This 10-week course combines character-driven vocal performance with practical audition skills for musical theater. In the first five weeks, we focus on acting the song and building your audition book. We will apply foundational acting techniques to the solo performance of a song, developing your vocal technique while bringing truth, specificity, and the life of the character to each piece. In the second five weeks, the class shifts to the audition process, guiding you through mock auditions, self-taping fundamentals, callbacks, and working with a director, in a supportive, hands-on environment. The course culminates in polished selections and a stronger, more confident audition presence. Come prepared with a song. Accompanist provided.

• Learn more about the instructor.
• Prerequisite: Open to all

For artists who are interested in developing their own projects, this is an independent class working solo or with a partner on an independent study project that you devise, under the guidance of HB faculty, Snezhana Chernova. Examples of projects include: Writing a screenplay/play, doing a podcast, doing a live stream performance series, monologues or scenes, creating a TV pilot, writing music, shooting a documentary or short/feature film, writing poetry etc. You must submit an application at this link for review and approval prior to registering. Within the application you will be asked to include a work-plan, proposed outcome, and the estimated number of hours required to complete the project. Creative projects might be shared in public presentations at the end of the term and/or on HB Studio’s social media channels. Undertaking this Lab requires a commitment to check-ins with the instructor and weekly 2.5 hour group meetings to report objectives, progress, trouble shoot, present projects, and exchange ideas. An additional one-on-one 30 minute session with the instructor may be held each week. This Independent Study Project Lab requires a commitment of 4 hours per week.

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• Prerequisite: Application required. Apply online.

For actors who have English as a second language. The question “How do I make these words my own?” is at the core of the actor’s craft. If you are speaking English as a second language, you may encounter additional stumbling blocks like getting stuck in “translator” mode, feeling emotionally disconnected from the language, and fearing being misunderstood. This course is designed to help you bridge the gap between the text and the self by unlocking the full expressive power of the language skills you already possess. The class guides you through activities to fully access your natural and learned language tools so that you can express yourself more freely, listen more intently and contribute more meaningfully in English. Voice and movement exercises will uncover the expressive musicality and physical experience of embodied language. Through text analysis, table reading, and guided rehearsal, you explore the vocabulary, grammar, subtext and context of a given script. The goal is to develop your language skills on multiple levels with a focus on improving your ability to perform in English. All of this serves the actor’s calling to make meaningful connections with others through collaborative dialogue.

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• Prerequisite: Prior completion of one full term (10 weeks) of Speech 1.

This class will give students the tools needed to read scripts with active curiosity, so that you can bring the script to life in unique and specific ways. Your enhanced understanding of the script will improve your performance. You will explore specific techniques that allow you to identify inciting events, main events, character relationships, themes and genre and all the particulars that make storytelling powerful and clear. The course begins with an introduction to the approach, followed by in-depth analysis of assigned scripts each week. We will be breaking down a screenplay, a play and a popular TV pilot together. You will each explore a character from each of the scripts, and perform excerpts from scripts and/or sides analyzed in this class.

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• Prerequisite: Open to Acting Level 2 and up. New to HB? Submit online for level placement.

Join us this summer at HB Studio for an immersive, week-long acting experience designed for teens ages 13–17. This dynamic intensive runs Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, offering young performers the opportunity to develop their craft in a supportive and inspiring environment.

Students will train with a team of experienced teaching artists in three core disciplines essential to every actor’s toolkit:

• Acting with Daniel Carlton
• Voice & Speech with Craig MacArthur Dolezel
• Movement with Demetrius Blocker

Through focused daily classes, participants will build confidence, strengthen their physical and vocal presence, and deepen their connection to character and text. The program emphasizes ensemble work, creative exploration, and practical techniques that students can carry into future performances and training. Whether you’re new to acting or looking to sharpen your skills, this intensive provides a rigorous and fun opportunity to grow as an artist alongside peers who share your passion. 

Session Dates:

• July 13-17
• August 3-7

Price for one session: $900.

Please bring a lunch. Teens also have the option of leaving the premises during lunch as long as a guardian approves it upon registering. 

Esta clase, impartida en español, es un curso de nivel combinado (Niveles 1 y 2). Está basada en la técnica de Uta Hagen y diseñada para guiar a los actores en el proceso de preparación y ensayo de textos dramáticos. A través del trabajo de escenas, monólogos y soliloquios, los estudiantes aplicarán los Seis Pasos de Hagen mientras fortalecen herramientas esenciales como objetos internos, sustituciones, transferencias, atribuciones sensoriales y el desarrollo del personajes. Los estudiantes trabajarán con escenas de obras hispanas contemporáneas y clásicas, transitando por un ciclo creativo de descubrimiento, investigación, experimentación y refinamiento. En clase, los actores presentarán su trabajo, recibirán notas y continuarán explorando el arco completo del material—incluyendo el entorno, la partitura física, la vida emocional y las motivaciones—para dar vida a cada escena con honestidad, especificidad y riesgo creativo. Se podrán incorporar ejercicios de técnica según sea necesario para abordar desafíos actorales específicos. Se espera de los estudiantes un compromiso de ensayo con sus compañeros fuera de clase, con una dedicación estimada de 2 a 3 horas semanales de preparación.

• Aprende más sobre el instructor.
• Libro necesario para el curso: Un Reto Para El Actor (Artes Escénicas) by Uta Hagen.
• Requisito previo: El curso está abierto a actores hispanohablantes de todos los niveles, así como a aquellos para quienes el español es una segunda lengua y desean profundizar su capacidad para actuar en español

Whether for an audition or a role that you have already landed, the ability to deliver a captivating Shakespearean monologue is essential to performing the Bard's work. In this five week workshop, through monologues and soliloquies from Shakespeare’s plays, you'll learn how to liberate the poetry and feeling in yourself by using the essentials of classic drama -- rhythm, structure, passion, and ideas. We will mine the text for the specific sensorial and emotionally charged details that can stimulate lively, immediate, and grounded acting choices. As you rehearse your monologues in front of others, we will focus on the crucial process of building and revealing character. Combining the artificed rigor of verse with an unparalleled naturalism, Shakespeare urges us and teaches us how to become the complete actor.

• Learn more about the instructor.
• For the first day: Come prepared with a Shakespeare monologue of your choosing.
• Prerequisite: Open to all.

An intensive course of study for both the pre- professional and professional actor, meeting 2 days a week over 6 weeks. This powerful work relaxes the actor into the truth of themselves and removes impediments to an actor's effective use of their instrument. It explores improvisational exercises and scene work to improve concentration and responsiveness culminating in a scripted scene. The Meisner 6 week Intensive has launched the careers of artists such as Robert DuVall, Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Rockwell, and Anthony Hopkins.

• Learn more about the instructor.
• Prerequisite: Open to Acting Level 2 and up. New to HB? Submit online for level placement.