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40°44′42″N73°59′38″W / 40.74496°N 73.99388°W /40.74496; -73.99388TheMichael Howard Studios is an acting studio for theperforming arts located in at 152 West 25th Street inChelsea, Manhattan, New York City; the studio was founded in 1953 by actor/directorMichael Howard.
A protégé of bothSanford Meisner at theNeighborhood Playhouse andLee Strasberg at theActors Studio, Howard established his Studio in 1953 grounded in the work ofKonstantin Stanislavski. Over the years, the studio incorporated many schools of thought and techniques from around the world.
The Studio attributes its existence to theGroup Theatre. In 1931,Harold Clurman,Cheryl Crawford, and Strasberg founded the Group Theatre in New York, beginning a watershed period in American Theater. The Group Theatre brought togetherElia Kazan,Stella Adler,Sanford Meisner,Frances Farmer,Clifford Odets,Irwin Shaw, andJohn Garfield (among many others). Their creative commune introduced America to the revolutionary teachings of Stanislavski, and it set in motion new schools of thought that would dominate acting for the rest of the century. The Group Theatre closed its doors in 1941, and its visionary members set out in new directions.
In 1942, Howard joined the Neighborhood Playhouse as a scholarship student under Sanford Meisner. Howard vigorously pursued his studies and absorbed everything Meisner had to impart. Howard then served in World War II as a parachutist, and upon returning, joined Equity in 1947. Strasberg invited Howard to study with him, and soon he was asked to become a member of the Actors Studio. Howard began a long career of hundreds of roles on stage and screen, including Odets'The Country Girl on Broadway and the filmThe Men with Marlon Brando. Acting led to directing and, in 1952, to teaching, whenSidney Lumet asked Howard to replace him at theHigh School of Performing Arts. The next year, in 1953, a group of actors asked Howard to lead their sessions, and Michael Howard Studios was born.
Over the next five decades, Howard's teachings expanded to theYale School of Drama, theJuilliard School, theAmerican Conservatory Theater, andBoston University while continuing his master classes at the Michael Howard Studios.
The studio is now in its 55th year in continuous operation making it the longest running private acting studio in New York. In honor of the 55th anniversary of the studio, the studio received an official proclamation from MayorMichael Bloomberg, declaring May 4, 2009, Michael Howard Studios Day "in honor of the studio's contribution to New York's rich theatrical history".[This quote needs a citation]
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