Acting Classes in NYC: Studios and Schools for Every Level

Quick answer: acting classes NYC offer range from two-year Meisner and Adler conservatories to drop-in improv nights and weekend workshops for teens. Pick by goal: technique studios for craft, on-camera and improv programs for working skills, musical theatre for stage. This guide lists verified schools by area, with links to each official class page.

New York does not have one front door for actors. It has dozens of them, spread from the Financial District to Midtown and across the river into Brooklyn. That is good news if you know what you want, and a little dizzying if you do not.

So start with a question before you look at a single schedule: what do you want out of the next six months? For example, a full-time conservatory asks you to rearrange your life. A seven-week improv term asks for one evening a week. Both count as real training, but they suit different lives.

This guide groups the schools by what they teach. Every school below was checked on its official site in November 2026, and each link goes to the page where classes or programs are listed. We left out prices, because they change often. Open the school page for current tuition and dates, because they change by term.

Acting Classes NYC for Technique Training

Technique studios teach a method: a way to prepare, listen and play a scene. Most of New York’s famous names live here. They tend to run on application or interview. However, many also offer shorter workshops for people who cannot commit to two years.

If you are still deciding whether to study at all, our note on whether you need acting school is a good place to begin.

Stella Adler Studio of Acting

Stella Adler teaches Adler technique, scene study, on-camera, voice, improvisation and musical theater, and it has a comedy division. The Studio is in Lower Manhattan, at 65 Broadway in the Financial District. Its site says the Studio has trained actors since 1949 and is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre.

The full-time Professional Conservatory is by application. However, part-time workshops list no stated prerequisites, so they work for adults who want to try the technique first. There are also programs for teens 14 to 18 and for ages 10 to 13. Its classes and programs page lists summer intensives, a January winter intensive and online options.

HB Studio

HB Studio sits on Bank Street in the West Village and describes itself as part of New York’s theater community since 1945. It also houses the Hagen Institute, so the acting classes follow Uta Hagen’s approach. Beyond acting, the school teaches voice and speech, movement, playwriting, directing and musical theater.

Entry classes do not need an audition. Upper-level classes ask for an intake audition and consultation. The school also runs term-based classes, short workshops and a December Mini-Term, and it has a Young People division. See the HB Studio class listings for what is open.

Esper Studio

Esper Studio, at 208 W 37th Street in the Garment District, teaches the Meisner Technique as William Esper developed it. William Esper founded the studio in 1965 after training directly with Sanford Meisner.

The core offering is a two-year professional training program, entered by application and interview. Shorter doors also exist: a Summer Intensive and a Career Launch program. A Teen Lab for ages 14 to 17 was postponed until summer 2027, according to the site. Start on the Esper Studio site.

The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre

The Neighborhood Playhouse calls itself the home of the Meisner Technique, and Sanford Meisner joined its faculty in 1935. It is also on East 54th Street, in Midtown East. The two-year conservatory and the six-week summer intensive are for ages 18 and up, and a three-week pre-college program takes students 15 to 18.

An application is required, so read the admissions pages early. Then the academic calendar on the Neighborhood Playhouse academic calendar shows the 2027 summer intensive running from June 8 to July 16.

Atlantic Acting School

Atlantic Acting School teaches Practical Aesthetics, which it calls the Atlantic Technique. It is on Ninth Avenue, between Chelsea and the West Village, and is tied to Atlantic Theater Company. Founded in 1985, it describes itself as the only conservatory offering in-depth Practical Aesthetics training.

The school offers a two-year certificate, an Evening Conservatory and part-time classes open to adults. Spring and summer intensives also round it out, and so do Kids and Teens classes. Find the details at the Atlantic Acting School site.

Maggie Flanigan Studio

Maggie Flanigan Studio is a Meisner-based school at 147 W 25th Street in Chelsea, founded in 2001. Alongside acting, it teaches voice, movement, acting for the camera, script analysis and cold reading. It also has a professional acting business program.

Admission is by interview and application, and classes are for adults. The two-year conservatory is the main path. A six-week summer intensive and single-subject classes, however, give you a shorter way in. Read more on the Maggie Flanigan Studio site.

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, New York

The New York campus is at 115 East 15th Street, near Union Square. It teaches the Strasberg Method plus movement, improvisation and film, and it says it is the only school in the world offering authentic training in that method.

Options include two-year and one-year conservatories and a 12-week program that you can take part time or full time. There are also shorter intensives and youth classes for grades 2 to 12 as well. The programs page says there are four start dates a year, so check the Strasberg New York programs page for the next one.