Best Theater Schools In New York Near Me

4worldlovers:
At NYFA New York, we offer a variety of degree and certificate programs, as well as in-person workshops, youth summer camps, and youth workshops. The disciplines available at this campus include Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Producing, Photography, Cinematography, 3D Animation & VFX, Game Design, Documentary Filmmaking, Screenwriting, and Virtual Reality. NYFA New York is also currently the only campus to offer programs in Musical Theatre.


The faculty at our NYFA New York campus includes inspiring professional filmmakers, screenwriters, producers, actors, performers, digital journalists, 3D animators, and visual storytellers who actively work in the entertainment industry, and can share their experience and the latest practices of the local film, television, and media industries with their students. To learn more, see our NYC faculty.

4worldlovers: Acting at its best is a creative, transformational art. Actors must work incredibly hard in order to master their acting instrument. I opened this acting studio determined to provide what was lacking in American actor training: a small, intimate, and nurturing home for serious actors to sharpen their skills and solidify their craft with Meisner acting. The work at my studio is rooted in the Meisner technique of Sanford Meisner combined with my experience teaching the work for over thirty-five years. If you want to be taken seriously as an actor, dedicate yourself to mastering the craft.

I believe in the actor as artist. I am not interested in pop-culture superficiality. Art is about truth, and this must be the pursuit of any serious actor. It takes incredible courage to function from the human heart. Our goal is to train and nurture actors who value artistry, understand the importance of a developed body and voice, embrace work-ethic and self-discipline, and possess a desire to illuminate humanity in all its aspects. This requires craft. The job of the actor is to create behavior, and the Maggie Flanigan Studio believes the best actors do this organically and truthfully from genuine experience. We are a home for serious actors who want to play full out with themselves and seize the opportunity to live up to their fullest artistic potential.

“Maggie Flanigan is uncompromising, her instincts as a teacher are razor sharp. She doesn’t miss a beat”

“Maggie Flanigan has been one of the most important people in my artistic life. I want to work with Maggie trained actors. As an actor myself, she is my first source. I do not say this lightly, if you are serious about acting, and willing to work very hard, then go to Maggie.”

“I was placed in the intense reigns of Charlie Sandlan. I became a better artist, actor, friend, sibling and daughter because of the studio. Even now, I crave the studio every day. What I learned is present in my work every day. I truly believe in everything they stand for.”

“Maggie Flanigan taught me the true meaning of artistry, passion, and professionalism. I am certain that I continue to work as an actress because of my training with Maggie. At every audition and every performance, her guiding voice is with me. It is a gift beyond measure.”

“Maggie taught me that I could control my work, my acting, and to throw all of the bullshit out that I had in my head about ‘what I should be doing’ and to just listen and respond honestly, in the moment. She gave me a craft. She is, quite simply put, THE BEST.”

“Maggie helped me find my sense of truth, an actors greatest asset. Maggie is an expert at instilling that vital ingredient, which allows an actor’s potential to become limitless. My work will forever be rooted in the clarity and honesty she helped me develop.”

“After working for ten years, I did the 2 year program, and now feel that I have the tools I need to become the actor I’ve always dreamed of being. Maggie Flanigan instilled in me a clear sense of truth and a standard of perfection. I am a better actor because of this studio.”

“As an actor, the core of what you have to rely on is your sense of truth and humanity. Maggie allowed me to discover and embrace mine. Trusting my sense of humanity and truth has given me the ability to take risks in my work and my career decisions.”

“Maggie Flanigan has the unique ability to get an actor to the essence of what is true in a moment. She creates a safe and caring environment in which to work.”

“Maggie Flanigan introduced me to my own spirit and my own sense of Truth. Her passion for teaching and ability to communicate are rare gifts to any actor looking for a technique to set his or her talent free. Maggie’s voice has been the one constant guide in my career.”

“Maggie is passionate and disciplined. She teaches that these are essential parts of the actor’s journey. Acting happens between people. Meisner says it, and Maggie insists upon it. To this day, it is what I find most captivating to watch and most gratifying to practice.”

“Maggie’s teaching is unmatched. She finds a great balance in having you commit to the work specifically while allowing your own essence to color the role. To this day, both in theatre and in film, her voice and teaching have continued to profoundly influence my work.”

4worldlovers: The Barrow Group is an award-winning New York City non-profit performing arts training, education, and production center that serves as an inclusive, creative home for thousands of actors, writers, directors, and filmmakers from all backgrounds.


"The Barrow Group was really the institution that taught me how to act. I worked with the best teachers, who taught me why less is really more.”


"TBG was the first place where I could believe I was actually enough, exactly as I was"


"I walked through the doors of The Barrow Group and rediscovered not only joy in Acting, but an essential belief in myself."

“TBG is where I unlearned how to act and learned how to be me, to be more comfortable in my own skin... more able to transition seamlessly between life and the demands of film. That’s why I call The Barrow Group home.”

“TBG offers the smartest, least pretentious, simplest and most effective techniques I’ve ever come across.”


"So many times, we as actors forget the play of acting. You go into class and everything's like, "Great work": like everything's work. At The Barrow Group, it really came from this other perspective: "This is play." That was a really great time. I would say that was my most significant training."


“Prior to my experience at The Barrow Group, I spent years forcing tears, laughs, and understanding. After attending The Barrow Group, my experience changed drastically. I attribute my entire career to what I learned there, which is essentially: how to be more myself.”


"For the first time I've felt that I can let go and be spontaneous...and that could be enough."


"At TBG I re-discovered the pure joy and adrenaline of acting. The freedom of being spontaneous. And even better, these weren't one-off experiences, but new habits supported by simple techniques that I use to this day. TBG is more than a great school, it's a community with a culture of thoughtfulness and fun, coming together to do what we love."


The Barrow Group was founded in 1986 by an ensemble of actors and directors, all of whom shared a desire to produce meaningful plays using a highly naturalistic, intimate mode of performance. Since that time, TBG has developed and/or produced over 150 shows, including Martin Moran’s The Tricky Part (2004 Obie Award and two Drama Desk nominations), Jon Marans’ The Temperamentals (2009 Drama Desk Award), Mike Birbiglia’s My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend (2011 Lucille Lortel Award), David Edgar’s Pentecost (2013 Drama Desk nomination), and Martin Moran’s All the Rage (2013 Lucille Lortel Award). In 2005, TBG received a Drama Desk Award for Off-off-Broadway Excellence.

There is no one “way” to approach acting. It’s all about finding whatever works.

Relaxation is the key to many of the things we strive for.

The best technique leaves us free (free to imagine, free to respond, free to feel, free to whatever).

TBG produces off-Broadway theatre productions in its 99-seat theatre, with an emphasis on work that engages artists and audiences alike through a realistic performance style.

TBG’s Developmental Wing is part of its ongoing support of new works. This programming is free for artists to participate in and includes: FAB Women; Artist Performance Residencies; First Fridays; and in-house readings.

F.A.B. (For, About, and By) Women, created in 2009, is devoted to the work of women theatre artists. With over one hundred participants, F.A.B. Women has flourished, and for this upcoming summer, the program will for the first time be presenting a festival of new work in TBG’s Mainstage.

In the Artist Performance Residency program, theater artists may apply to use the 40-seat Studio Theatre to rehearse and to publicly present their own created work. TBG staff review and rank those applications on an on-going basis to determine which artists should be awarded a residency. This free-of-charge program gives artists the chance to refine their work while providing audience members a window into the process of developing original theatrical work at an early point in one’s career.

4worldlovers: This school is very important to me. The training focuses on who you are and your personal identity as an artist, and dives into the highs and lows of this crazy industry. NYCDA is all about the preparation and bursting into the film/tv market and sustaining your career. Truly, I would not have a career if it wasn’t for this school.