Ellen Stewart News

La MaMa presents Bach & Bleach, an original music-theatre production by Netherlands-based violist Esther Apituley. The work, presented in a new production directed by Erwin Maas, will be seen for the first time in English and is set to a text by Ko van den Bosch. Bach and Bleach will be seen in its American premiere and takes place at La MaMa Experimental Theatre located at 66 East 4th Street.

LA MAMA SQUIRTS - presented by La MaMa, the Tony Award-winning theater in NYC, in association with Helix Queer Performance Network - will gather a collective of exciting voices from New York City's queer performance world, across multiple generations and with deep roots in the community to mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, with a weekend of performances curated by three trans women, May 31 - June 2 at Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 East 4th Street) in Manhattan as part of World Pride celebration.

Cake, coffin, gavel, choir, composers, live musical trolling! On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the much lauded homo-poet Walt Whitman's birth, a group of Philly queers and misfits known as The Bearded Ladies Cabaret gathers to put this ancestor and his legacy on trial. Should Whitman be canceled? Can he be? Come with friends, complaints, heroes and villains alike. All are welcome. Presented by La MaMa, the New York premiere performances will take place in the Ellen Stewart Theater (June 20 - 29).

La MaMa presents the world premiere of Messiah, a new play written and directed by Nia O. Witherspoon. Messiahis a play about the legacy of the Panthers in the age of crack, where a scratch at a DJ booth incites a replay of the past, an action that interrogates generations of violence on black, queer bodies.

Cake, coffin, gavel, choir, composers, live musical trolling! On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the much lauded homo poet Walt Whitman's birth, a group of Philly queers and misfits known as The Bearded Ladies Cabaret gathers to put this ancestor and his legacy on trial.

LGBTQ+ artists from NYC, Philadelphia, Paris, Italy, and South Korea will participate in the STONEWALL 50 AT LA MAMA at the Tony Award-winning La MaMa ETC (66 E. 4 St.) from May 23-June 30 as part of WORLD PRIDE, it has been announced by company's artistic director Mia Yoo. 

LA MAMA KIDS - the Tony Award-winning theatre's popular performance and workshop series for youngsters and their parents - will present a one-day-only dance event, the LA MAMA MOVES! DANCE WORKSHOP on Saturday, May 18 at noon at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E. 4 St.) in NYC.

LA MAMA, the 2018 Tony Award winning theater presents, COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES #153 WITKACY celebrating the work of turn-of-the-century Polish avant-garde playwright Stanis aw Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885 1939), known as 'Witkacy,' Saturday, April 27 at 3:00pm at The Ellen Stewart Theater (66 East 4th Street), in the Manhattan.

Dan Safer, a downtown maverick and the Artistic Director of Witness Relocation (called a purveyor of lo-fi mayhem by Time Out NY) returns to the stage as a lead performer in his work in Surveys the Prairie Of Your Room, a duet co-created and performed with leading WR company member Ae Andreas, featuring original music by OBIE Award-winning composer and longtime company collaborator Heather Christian.

Boston Court Pasadena announced the full details of its 15th annual New Play Reading Festival, April 13-14, 2019. Curated by Literary Manager Emilie Beck, in concert with Artistic Directors Jessica Kubzansky and Michael Michetti, the New Play Reading Festival is a key component of Boston Court Pasadena's commitment to nurturing playwrights and new work, and continues the company's core mission of developing and programming works that are inherently theatrical, textually rich, and visually arresting.

Howl! Happening is pleased to present Celebrating Hattie. Walk with friends, fellow artists, families, and others touched by HATTIE HATHAWAY aka BRIAN BUTTERICK, who died suddenly in late January 2019. This public memorial of the beloved gay cultural icon will begin with a parade and continue to La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theater, 66 East 4th Street, 2nd Floor.

Who am I? Who are you?  Who are we?  Struggling for a stable identity and steadiness in an unsteady world where barriers are falling away and rising at the same time, the international lineup in the 2019 La MaMa Moves! dance festival—Yin Mei, Bobbi Jene Smith, Dan Safer, Hari Krishnan, Gruppo Nanou, Sin Cha Hong, Jesca Prudencio, Mia Habib, and Colleen Thomas—challenge such issues with unique urgency and originality. Their responses, alternately brightly witty, dead-on serious, and/or dark-humored, emerge from their singular historic and current cultural perspectives. 

La MaMa in association with Out of the Box Theatrics presentsthe World Premiere of DYING IN BOULDER (or the perfect place to die if you have good karma) by Linda Faigao-Hall, directed by Ian Morgan (Associate Artistic Director of The New Group). 

La MaMa is proud to present the world premiere of now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories, the newest work from Nicky Paraiso, an award-winning 40-year veteran of the New York City performance community. In a deep exploration of an artist's life, Paraiso investigates aging, identity, sexuality, class and race. Directed by MacArthur Fellow John Jesurun, now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories is also a multi-disciplinary celebration of an artistic community as it grows older and continues to make work, both individually and with each other.

La MaMa in association with Out of the Box Theatrics presents the World Premiere of DYING IN BOULDER (or the perfect place to die if you have good karma) by Linda Faigao-Hall, directed by Ian Morgan (Associate Artistic Director of The New Group). Previews begin February 28, 2019 at The Downstairs at La MaMa with opening night slated for March 3.

La MaMa presents the premiere of legendary playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie's The Fat Lady Sings at La MaMa's Downstairs Theater (66 East 4th Street). Directed by Drama Desk Award winner David Schweizer, the production is scheduled to begin previews on March 21, 2019, with an opening night on March 25, 2019 (running run through April 7, 2019). The cast will feature New York City Opera sensation, Lauren Flanigan, and actor, Tony Torn, known for his celebrated experimental theater work. They will be joined by Jake Horowitz, Nancy McArthur and Jose Useche.

Celebrating the life and work of Ethyl Eichelberger with panelists, live performances and archival materials. The event, curated by Michal Gamily, is moderated by Miss Joan Marie Moossy; with panelists, Brian Belovitch, Joe E Jeffreys, John Kelly, Lori E Seid, Black-Eyed Susan, and Mark Russell; live performances by Black-Eyed Susan, Jennifer Miller, and Jeremy Halpern with Auntie Belle; and archival material from the La MaMa Archives.

La MaMa will present the US Premiere of Kosovo's Qendra Multimedia in 55 SHADES OF GAY: BALKAN SPRING OF SEXUAL REVOLUTION, a contemporary burlesque story about LGBTI politics in the Balkans written by Jeton Neziraj and directed by Blerta Neziraj. Performances begin March 7, 2019 at The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa.

La MaMa presents a Planet Connections production of Alex Raid's exploration of the world of the millennial, The Floor is Lava. A production directed by Glory Kadigan, revived and presented as part of the 57th season of LaMaMa - one of the original theaters of the Off-Off Broadway movement. Performing May 09 - May 19, 2019 at The Downstairs | 66 East 4th Street; Thursday to Saturday at 8PM; Sunday at 5PM; $25 Tickets; $20 Student/Senior Tickets. www.lamama.org or call 212-352-3101