Welcome to the Neighborhood Playhouse Junior Acting School!

Acting Training for Youths & Teens ~ Discover Your Creativity & Talent

​Click here for more information on our Saturday programs. Our spring session begins January 5th, 2019.

Also check out our Saturday electives for 4th - 7th graders in Acting for Film & TV, Musical Theatre...
​and new this year: Sketch Comedy!
​We still offer an advanced Acting for Film & TV with our older Teens in Group 5. 

Get a jump on our summer programs. The deadline for application to our popular teen intensives is
April 1st, 2019 Click here to learn more about our summer conservatory. 

In 1905, sisters Irene and Alice Lewisohn rode down to the lower East Side and joined the Henry Street Settlement creating a community center of dance, singing, and acting for children. By 1915 they were established as The Neighborhood Playhouse and their endeavors grew to include the Junior Players, the adult Playhouse Players, the Grand Street Follies, and became one of the first little theatres in the country. in 1928 they established the prestigious adult acting program, The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.  It is this institution that sponsors the Junior School today with an acting program catered to the young actor, 2nd-12th grades. Modeled after the adult conservatory, the Junior School trains all its students in the core principles of acting, applying techniques and skills learned to various classes in singing, movement/dance, scene study, monologues, voice & diction, stage combat, Shakespeare, acting for film & television, commercials, voice overs, auditioning, improvisation and more--giving students complete actor training and the skills needed to be creative and competitive in their craft and in life.
NP Junior Actor training helps develop young minds, bodies, and voices; and in the process,
students learn to be selfless, compassionate, and generous people.

Carmen Lamar Daehler is the Junior School Director at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She is an actor, singer, director, and a proud member of the professional actor unions: SAG-AFTRA and AEA. Carmen has performed in NYC, regional, and summer stock theatre. She’s also appeared in film; television; and cabaret (Carmen's You're Gonna Hear from Me played at the Laurie Beechman Theatre). Make sure to catch Carmen on a recurring role as Special Agent Bomb Tech on the new series FBI ​on CBS this season. Coming from this rich and varied background in formal acting training and professional work in the industry, Theatre Education is also very important to Carmen. She has taught at Rutgers University, NYCDA, Texas Institute for Arts in Education; and has led Meisner acting workshops for youths in NYC as well as in St. John, USVI and Texas. She has directed musicals at NYC’s Clinton School for Writers and Artists and recently directed one of the final plays, ​Twelve Angry Jurors, at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Carmen studied with the renowned acting teacher Fred Kareman. She holds a BA in Communications and Theatre from Texas A&MCorpus Christi and an MA in Theatre from Hunter College.

"My daughter has been attending classes at Neighborhood Playhouse for the past 4 years.
Her experiences at NP has made a positive impact in her life.  
She has found her voice, has achieved confidence, poise and a new sense of purpose.  
She truly loves and is motivated to continue her studies at NP.." ~LeAnne, JR Parent 

Click here to read more testimonials from parents and students.