About this listing
A theater that seeks to develop, nurture, support, produce and present new and original performance work by artists of all nations and cultures
Place Details
Borough : Manhattan
Neighborhood : East Village
Place Matters Profile
By Joan Giummo
In the early 1960s, an aspiring fashion designer, Ellen Stewart, met a mentor in the form of a Lower East Side merchant and former pushcart operator, Abraham Diamond. He advised her to always keep a mental pushcart in front of her. She did. Her pushcart was the dream of creating an innovative theatre center. That dream hatched La Mama Experimental Theatre Club.
The word club in the title suggests supporters, and there have been important ones, such as the New York State Council on the Arts, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. But there have also been evictions, Con Edison shutoff notices, Equity union challenges, New York City building code violations, and other obstacles. Despite all, La Mama has had a continuous run from 1961 to the present in changing locations.
It has a phenomenal group of alumni whose talent and success reflect the brilliant, germinal nature of the place. It has been host to some
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By Joan Giummo
In the early 1960s, an aspiring fashion designer, Ellen Stewart, met a mentor in the form of a Lower East Side merchant and former pushcart operator, Abraham Diamond. He advised her to always keep a mental pushcart in front of her. She did. Her pushcart was the dream of creating an innovative theatre center. That dream hatched La Mama Experimental Theatre Club.
The word club in the title suggests supporters, and there have been important ones, such as the New York State Council on the Arts, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. But there have also been evictions, Con Edison shutoff notices, Equity union challenges, New York City building code violations, and other obstacles. Despite all, La Mama has had a continuous run from 1961 to the present in changing locations.
It has a phenomenal group of alumni whose talent and success reflect the brilliant, germinal nature of the place. It has been host to some of the most awful and some of the most wonderful theatre in the last four decades. When it is good it is very, very good and when it is bad it is horrid. The alumni include: Robert De Niro, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Harvey Fierstein, Nick Nolte, Lanford Wilson, Sam Shephard, Jerzy Grotowski, Harvey Keitel, Philip Glass, Elizabeth Swados, Tom O'Horgan, Billy Crystal, F. Murray Abraham, Richard Dreyfuss, Bette Midler, Andre Serban, Ping Chong , Meredith Monk and Theodora Skipitares. Of course there are many more.
Ms. Stewart seems to have had a gambler's risk taking capacity and has invested in crumbling structures that turn into arts centers. She resurrects them. The main building on E. 4th St. that houses three theaters and an art gallery was without a roof when she acquired it. In 1985, after receiving $350,000 from the MacArthur foundation, she purchased a ruin of a medieval building in Italy near Spoleto. The roofless NYC building was destined to be a theatre and the Italian building a residence for traveling performers. La Mama also has a loft building for rehearsals and workshops on Great Jones St. In each case, Stewart sees the potential that may be a long way off. That is called vision. In this case the vision is supported by ceaseless work and belief.
La Mama marks a major home for Off-Off-Broadway enterprise that now stands amongst a group of functioning theatres on 4th Street. Together they make up Manhattan's first "cultural district"--called FAB for Fourth Arts Block--founded in 2001 by local cultural and community groups with the help of former City Councilmember Margarita Lopez. In 2005, the city sold 8 properties to the block's arts tenants for $1 each, and FAB and the new owners are fundraising to renovate the buildings.
Nominations
Anonymous Nominator
There are two historic buildings, one of which is city owned, and a large annex built in 1845. It was used for Yiddish Theatre, Israeli, German "Cinderella Society," a site of performing arts organizations since 1860s. Actors/producers live on surrounding streets. Second and third generation Puerto Ricans (and other immigrants) are employed there-- integrated into La Mama activities since the 70s.
Andrea Coyle
I speak about founder, Ellen Stewart, on my weekly walking tour, "Women Movers & Shakers" of The Lower East Side. Log on at: http://avenuea.org/ev/tour/description.shtml#women.
74 E 4th St, La Mama Experimental Theater Club, helped to launch the careers of countless actors, such as Bette Midler & Sam Shepard. It also has beautiful detailing, replete with busts in the pediments. (March 2009)
