1-day PLAYMAKERS ACTING STUDIO

Ages 8-11 | Saturday 4/27 | 12-2pm | Chelsea, NY | w. Leo Lion

Firebird Youth Theater invites you to a one-day youth theater workshop designed to spark imagination and foster a love for performance in young minds. Kids will dive into the exciting process of devising original stories and expressing their ideas through dramatic play. We believe in learning through fun and encourage our students to experiment and collaborate in a supportive and nurturing environment. Whether your child is an aspiring actor or simply loves to tell stories, our studio offers a perfect blend of learning and play. No previous experience is needed - just a willingness to play, imagine, and create!

Cost: $50 for 2-hour session

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IMPROV FLEDGLINGS (summer session)

Ages 13-18 | Fri 3:30-5:30 | W29th St | w. Leo Lion
Improv Fledglings is a creative launchpad for teenagers who want to master the art of improvised performance. The class emphasizes the importance of listening, quick thinking, and teamwork in creating spontaneous, hilarious scenes. Our advanced improv curriciulum guides students to develop their unique comedic style, all while having a blast. At the end of the semester, the Fledglings showcase their improved skills in a longform improv performance.

Cost: $280 for 7 two-hour sessions.
Dates: May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, June 7, 14

PLAYWRITING NEST

Ages 13-18 | Thurs 6-8pm | Chelsea, NYC | w. Zoe Senese-Grossberg
Young writers learn to craft stories for the stage in Firebird Nest Playwriting Seminar. Workshop participants study classic and contemporary plays, spend in-class time writing their own projects, learn to give generative feedback on each others’ work, and finally have their original plays performed by professional actors in a staged reading festival. Led by Zoe Senese-Grossberg, a National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist, students will hone their writing craft and work to develop their personal creative voice as they learn to tell stories for the stage.

Dates: March 21, 28, April 4, 11, 18, 25, May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, June 6
Location: Cre8ive Studios, Chelsea, NYC
Cost: $480 for 12 two-hour sessions.

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Plane Shift RPg Club

Ages 13+ | Sat 12:00-4:00 | W29th St | w. Leo Lion & other instructors
Are you a young artist, writer, or performer looking for adventure? Firebird invites aspiring adventurers to join us for PlaneShift Adventures, a series of RPG (roleplaying game) workshops for teen artists. Led by a professional Game Master, teen artists create original characters and devise their own story set in a fantastical world. For fans Dungeons & Dragons as well as roleplaying newcomers, PlaneShift is an opportunity to explore improv, creative writing, and team-based problem solving. Don your armor, down your potions, and join us on an epic adventure!

Cost: $60 for a 4-hour session, bundle prices available.

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COACHING & AUDITION PREP (ALL AGES)

Since 2013, Firebird has offered programs and productions that have turned first-time performers into award-winning veteran actors. Now, aspiring young stars of stage and screen have the opportunity to receive private coaching and audition prep sessions with Firebird directors Leo Lion and Zoe Senese-Grossberg. Training in scene study, monologue coaching, voice and movement workshops, public speaking, and more is available by request. Reach out with your needs and book a coaching session today!

Leo Lion is a NYC-based storyteller, educator, and community organizer with ten years of experience as a teaching artist. Since founding The Firebird Project in 2013, Leo has directed eleven Firebird productions (with youth, adult, and multi-generational casts): Down the Chocolate River and Beyond, Expresso, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island, Romeo + Juliet, Our Town, R.U.R., The Tempest, Julius Caesar, and An Enemy of the People, Macbeth: Online, and most recently, Rossum’s Universal Robots. Leo also serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, and is a six-time recipient of the Outstanding Direction Award from National Youth Arts. Plays by Leo have been produced by Firebird, Downtown Art, and Writopia Lab’s Worldwide Plays Festival.

Leo is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Association. For more info visit www.leolion.com

Zoe Senese-Grossberg is a NY based director, playwright, dramaturg, and teaching artist. She has been the literary director of Firebird since Romeo + Juliet in 2017. Zoe has co-led four summers of theatrical intensives at Firebird from 2018-2023 and has assistant directed, dramaturged, and adapted 6 youth productions for Firebird. Outside of Firebird, she most recently worked as the leading theater teaching artist for NIA Community Services at New Voices Middle School. Her adult directing credits include: The Seagull, R.U.R., At The End Of The World, Hamlet, Orlando, and Twelve Ophelias. Zoe has worked at Powerhouse Theater, the Workshop Theater, Gallery Players, Four Walls Theatre, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. An alumnus of LaGuardia High School, Zoe is also a classically trained vocalist, accomplished musical theater performer, and proficient folk musician. Zoe graduated Oberlin College with High Honors in English and the Nash Drama Award. Her play, Lay The Bent to the Bonny Broom, was recently a 2023 semi-finalist for the National Playwright’s Conference.

zoesenesegrossberg.com. | newplayexchange.org/users/77555/zoe-senese-grossberg

Benny Rendell is a filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter, and has worked with Firebird for more than 8 years, performing in many of their award winning off-Broadway productions and teaching MovieMaster Film Lab along with Leo Lion. He studied filmmaking for a number of years with Carlo Mirabella-Davis (dir. Swallow, The Swell Season, The Servant) and studied screenwriting with Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia, Homeland, Fellow Travelers). Benny’s films have been selected for film festivals including the Woodstock, Austin, and Williamsburg Film Festivals. A proud homeschool alum, Benny is currently studying Filmmaking and Cinema Studies at NYU Tisch.

Find out more about Benny’s films and his independent production company at mirroruptonaturefilms.com