2. Scene Study & Workshops

  3. The Text and Scene Study Classes offer students a chance to learn, develop, and perfect their craft under the focused guidance of an instructor and in the presence of their peers.  Each of our teachers brings years of professional experience and study to these ongoing classes, which are enrolled on a month-to-month basis to conform to the busy life of the professional actor.  Admission to these classes is highly selective, and an interview with each prospective student is required before enrollment.  In some cases, an audition may be required as well.


  5. Surrounding our core teacher-mentors are brilliant specialists.  Three or four times a year, these immensely gifted and experienced trainers conduct workshops that concentrate on particular aspects of the actor's craft: voice, body, language, style, comedy, the classics - including Shakespeare, song, on-camera, and audition.  Together with the core text & scene study, the specialist workshops help our actors devise their own training program.  I invite you to join us. 


 
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Scene Study

MICHAEL HOWARD


Michael Howard’s Master Class in Text and Scene Study is for the accomplished, professional actor who seeks the challenge of working with an experienced group of peers and one of the country’s most renowned acting coaches.  Michael is always eager to meet new students who are ready to take their work to the highest level of training.  CLASS SIZE IS LIMITED. 


AUDITION/INTERVIEW required.


Please email us to submit a headshot/resume for consideration.


                                                                                        Tuesdays

                                                                                1:00PM - 6:00PM

                                                                                $345.00 per month

 

POLINA KLIMOVITSKAYA


Polina’s work focuses on the powerful traditions of the Russian theatre while embracing newer theories of performance from Europe.  With students from all over the world, her class provides a creative space for actors to grow and develop among a group of dedicated artists each of whom brings unique histories and skill sets to their work.


                                                                                            Fridays

                                                                                    12:00PM - 3:00PM

                                                                                        $265 per month

 

NAOMI THORNTON


Naomi Thornton is on the faculty at Bard College and has years of experience as a performer, director, and producer; she’s also a veteran of the Michael Howard Studios, having held classes here longer than anyone except Michael himself.  Her tightly-knit group of students examines various approaches to performance led by Naomi’s dynamic rigor and focus. 


                                                                                           Tuesdays

                                                                                    7:00PM - 10:00PM

                                                                                        $265 per month

 

  1. copyright 2010 - Michael Howard Studios

ANGELA PIETROPINTO


Angela (Welcome To The Dollhouse, Greetings from the Shore, Nurse Jackie) is a working actor in all realms of the industry.  Her scene study class
is geared to give its participants a process that they can rely upon, a process rooted in astute text analysis and the ability to make bold choices - the selection of strong objectives, formidable obstacle, meaningful pre-lives, personalization, and varied actions.  Angela is renowned for her hands-on teaching style and is recommended by some of the top agencies and casting directors for her transformational work with the actor.

Angela Pietropinto has performed both on and off Broadway and in Film and Television. Welcome To The Dollhouse, in which she portrayed Marj Weiner, the mother from hell, won the 1995 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. She has been teaching acting for over 20 years and is presently the Director of The Open Arts Studio at NYU Tisch Special Programs.



Mondays

7:00PM - 10:00PM

$265 per month

 
                        GREG MULLAVEY


Greg is a working actor whose credits are too many to list fully, but here are a few: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, iCarly, Romantic Comedy, Bob&Carol&Ted&Alice. He is a voting member of both The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and The Television Academy.


Greg will focus on the Ws: the “Who, What, Why, Where, and When.”  While imparting techniques Greg has developed through his vast experiences in film, television, and stage, he leads the journey with an emphasis on the ‘Why” -- finding it and making not just any choice, but the most exciting one.  His class also focuses on relaxation exercises, dealing with tension, vocal and enunciation work, and text analysis, by using and defining actions, intentions, objectives, and super objectives all while learning to lay the groundwork for impulsive, organic behavior.



Mondays

  2:30PM – 5:30PM

   $265 per month

 

All payments are due in full before the first class of the month.  No prorating.

JIM SHANKMAN


Jim is a working actor (Broadway’s Grease, Circle in the Square’s Once in a Lifetime) and playwright (Alien, Life Could Be A Dream).  Jim is also a highly-acclaimed producer and director as well as a protege of Michael Howard.  His scene study class will focus on the actor’s ability to reveal himself from within the roles he creates.  The class will use scene study and exercise work to strengthen and stretch the actor’s imagination in order to bring his deepest feelings, his deepest sense of self to his work, and to use an awakened imagination to create active characters whose behavior is dramatically clear and direct.  The class will also concentrate on the ability to interpret the playwright’s text in order to create a character, define relationships, understand situation, and find the story that is at the heart of the scene.


Jim encourages his actors to devise a uniquely personal way of working by presenting them with a variety of approaches to the craft.  The aim of the class is not to indoctrinate an actor into a specific way of working but to train the actor to work truthfully, and stylistically, however he finds his way to that goal.


Tuesdays

7:00PM - 10:00PM

$265 per month

 

GABRIELLE BERBERICH


Gabrielle is a casting director, writer, and producer for film and television, as well as the owner of Michael Howard Studios.  She follows up her immensely popular Acting for Film & Television Workshop with this on-going Scene Study Class.  Through scene work and text analysis, this class will focus on the passionate pursuit of artistic growth and evolution of today’s actor in the American Theatre including stage, film, and television.  In addition, it will serve to assist actors in the craft of acting as a business.  Together, this class will have the occasion to draw from the insight and experience of industry guests, including working actors, directors, producers, agents, and managers.  CLASS SIZE IS LIMITED.





Wednesday

3:00PM - 6:00PM

$290 per month