HB Studio stands in solidarity with Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, and against those who would perpetrate racially-motivated violence, verbal, or psychological attacks against them. Xenophobia, bigotry, and discrimination of any kind are unacceptable, as are systemic racism, white supremacy, and the power structures and misinformation that protect and support them. We take pride and pleasure in convening and supporting the diverse, international, multigenerational community that gives HB its energy and creative vitality. Our strength is in the dynamic exchange of ideas and culture.

In the wake of the tragic losses in Atlanta and the escalation of anti-Asian harassment and violence, we acknowledge and confront a long history in America of anti-Asian bias and discrimination, both implicit and explicit. We are committed to examining, recognizing, and repairing the systemic biases in our own culture, and actively intervening and supporting in situations where AAPI persons are marginalized or subjected to harm. We will stand for the AAPI communities’ right to joy, to a sense of safety, and wellbeing. We are also firmly committed to lifting and valuing their voices at such a challenging time. We will use the tools we have as artists to promote understanding and to raise the questions that will point us toward a more promising, more equitable, and inclusive future.

Sincerely,

HB Studio

Please consider participating in free bystander intervention training through Hollaback!

Complete HB Studio’s On-Site Reopening Survey for a chance to Win Class Credit!

Complete HB’s On-Site Reopening Survey for a chance to WIN a $100 CREDIT toward in-person or online classes (good through April 15, 2022 for 3 lucky winners!)*

We want to hear from you regarding what is useful in our online and in-person offerings! HB Studio’s virtual offerings will continue, in some form, when we return to our home on Bank Street. Decisions about how HB Studio will structure its online and in-person offerings will consider a number of factors, including your input.

Your feedback will serve an important role in our understanding of how best to structure HB Studio’s offerings so that they suit the needs of our community. We very much value your feedback. Your participation in this survey will help us to better serve you and other artists like you!

To be eligible, you must complete the survey by April 15, 2021. The survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. All survey respondents will be eligible to win, and each respondent will be counted once. Three winners will be chosen at random and informed on April 16, 2021.

*Redeemable for credit toward an HB Studio class or workshop, held online or in person, through April 15, 2022. Not applicable for programs through the Uta Hagen Institute.

If you have not done so already, please take this time to register an account with HB Studio and consider auditing an online class. HB Studio offers the opportunity for new and existing students to audit any of our weekly classes in order to observe the instructor’s teaching style and the culture of the class before making the commitment to register.

On behalf of all of us at HB, we send our sincere appreciation for taking the time to share your experience!

HB Studio presents Uta Hagen Masterclass with Drama School Mumbai

Drama School Mumbai Uta Hagen Masterclass

We are delighted to partner with Drama School Mumbai in our first-ever collaboration to present the Uta Hagen Masterlass with HB Teacher Carol Rosenfeld.

This online workshop is for advanced actors and offers an oasis of grounded and embodied physical solo practice. The Uta Hagen Masterclass with Carol Rosenfeld is a rare opportunity for Indian theatre practitioners to delve into the self-reflective, ‘object-driven’ exercises that defined the legendary teaching of Uta Hagen. In a sense, this workshop can help theatre performers to ground themselves both on and off-stage/screen – and establish a ‘riyaaz’, as it were.

What’s more, this is the most cost-effective course in Uta Hagen’s techniques you’re likely to find thanks to the digital medium. With limited intake, it offers an intimate, one-on-one, safe, non-performative space to interact with Carol, and establish a fluid, flexible routine.

UTA HAGEN MASTERCLASS
with Carol Rosenfeld for Drama School Mumbai
April 12-28, 2021 (Mon, Wed, Fri)
3 weeks | 8 sessions | 3 hours each
Held online over Zoom, 17:00-20:00 IST / 7:30-10:30 ET
INR 15,000

Register Now

About Carol Rosenfeld

Since 1968, Carol Rosenfeld (she/her/hers) has taught at HB Studio. As founder and first director of the Uta Hagen Institute, she created signature pedagogical courses – the most recent one was the Hagen Actor’s Lab. She has conducted masterclasses in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, Halifax, Calgary, Copenhagen, Barcelona, London, and Melbourne. Carol trained with Uta Hagen and Alice Spivak, and continued her practice through workshops with other notable theatre practitioners. Carol has continued exploring Uta Hagen’s approach through her writing, and has published two books to that effect. Learn more.

Key Takeaways

Working in a safe non-performative space, in the Uta Hagen Masterclass you will:

Identify the “work” at hand and find ease and clarity in your process
Define your obligation to the role, and explore substitutions that lead to choices that are specific and personal
Hone your ability to reflect upon your work
Create circumstances that lead to truthful behavior
Own your voice and points of view, and open yourself up to unexpected discoveries

About Drama School Mumbai

The Drama School Mumbai (DSM) was founded to forge a new generation of theatre makers; individuals who see themselves as actor-creator-entrepreneurs, who will go on in their careers to perform, create and produce work to a new standard of storytelling, and to promote the awareness of theatre and its processes to a wider audience interested in exploring and understanding the medium for themselves.

HB Studio and Eòlia Conservatory of Dramatic Arts Establish International Partnership

HB Studio is pleased to announce that we have teamed up with Barcelona-based drama school Eòlia Conservatory of Dramatic Arts to establish a student exchange and a joint devised theater ensemble with select students from both institutions.

Following our transition to virtual training, HB Studio sought to take advantage of opportunities to build bridges among the international community and establish a mutual exchange of work in the online space. HB Studio is also formalizing plans to partner with other international organizations, including Institut Ramon Llull, Drama School Mumbai, and the Rose Bruford School in London.

About Eòlia Conservatory of Dramatic Arts

Eòlia Conservatory of Dramatic Arts was founded in Barcelona in 2000 and is associated with the theater companies Tricicle, Dragoll Dagom, and The Galilei Project.

Eòlia is closely connected to both the national and international theatre arts scene and has professional training programs for actors, singers, playwrights, dramaturges, producers, dancers and musicians. These programs incorporate current and cutting-edge artistic techniques and are taught by renowned faculty active in the professional performing arts world. Alumni of Eòlia include many professional actors, dramaturgs, and directors working in Spanish and Catalan TV, film, and theater.

Eòlia is more than a theater school, it’s a living project—a space that offers students room to grow and an outlet for discovery, whether they are future professionals, professionals that seek to hone their skills, or people who don’t plan to go on to a career in the Performing Arts but seek to grow, learn, and have fun in the areas of theatre, dramaturgy, playwriting, singing or dance.

An alumna of both Eòlia and HB Studio, Spanish actress and HB Studio teaching artist Maria Fontanals initiated the partnership between the organizations.

“Art knows no boundaries,” said Fontanals. “As a fluent speaker of Spanish, Catalan, French, and English, I have come to understand the value of a multilingual and multicultural worldview. Having this partnership will build a strong artistic community that knows no borders.”

About the Devised Theater Ensemble

Two teaching artists and two students from each institution will collaborate together on a mentored, student-directed devised theater project that will culminate in a performance showcase. Eòlia faculty members Alexandre Fons and Mariona Esplugues and students Clàudia Hernández and Sara Font joined HB faculty members Paul Pryce and Ben Mehl and students Meytat Zehavi and Jandel Camilo to begin work on the project last month.

Josep Galindo, director at Eòlia, envisioned the project as an opportunity for artists to develop material that is uniquely personal through unimpeded creative freedom and generous mentorship.

“We want to give plenty of space for ideas to unfold,” said Galindo. “We don’t know where this journey will take us, rather we will discover it along the way.”

Through the process of sharing and generating together, the ensemble will shape a creative work and present it to audiences from both institutions when the artists feel it is ready.

About the Student Exchange

In addition to the devised theater project, HB Studio and Eòlia have established a free international exchange among five students. HB Studio students Chase Ramsey, Anna Cherkezishvili, and Gem Nelson began participating in a virtual 14-week directing class conducted by Galindo with other students from the Barcelona-based school, on Feb. 11.

The class proposes a process of preparation for a director beginning work on a play, exploring stage languages and systems of analysis. Students choose a play and design a staging for the project. The three were selected among a group of 20 students at HB Studio that had applied for the opportunity.

Students selected from Eòlia include Adriana Galicia and Mariona Esplugues. The two students will participate in a multilingual devised theater performance lab with 14 students from HB Studio. The lab is a collaborative and contemporary reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE with HB Studio instructor Pablo Andrade, which ends in a virtual presentation of their completed work.

Register Now for Online Spring Term Classes & Workshops

Spring Term Weekly Classes:

All Classes Offered Online, in two 5-week Parts: With the exception of our writing classes, all Spring Term classes are offered in two 5-week parts, Part A and Part B. A $15 discount will apply when registering for both parts:
- Part A: March 15–April 18, 2021
- (no class April 19-25)
- Part B: April 26–May 30, 2021
- Sign up for either Part A or Part B independently (5 weeks each), or join both for the full 10-week term. You may join Part B without taking Part A.
Browse Classes and Register Online. Classes available in:
Audit Online Classes: All classes will be held online via Zoom, allowing artists to train from any location. We encourage you to try virtual learning with us by auditing a class.
Classes Tailored to Online Space: HB Studio will tailor its teaching and the topic to the virtual space, taking advantage of the medium’s unique creative possibilities. Please check each course page for more information on how teachers will conduct specific classes online, and read more about HB’s online classes here.

Spring Term Workshops:

Special-focus topics, with short & long term options
Check back often; workshops updated regularly
Browse Workshops and Register Now

Discounts:

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT*: Save 10% off Spring Term Weekly Classes with code SPRING21W, valid through March 5, 2020.

UNION DISCOUNT*: AEA, AGVA, AGMA, SAG/AFTRA, WGA, UFT, and Dramatist Guild Union Members receive 20% OFF Spring Term Weekly Classes through March 5 and 10% off thereafter. Discount will automatically apply for HB-verified Union Members. To become verified, email a copy of your active union membership card to registration@hbstudio.org.

*Discounts valid for weekly classes only; not valid for workshops, programs or merchandise. Discounts cannot be combined nor applied retroactively. Union discount applies for classes taken by cardholders only and cannot be used to enroll family or friends.

Auditions and Prerequisites:

AUDITIONS: Interested in our upper level classes? Audition & consult with a panel of HB’s faculty. For details and sign up info, visit Auditions & Prerequisites.

REEL SUBMISSIONS: Are you a working professional seeking a place to practice? Submit your reel for placement into our studio practice classes.

HB Studio Hosts Virtual Open House for Interested Students on February 2, 2021

Want to pursue a career in acting and unsure about how to get started? HB Studio faculty members and alumni offer guidance and answer your most pressing questions on getting started in the field of acting in an intimate online forum held on Zoom.

This is a forum intended for those new to the field and new to HB Studio.

Getting Your Start in Acting:

A Virtual Open House for Interested Students

4:00-5:30PM, Tuesday, February 2, 2021 | RSVP HERE

Space for the Open House is limited and available on a first-come basis by reservation.

Please RSVP early.

An introduction to the HB Studio training philosophy and its flexible and progressive course structure will be followed by an open discussion with distinguished members of the Studio’s faculty. The HB Studio faculty is comprised of practicing theater artists recognized for their professional work in performance in film and theater, both on and off the stage. Attendees are encouraged to raise questions and make connections among peers and mentors.

Happy New Year! A Note of Reflection and Gratitude

Dear Friends:

This year has been difficult for the theater world and for artists everywhere. We have found moments of joy too, and we have triumphed in discovering new possibilities and ways of working together.

What stands beautifully apart amidst all that has transpired is the outstanding work and dedication of artists. Many, many times we were taken aback by you—by your ingenious creativity, your resolve and your humanity. As actors we learn to adapt to circumstances, and adapt you did, with grit and grace.

As we look ahead to a new year full of both questions and promise, we can acknowledge the difficult journey we have been on and appreciate the power of the work we have set out to do.

We have felt the pain of loss and hardship, and we are reckoning with deep divisions and injustices in our world. But we have also been reminded of what it really means to be an artist; what it means to wrestle with the circumstances of our world and to give that meaning.

Above technical skill, we must cultivate creative work that gives expression to our lives; work that reveals the human condition in all its complexity and touches others in the unspoken ways that only art can.

This year, more than ever, we are grateful for the connection we have with one another. HB’s community is rich with compassion, support, and inspiration, and each one of us brings an urgent and unique creative voice to that dynamic conversation.

Please join us in taking this time to reflect on all of this and to set intentions for yourself and your work in 2021. What will you bring to the New Year? We look forward to seeing you in the Studio, wherever it lives, wherever we make it together.

With gratitude,

HB Studio

The 2021 Hagen Core Training program will have Online and Hybrid options

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 Hagen Core Training program will be offered as a hybrid program, held online, with the option of select in-person classes. Choose to take the entire program remotely, or attend some classes in person.

During the first term all classes will be held exclusively online, except for the Acting Technique class which will meet in small groups, 2-4 afternoons a week at HB Studio. The in-person classes will run simultaneously online for remote students. HB Studio will continually assess the situation as the pandemic progresses to determine whether and at what point additional in-person classes can safely resume during the second and third terms. For those who choose, the entire program can be taken remotely for all three terms.

For those choosing to study under the hybrid model with select in-person classes, HB Studio will follow CDC, OSHA, and NYS/NYC safety guidelines for businesses, standards established by the actors’ unions, and the best practices of our theater and university partners.

An immersive conservatory under the Uta Hagen Institute at HB Studio, the Hagen Core Training program offers an integrated and progressive curriculum of essential classes that lay the foundation for those pursuing a professional career in acting. Taught over three terms by world-class faculty/practitioners, this program offers an integrated progressive curriculum of essential classes: Acting Technique, Scene Study, Script Analysis, Movement, Alexander Technique, Voice, and Speech. The program is eligible for college credit transfer.

2021 HAGEN CORE TRAINING:

Term 1: Jan 4-March 12 (Orientation: Sunday, Jan 3, 2021)
Mon-Fri, 9:30am-4pm
Term 2: March 22-May 28
Mon-Fri, 9:30am-3:30pm
Term 3: June 7-Aug 13
Mon-Fri, 9:30am-4pm

Applications are currently being accepted on a rolling basis. Learn more and apply now!

Introducing the Helen Gallagher Studio Theatre!

HB Studio is pleased to honor longtime teacher Helen Gallagher and introduce the “Helen Gallagher Studio Theatre”!

The Helen Gallagher Studio Theatre, HB Studio’s first floor classroom and performance space, was recently named in honor of Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Helen Gallagher, who has practiced and taught at HB Studio for 35 years.

Friends and professional colleagues of Helen Gallagher gathered in a private event over Zoom on Thursday to celebrate her legacy and contribution to HB Studio.

The Helen Gallagher Studio Theatre is one of HB Studio’s primary training spaces and where the actress teaches her musical theater classes. While the Studio buildings remain closed amid safety concerns, plans for an unveiling celebration are being made for when HB Studio reconvenes.

Design rendering of the exterior of the Helen Gallagher Studio Theatre (pictured below):

Helen Gallagher Studio Theatre HB Studio NYC

Helen Gallagher is an American actress and singer. She received her first Tony Award for her performance in the musical PAL JOEY, and her second for the musical NO, NO, NANETTE. She was awarded three Emmys for her role as Maeve Ryan in the long-running soap opera RYAN’S HOPE. As an active professional, she studied weekly with HB Studio Master Teacher Uta Hagen. She teaches Singing for the Musical Theater at HB Studio. Read more.

“HB Studio is my home, and teaching there has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” said Gallagher. “It is an honor to give back to Uta’s home and this artistic community that I have worked with for so many years.”

As a nonprofit organization, HB Studio relies on the generosity of its supporters to ensure access for any aspiring artist. Its professional training programs provide affordable practice, critical financial aid, and lifelong professional mentored development. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to HB Studio. Your generosity ensures HB Studio remains a vital and resilient resource for the NY and global theater community.