September 27th Block Party!

September 27th 1:00-5:00 (on East 4th Street btw. 2nd and Bowery)

FREE!

Sample the best of the East Village and Lower East Side with multiple stages, screenings, installations, hands on activities, local vendors and more in an all-day outdoor block-party!

La MaMa is bringing the Club outside, and will feature four hours of incredible performers!

Lucky Thirteen!

As many La MaMa family and friends know we recently participated in an online fundraising competition.
We just found out that out of 606 organizations all over the country we raised enough money to come in 13th place! We were incredibly proud, and so honored to be supported by such a large, and thoughtful community
Thanks to all who participated!

WATCH OUT HALL OF FAME, HERE COMES HARVEY

Harvey Fierstein made his acting debut at La MaMa, E.T.C. in Andy Warhol's only play, Pork in 1971. Now, on January 28th he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in ceremonies at Broadway’s Gershwin Theater. He has asked none other than Ellen Stewart to introduce him prior to receiving this high honor.
The theater's upper-lobby showcases the names of 466 previous Hall of Fame inductees. Also inducted on the 28th were John Cullum, Mel Gussow, Dana Ivey, Jack O'Brien, Peter Shaffer, Lois Smith, and Joseph Stein.

THE ARCHIVES FIND A NEW HOME!

We are in the process of moving and expanding our incredibly extensive archives. We are dedicated to making all of our information accessible to the public for research, or just for sheer fascination. We have original scripts, costume pieces, videos, and much much more delicately, and lovingly documenting the history and growth of what has come to be known as Off-Off Broadway.
The new archive (located in the same building where our Annex Theatre is) is scheduled to open at the beginning of May!

Huff and Puff, but ain’t nothin’ gonna be blown down…

…Because we’re made of brick, a whole new kind of brick. As many of you know for three years we have been working toward installing our personalized bricks, inscribed by the La MaMa friends and family. We are very excited and proud to announce that each of these unique, and beautiful bricks will be displayed on the wall of our Annex building. We should have them all up and ready for a public appearance in the coming months.
Please keep checking in about details as we look forward to inviting you to a ceremony and “brick-inauguration” party!

Did you Know?

…Ellen Stewart and Michael Arian are working on a book of Children’s Poems!

Where in the world is Nicky Paraiso?

Nicky Paraiso has been a part of the La MaMa family for close to thirty years now. He now is the Performance Curator of The Club and, with Mia Yoo, the co-Curator for our dance festival La MaMa Moves.
In May 2004 Nicky’s one-man show Houseboy premiered at La MaMa directed by Ralph Pena, in association with the Ma-Yi Theatre Company. This past November Nicky was invited to take Houseboy to the East of East Village portion of the Dublin Theatre Festival. As these plans were unfolding Nicky also found out that Houseboy had been accepted into the Initiation International Festival in Singapore, a festival focusing on experimental performance art.
Nicky was able to not only share his work, he was able to take in a great deal of the new environments that surrounded him. He came back raving about how clean yet pristine, and lush Singapore was. He giggles as he talks about what an experience it was to take the famous Night Safari to view the extensive wild life of Singapore.
As he looks to the future Nicky is thrilled to share the he met many people both nationally and internationally that share his enthusiasm for the new international relationships that were made, and have many opportunities to be cultivated and expanded, here in New York and in Singapore.

History in the Making...

Recently Ms. Stewart was speaking about young Clara Ruf-Maldonado who graced our stage in the 2004 production of Seven; a start not unlike the now famous Diane Lane who began in the La Mama productions of Medea and The Cherry Orchard, among others. Over the years we have been able to watch Diane Lane’s career blossom and expand, but Ellen knew her when.
Ellen was comparing the girls saying they were both “a joy to be around, and talented performers”
Young Clara seems to be getting similar reviews as she works on her already impressive career. In 2006 Clara was given the coveted role of Marie in the NYC Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker”. From here Ruf-Maldonado has gone on to star in "The Further Adventures of Uncle Wiggily: Windblown Visitors," a musical for children to be presented February 28 to March 23, 2008 by Theater for the New City, Manhattan. Clara also just landed the part of Florence in New York City Ballet’s production of DOUBLE FEATURE. And she isn’t yet a teenager!
Please visit www.nycballet.org/ticketinfo for further information about the show, and tickets.

Memorial Service

On January 14, 2008 Ellen attended a memorial service at Carnegie Hall for Kazuko who served as interpreter for the Tokyo Kids Brothers.
The Tokyo Kids Brother from Japan began to work at La MaMa in 1970 when they created their most well-known piece The Golden Bat, with direction by Higashi Yutaka and music composed by Shimoda Itsuro. The production later had a successful Off-Broadway run at the Sheridan Playhouse. Yutaka began as a member of Tenjo-Sajiki, whose artistic director, Shuji Terayama,Ellen remembers being so good to La MaMa all through the years. The Tokyo Kids Brother would return to La MaMa to create many more pieces including Cony Island, City, and Shiro. Shiro was created as a birthday present for Ellen.