La Mama Presents COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES- MARIO MONTEZ

LA MAMA presents COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES #146 "Mario Montez" -- Saturday March 24, at 3:00pm - 5:00pm?-- Located at, La MaMa, Downstairs (66 East 4th Street, NYC). Moderated by CONRAD VENTUR, Panelists include Brian Belovitch, Bibbe Hansen, Joe E. Jeffreys, Tom Kalin, Agosto Machado, and Lola Pashalinski.

COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES - is an educational performance series exploring the history and development of Off-Off Broadway; part artist portrait, part creative event, part history lesson, and part community forum; the Series features Direction by Michal Gamily and Educational Outreach by Arthur Adair.

ABOUT THE EVENT

COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES #146 "Mario Montez"

Saturday March 24, at 3:00pm - 5:00pm // FREE ADMISSION

Reservations & Info please visit: http://lamama.org/mario_montez/

Or call: 212.475.7710

COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES #146 "Mario Montez" features live performances, archival material and panelists Brian Belovitch, Bibbe Hansen, Joe E. Jeffreys, Tom Kalin, Agosto Machado, and Lola Pashalinski.

Live performance to be included by Lady Quesa'Dilla and Carmelita Tropicana; video remembrance by Samuel R. Delany; 16mm projection of Mario Banana 1 (Andy Warhol, 1964); and excerpts from films by John Heys, Hélio Oiticica, José Rodríguez-Soltero, Jack Smith, and others. Legendary Puerto Rican-American drag actor Mario Montez made his first screen appearance in Jack Smith's infamous Flaming Creatures (1963) as Dolores Flores. For Smith's Normal Love (1963), he settled on the name Mario Montez as an homage to the exotic Hollywood actress Maria Montez. Throughout the next decade, Montez would star in several of Smith's short films and collaborate with other filmmakers including Piero Heliczer, Takahiko Iimura, Hélio Oiticica, Ron Rice, José Rodríguez-Soltero, Bill Vehr, Avery Willard, and Andy Warhol. On stage, Montez worked with Ronald Tavel and John Vaccaro prior to becoming a cofounding member of Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company in 1967. A year before his passing in 2013 Montez was presented with a special Teddy Award by John Waters at the 62nd Berlinale International Film Festival.

Conrad Ventur is an artist living and working in New York. In 2010, he befriended drag performer Mario Montez. They collaborated on a series of photographs and videos together until Mario's passing. Montez' participation in the underground film and theater scenes of the 60s and 70s will be explored in a documentary directed by Ventur. Examples of Ventur's work with Montez are held in the permanent collections of The Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Whitney Museum of American Art.

COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council.

Founded by Ellen Stewart in 1961, La MaMa is recognized as the seedbed of new work by artists of all nations and cultures. It is the place where emerging artists learn from established artists and where artists from around the globe share work and ideas. To date, La MaMa has presented artists from over 70 nations. Each season, La MaMa offers more than 100 presentations and reach an audience of more than 32,000 people of all ages and all backgrounds.

Sam Shepard, Blue Man Group, Lanford Wilson, Philip Glass, David and Amy Sedaris, Whoopi Goldberg, Meredith Monk, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, and Joel Zwick are just a few of the artists who began their careers at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the heart of Manhattan's East Village. La MaMa has been honored with more than 30 Obie Awards and dozens of Drama Desk Awards, Bessie Awards and Villager Awards. La MaMa has become a world-renowned cultural institution that is home to three theaters, an art gallery, rehearsal studios, a visiting artist dormitory, office space, and an extensive archive documenting the history of Off-Off Broadway.