Nola Rehearsal Studio

Are they serious about those saloon style doors on bathroom stall?
This place is really outdated for being in midtown Manhattan. Last time I rehearsed there I was getting dizzy because it was unbearably hot in the rehearsal space. I have no choice but to go here because it’s where practices are scheduled but I wish I didn’t have to.

The actual space is old and very small. There is no room when you get out of a class — the floors are old, the whole building is old. Meh.
The room I was in didn’t have air conditioning… so it was very hot. Like I said — the place is old.

Hole-​a Studios is always a bad experience. I’m always disappointed when auditions or classes take place here.
There’s no excuse for the condition of this studio. In the same building there’s Shetler Studios: a two floor complex of great rehearsal, audition and performance studios. Nola’s lack of quality control makes choosing ANY other studio for booking in New York a better choice… for about the same price.
Avoid this place.

Boyyy this place sucks.
It is just not conducive to the auditioning actor who pounds the pavement for 10 hours a day. As a lady, we need outlets to plug in out hair tools and whatnot; Nola’s outlets are few and far between, and when you CAN find one, they’re too old to function! Or they’re not near a mirror! Outlets are harder to provide than mirrors.
The bathrooms don’t have outlets. The bathrooms with swinging doors, in particular, are so damn small. There’s nowhere to change clothes, nowhere to do your hair, the lighting is dim and it always smells like mothballs… Every time I go there I have to prepare everything in advance at another studio; this place simply does not provide.
but hey, there’s lots of seating for all those hours you have to spend there!
Ugh. I avoid this place as much as I can.

The staff is rude. They have no website so you don’t know what you’re getting. The facilities are old. Oh, and don’t call on a cell phone or they will hang up on you before you even get the chance to say hello. I will never call this place again.

I am always renting from NOLA Studios. Tucker is the main man, and if you need to book a room or rooms for more than 2 months ahead, he is the one to contact. Ed is really nice too.
Their studios are on the older side, however, I have never found a piano not tuned and found the room accommodating. All rooms have sound absorbing pads, and if you are a larger voice, you will not enjoy specific rooms that are too ‘live.’ You will know which rooms you like and which rooms will hurt your ears. (There are not many of the latter).
Each room is equipped with a grand or an upright, depending on the size of the room. Air conditioners are installed in the windows. Trust me, during the summer, you will want it on.
Note: This is not the ideal place to make a recording. The walls/​doors can be thin for this type of atmosphere. You may acquire too much back noise on your recorder. Would not recommend.
Great for auditions, practice/​warmup space, voice lessons or coaching sessions.
$ 10/​half hour — can only reserve the day of or day before
$ 20/​hour — can be reserved a few months in advance.
48 hour cancellation notice or you will be charged the next time you make a reservation. Don’t think they will forget you. They take avid notes. If you do cancel, you will pay for the canceled room and the current room you are reserving.
NOLA is located on the 11^th floor — main «head quarters» — however they have studios on the 10^th, and now 5^th and 6^th floors.
I am a «regular» renter, and I have never had a problem rearranging a time or finding a space. However, audition season can be tight, so make sure you plan accordingly.
This space is highly used for Musical Theatre rehearsals, auditions, and opera auditions during the fall/​winter.

Not the worst of the audition studios, but not the best either. The bathrooms are clean, and the spaces have decent acoustics. The elevator takes forever, and it feels like you’re lost when you’re trying to find your room because it’s laid out so strangely. The location is very convenient, though, and there are usually places to sit while you wait to get a job.

Reality brutally bites, but not STARK REALITY is escaped into every Friday nights for an open-​mike poetry, musical and spoken word talent.
Nola Rehearsal Studio has a lot of rooms equipped with music stands, tables and chairs, including men and women’s dressing rooms for actors, actresses, and performers immersing into character role. It is conveniently accessible in Midtown Manhattan. After much hesitation and doubt induced with my long-​haul work schedule, I am finally able to make the venture to Nola. Studio C is a sound proof room where I was free to just be as I am known to be loud showcasing my upbeat energetic spirit – without judgment, without fault.
My first presence of being inside a studio’s corridors into the music industry and performing arts world where talent is the bloodlife of juicy sweetness as it is common ground for a base. I am in accord with previous Unilocalers in the subject of bad décor, thus four stars.

I have a love/​hate relationship with Nola. On the one-​hand, seeing as how it’s located a block from my apartment, it makes auditioning there easy. Roll out of bed at 8am, sign up for an open call, go home, shower, get ready and be back by 10. No problemo. (I can feel the hatred of all the girls who live in Astoria and got up at 6am to stand on line).
But that being said, I don’t love the studio itself. It’s old and you can tell. The rooms vary from being dead as a doornail to so live your sound practically smacks you in the face when you sing. Also, the people who work there are surly and obnoxious for seemingly no reason — it doesn’t make for a pleasant auditioning experience. But I’m definitely willing to put up with such things for two extra hours of sleep.

BAD décor (flourescent lighting and country western wallpaper) doesn’t help the often gloomy atmostphere in the hallways (sullen-​faced, nervous singers with lots of makeup and big hair awaiting auditions), but when its about getting down to work and rehearsing, Nola provides the essentials: a variety of room sizes depending on your needs, well-​maintained Steinway pianos, plenty of music stands, tables and chairs, competitive prices, and a mid-​town location. If they fill up, try Shetler Studios upstairs (a little sprucier, but acoustics annoyingly run from bone-​dry to cathedral like).