The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is a professional conservatory for actors in New York City. First operational from 1915 to 1927, the school re-opened in 1928 and has been active ever since. It is the birthplace of the Meisner technique of acting, named for American actor and acting teacher Sanford Meisner.
History
left|thumb|275px|The Grand Street building in 1916
The Neighborhood Playhouse had originally been founded as an off-Broadway theatre by philanthropists Alice Lewisohn and Irene Lewisohn in 1915, but closed in 1927. The following year, it re-opened as The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. Neighborhood Playhouse joined American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Pasadena Playhouse as the only major professional training schools for the performing arts in the United States.
In 1939, when actor Gregory Peck enrolled, there were approximately 90 students at the school.
- Dorothy A. Atabong
- Ashlie Atkinson
- Betty Garrett
- Geoffrey Lewis
- Irene Lewisohn
- Alice Lewisohn
- Christopher Lloyd
- Gregory Peck
- James Remar
- Bert Remsen
- Burt Reynolds
- Doris Roberts