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Taught by Marcel Simoneau
Mar 3, Mar 10, Mar 24, Mar 31 (Tuesdays)*
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
A weekly, in-person acting class combining Method, Meisner, and other techniques with exercises, script analysis, and hands-on scene study and monologue work. Designed for growth and risk-taking, the class offers a safe, consistent environment to put theory into practice each week.
*This class will be running through May 2026. Sign-ups occur monthly. If you are a current student who would like to continue, simply sign up and pay for the following month here on our website.
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Marcel Simoneau is a New York City–based actor, teacher, director, and voice actor with credits spanning film, television, and national commercials. His work includes appearances on Law & Order, Gotham, The Blacklist, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and The Daily Show, as well as films such as Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Kinsey. He also has done extensive Voice-Over work in commercials and ADR, more recently on Matchbox, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, Emily in Paris, The Munsters, Stillwater, Halston, Mythic Quest & Little Women among others. An acting teacher for over 20 years at NYU, Strasberg, The Neighborhood Playhouse, T. Schreiber Studios & Studio 22.
Taught by Amy Michelle Gaither (website)
Mar 9, Mar 16, Mar 23 (Mondays)
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
Get out of your head and into the work. Whether you're new to Shakespeare or returning with experience, this class is a space to unlock something deeper in your craft. Using scenes from Shakespeare’s plays as our playground, we’ll approach the text as actors—not academics—with an emphasis on physical connection, emotional truth, and personal resonance.
Amy’s teaching invites you to explore the language as a living, breathing force—without overanalyzing. It’s about working on your feet, diving into the verse, and discovering the physical embodiment of Shakespeare’s rich and deeply human characters. If you’re feeling stuck, curious, rusty, intimidated, or simply hungry for more—this class is for you. New and returning students are warmly invited to continue deepening the work.
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Amy has been acting, teaching, coaching, and directing Shakespeare for 30 years. Amy taught acting and theatre courses at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and was the founding director of The Fall Festival of Shakespeare at DePauw, a program which brings Shakespeare alive to Putnam County teenagers through their performance of his plays, and served as Artistic Director for Wisdom Tooth Theatre Project in Indianapolis for two years.
She created Duende Productions in 2019: “Illuminating Theatre that is classics-inspired, language-driven, and actor-focused.” Duende produced Twelfth Night, New York Actors Reading Series during the pandemic, and the New York premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight.
She is a working actor and director and lives in NYC.
Taught by Matthew Gasda
Mar 12, Mar 19, Mar 26, April 2 (Thursdays)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
For actors, but also useful to directors, this four week class will work on scenes from Matt's oeuvre, focusing on, but not limited to Dimes Square, Zoomers, Morning Journal, Quartet, Minotaur, and Ardor.
As we explore these plays, we will also discuss the broader themes and ideas that they explore, including identity, relationships, sexuality and power dynamics, and mortality. We will engage in in-depth discussions about the text, exploring how conceptual understandings of the texts can find objective correlates in performance. Actors will also explore acting in a "chamber" environment, honing in on the kinds of acting techniques that really sing in smaller, intimate spaces.
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Matthew Gasda a theatre director and the author of numerous plays, novels, poems and essays. He is a co-founder of the BCTR.
Taught by Ephraim Birney
Mar 14, Mar 21, Mar 28, April 4 (Saturdays)
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
Ephraim Birney dropped out of his acting conservatory after he failed movement class while pretending to be a tree. Since then he’s been nominated for an Outer Critic’s Circle Award for Best Leading Actor, worked with directors like Lear deBessonet, Knud Adams, Stephen Brackett and Stephen Spielberg, taken plays to Edinburgh and films to Sundance. Ephraim understands more than most that for many performers, acting school can really only make you a professional acting student. So he’s designed a class for actors like him. A class that helps you identify exactly what you bring to a character by allowing you to explore roles you would typically never play. Whether you’re right out of acting school and feel confused by the industry or if you’ve been in every program in the city and are disillusioned by the craft as a whole, this is the class for you. The old idiom is that “an actor prepares,” and while this is true for some, we’re most excited by the actor with the approach that seems strange, surprising, unconventional and unprepared.
Taught by Yosef Brody
May 2, May 9, May 16, May 30 (Saturdays)
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm
13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
For actors looking to deepen their work with psychological characterization, conscious and unconscious motivation in relationships, and the link between personality and behavior on stage. This 4-week class taught by a psychologist will use scenes from Ingmar Bergman films as a tool to analyze and practice performance. Students can expect to work on scenes from both popular and rare Bergman texts and films.
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Yosef Brody PhD is a clinical psychologist with decades of experience teaching and practicing in the US and Europe. He writes about film and is based in Brooklyn.
Taught by Ross Shenker, CSA
May 3, May 10, May 17, May 24
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
13 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
*Use code CHEKHOV to take 10% off until April 3, 2026*
In this 4-week course, students will learn the fundamentals of the Michael Chekhov Technique and directly apply them towards scenes from Anton Chekhov's Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and/or Cherry Orchard. We will explore bedrock principles such as Psychological Gesture, Focal Points, Qualities of Movement, Tempo/Rhythm, Imaginary Body, and many other tools on Chekhov’s “Chart of Inspired Action.” The final class will culminate in a showcase/presentation that will be filmed.
This short documentary will give you a sense of what to expect: THE SISTERS PROJECT.
ALL SALES ARE FINAL. THERE ARE NO REFUNDS FOR ABSENCE DUE TO ILLNESS, PROFESSIONAL CONFLICTS, OR FOR ANY OTHER REASON.
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Ross Shenker is a New York based, 3-time Artios Award Nominated Casting Director. He has worked as Associate Casting Director with Kate Geller Casting, Taylor Williams Casting, and Hopkins Ingram Casting. Select film credits include: Bob Trevino Likes It (Roadside Attractions), Idiotka (Utopia), Oh, Hi! (Sony Pictures Classics), Cora Bora (Brainstorm), The Front Room (A24), Omni Loop (Magnolia), Barron's Cove (Mandalay), Cold Wallet (Well Go USA), Drugstore June (Utopia), The Wild (Vertical), Molli & Max In The Future (Level 33), and The Good Half (Utopia). TV: The Artist (The Network), Too Romantic (Madhouse Productions). Theater: The Art Tour @ Theatre Row and Prince F***** at Playwrights/SoHo Rep. He holds a BA in Theater & Jewish Studies from Wesleyan University and an MFA in Performance Studies from the University of Louisville. He also worked at IAG (fka APA) for 3 years in their Comedy & Talent Departments. He has previously taught acting at the University of Louisville, UW-Madison, Actors Connection, One on One, The Brooklyn Center for Theater Research, SJP Voice Studio, Kimball Studios, Stone Street Studios, Adult Film NYC, and has been a guest on multiple podcasts about acting. He is a Certified Teacher with the National Michael Chekhov Association, playwright, translator/adaptor of Anton Chekhov, classically trained pianist, director, music director, and filmmaker.