La MaMa
La MaMa is often credited as the birthplace of “Off Off Broadway” theater. Its founder, Ellen Stewart, opened the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, or La MaMa E.T.C, or, just, La MaMa, in a tiny Lower East Side basement in New York City in 1961. Stewart dedicated the space to innovative and subversive new work that was then, as now, underrepresented and underfunded.
La MaMa – a name which refers to Stewart – was one of the first non-mainstream theaters to provide full-time residence to artists and theater companies. Philip Glass, Sam Shepard, and Tom O’Horgan were all resident artists at La MaMa. Many other well-known artists performed at La MaMa in the early days of their careers, including Robert Wilson, the Blue Man Group, David and Amy Sedaris, and Harvey Fierstein.
Stewart was also a pioneer in bringing international theater to the U.S., and U.S. theater to the world. She hosted artists from 70 countries on her stage and La MaMa resident troupes have toured across the globe. Stewart ran La MaMa until her death in 2011.
La MaMa has won more than 30 Obie awards, dozens of drama desk awards, a Bessie award, and a Villager award. To this day, it is the residence of nearly 30 companies and artists, and it presents more than 100 productions annually in its four performance spaces. Its contribution to the cultural and theatrical landscape of New York cannot be overestimated.
UPDATE [Wednesday, September 11, 1:30pm]
A new initiative at La MaMa, 10 @ $10, means that this fall ten tickets to every show will be available for $10 on a first come-first serve basis.
LOCATION
La Mama’s original location at 74 East 4th Street now houses the First Floor Theatre and a cabaret space called The Club. The newer and larger Ellen Stewart Theatre is just a couple of buildings to the West on East 4th Street. La Galleria, primarily a space for the display of visual art and occasionally performances, is located on East 1st Street.
First Floor Theater and The Club
74A East 4th Street
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Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street
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La Galleria
6 East 1st Street
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CURRENT SEASON
The Golem of Havana
Summer of Shares
AOI
Shakespeare’s Sister (or La Vie Materielle)
O Black Madonna
I Came to Look for You on Tuesday
A Series of One – Solo Festival
A (Micro) History of World Economics, Danced
B. Madonna
Hamlet Hallucinations
Makina Total Free
The Orphan Circus
Are They Edible?
Echo in Camera
The God Projekt
The Republic
Maria Celeste (Galileo): To My Father
The Third Policeman
La Divina Caricatura Part 1, The Shaggy Dog
A Season in Congo
OFFICIAL WEBSITE & PHONE NUMBER
Lamama.org
212-475-7710
PRODUCTION HISTORY
(select)
The Fever (1997)
“Tubes” by the Blue Man Group (1991)
The Tooth of Crime (1983)
International Stud (1978)
Thoughts (1973)
Godspell (1971)
Pork (1971)
The Unseen Hand (1969)
Viet Rock (1966)
The White Whore & the Bit Player (1964)