Alliance Stage Company
Alliance Stage Company
The Alliance Stage Company is the resident senior theatre program of Educational Alliance, a 135-year-old organization offering transformational, multi-generational arts and community programs throughout Manhattan’s Lower East Side and East Village.
Under the artistic direction of Cory Michael Herman since 2009, the group offers older adults opportunities for creative expression, connection, and performance.
Performances and Classes
Onstage performances include short skits, musical comedy, improv, plays, and projects inspired by the life stories of company members. Offstage, many members work as playwrights, puppeteers, dressers, ushers, and act in television and film.
Weekly classes are offered in-person and virtually for adults 60 and older. No prior experience is required. New members are always welcome!
Current and Upcoming Projects
- Reader’s Theater: An exclusive collaboration with children’s author Kathy Iorio, adapting her KUSA series for early childhood classrooms.
- CelebratEArts: Features mainstage acts in Educational Alliance’s annual arts festival, celebrating creative aging and artistic collaboration.
- Playback Theatre Class: A new addition to the curriculum, exploring improvisational storytelling and emotional connection through live performance.
Community Partners and Teaching Artists
Alliance Stage Company proudly collaborates with:
Concrete Temple Theater · Robert Galinsky · NYU Drama Therapy Graduate Program · AhHa!Broadway
These partnerships enrich the program with professional artistry, mentorship, and intergenerational exchange.
Achievements and Recognition
Members of the Alliance Stage Company have been featured in:
- Film and Television: A Certain Age, A Crime to Remember, The Greatest Showman, Law & Order: SVU, and Dangerous Liaisons.
- Stage: Dixon Place, The Players Theatre, and the New York Theater Festival.
- Community Leadership: Many have applied theatrical techniques to civic life — speaking at public meetings, leading co-op boards, and advocating for neighborhood causes.
One of our members was a 2025 finalist in the citywide Talent Is Timeless: Grand Finale, presented by NYC Aging, at United Palace.
The company is featured in Senior Theatre Resource Center’s Art Age’s “Who’s Who in Senior Theatre” and was the subject of the 1999 Academy Award–winning short documentary film, The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years.
Virtual and Hybrid Programming
While the ensemble has joyfully returned to in-person rehearsals, hybrid programming continues to include remote and homebound members.
During the COVID-19 closures, the company pioneered virtual theater-making, producing original digital works, public service announcements for NYC Census 2020, and contributions to the New York Public Library’s History Now: Pandemic Diary Project.
Their creativity during this period reaffirmed how theater can reduce social isolation, sustain connection, and empower older adults to stay engaged and expressive — even in challenging times.
