Holiday Hours
Posted December 22, 2011 at 6:31 pm
La MaMa office and box office will be closed from Friday, December 23rd through Monday, December 26th. We will be back on Tuesday, December 27th.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Macbeth After Shakespeare – The Worlds’ Best Theater of 2011
Posted at 11:22 am
by Randy Gener, randygenerlive.blogspot.com
NEW YORK CITY: The arts-and-culture magazine in the theater of One World announces its top-10 picks for the world’s best theater of 2011. Click here to read the article.
At the top of the hierarchical list are Radio Muezzin (Germany/Egypt), a documentary work by the Swiss director Stefan Kaegi; Macbeth After Shakespeare (Slovenia/Croatia), staged by Ivica Buljan; and David Henry Hwang’s Broadway play Chinglish, which originated at the Goodman Theatre of Chicago. READ MORE >>
Now the Cats with Jewelled Claws – 10 Best Things on Stage in 2011
Posted at 11:18 am
by Benjamin Sutton, Henry Stewart, Dan Callahan and Eugene Reznik, The L Magazine
5. Now the Cats with Jewelled Claws
Now the Cats with Jewelled Claws, a never-produced one-act by Tennessee Williams at La MaMa, proved to be the tastiest treat of the season, with its starry cast of cult movie stars (Mink Stole), downtown theater royalty (Everett Quinton), and downtown It Boys (Joseph Keckler and Max Steele). The unknown Williams play itself proved surprisingly muscular and absurdist, a bold step in a new direction that Williams didn’t take, and the cast was just ideal.
Being Harold Pinter – Best of 2011
Posted December 15, 2011 at 5:18 pm
From the Past, but Looking Forward
by Ben Brantley, NY Times
THIS was a year for celebrating both the enduring power of traditional theater and the creative stealth bombs that can be planted within it, for putting new and explosive life into classic vessels. “The Book of Mormon,” the year’s biggest hit, is on one level as cheerful and predictable an organic musical as anything Rodgers and Hammerstein might have come up with. But it’s also a sustained act of gleeful subversion. And while plays like “Jerusalem,” “The _______ With the Hat” and “Other Desert Cities” are anything but experimental in form, each seduces its audiences into traveling into places that they hadn’t expected (or thought they wanted) to visit. With one notable exception (the Belarus Free Theater’s galvanizing “Being Harold Pinter”) the shows listed below have the pleasingly familiar surface appearance of the Broadway of decades ago. What lurks in the hearts and minds of the original productions here (the revivals are another matter, but only just) is very much of the 21st century. READ MORE >>
La MaMa Family Show
December 14 – January 1, 2012
Please Join Us for the Opening of our Family Show and Annual Holiday Party
Macbeth After Shakespeare – Backstage Review
Posted December 11, 2011 at 1:15 pm
by Ron Cohen, Backstage.com
There’s not much that’s bonny about Scotland in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” and the place becomes exponentially uglier in “Macbeth After Shakespeare.” A brutal adaptation of the Scottish play by the late German playwright Heiner Müller, it’s performed in Slovenian by a dynamic cast of nine directed by Ivica Buljan, whose production crackles with high-voltage evil. READ MORE >>
John Fleck Blows in With Mad Women
Posted December 8, 2011 at 4:44 pm
by Alexis Soloski, Village Voice
There are gale-force winds with less vigor than John Fleck displays in his dynamic, discursive solo show Mad Women. Though Fleck recently turned 60, he displays the same manic drive and confessional intensity that made him a popular target during the culture wars of the 1980s. As he speeds and stumbles around the small stage of the La MaMa café space, he resembles a one-man whirlwind. Slumping into a chair to catch his breath, he asks, “Don’t ya’ feel like a tornado came out here and just sucked the oxygen right out of the room?” Yes, you certainly do. READ MORE >>
A Look Behind the Curtain
By Discovering Oz
December 8 – December 11, 2011
Featuring the creative work of the contemporary designers who have authored La MaMa’s new wave of artistic and expressive graphic design. Including Steven Weinberg and Casey Scieszka (a.k.a. Telephone & Soup), Kanan Shah, Marc Bovino, and Christopher Kalb.
Happy Little Bluebirds May Fly, but Judy and Mom Just Crashed and Burned
Posted at 1:45 pm
by Andy Webster, New York Times
After the countless drag queens who have paid tribute to Judy Garland, you’d think her stardust might be running low. But no, the actor and performance artist John Fleck grabs a handful in his spirited, heartfelt, one-man show “Mad Women” at the Club at La MaMa. Mr. Fleck and three other artists — Karen Finley, Holly Hughes and Tim Miller — were at the center of a controversy over content in the early 1990s when the National Endowment for the Arts revoked their grants. There is no controversy in “Mad Women,” only affection for Garland and bittersweet recollections of Mr. Fleck’s past. READ MORE >>
Channeling Tragedy, Comedy and Judy Garland
Posted December 6, 2011 at 4:31 pm
by Alexander Cavaluzzo, Hyperallergic
So there I stood, sharing a cigarette with my friends on the curb outside of La MaMa. We were patiently waiting for the house to open for former NEA 4 defendant John Fleck’s show, “Mad Women,” a dizzying one-man mash-up of the performance artist’s life with the final year of the legendary Judy Garland, when one of the producers approached me and asked, “Do you want to be in the show?” READ MORE >>
Lip-synching Judy Garland should be a bore, but in the hands of John Fleck, it’s profound
Posted at 4:29 pm
by Wayne Hoffman, Capital
There’s not much novelty in the prospect of a middle-aged gay man lip-synching Judy Garland. The prospect of paying for tickets to see what I’ve enjoyed perfectly well often enough in the living rooms of friends over the years, something that almost doesn’t seem like a professional’s job to do, wasn’t too interesting.
Then I saw John Fleck in his new one-man show, Mad Women. READ MORE >>
Mad Women, Backstage Review
Posted at 4:19 pm
by David Sheward, Backstage
Performance artist John Fleck, one of the NEA Four whose government arts funding was suspended by Congress for its controversial nature, combines pop culture with personal autobiography in a bizarre “psychological burlesque” solo piece called “Mad Women,” now playing a brief engagement at La MaMa ETC after a run at Los Angeles’ Skylight Theater. Right-wingers yanked Fleck’s grants in the 1990s because of his frank exploration of his own homosexuality and gay themes in general, but today his subject matter would be regarded by many as mainstream, no more controversial than any other coming-of-age-and-living-in-the-world story. READ MORE >>
La MaMa Cantata
December 29 – December 30, 2011 at 7:30pm
“If you want to see the best musical in town – head over here” – Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
“Go See La MaMa Cantata Tonight!” – EastVillageArts.org
“…Fearless and provocative theater” – NY Times
Back by popular demand!
“The La MaMa Cantata” is a theater music piece with actors soloists and a large chorus. The words are made up of quotes from Ellen Stewart over the last 50 years as well as stories about her and characters she encountered in her long miraculous journey of a life. It reflects the joy, incredible humor and guts of our leading lady as well as her struggles and fights for survival, by using Ellen’s words and spirit we also get a story about artists with vision and travels around a world and the corners of international cities that were transformed and continue to be by the strength and heart of theater. Get ready for passion and spirit and a range of music that reflects La MaMa and Ellen Stewart herself. Nothing is predictable.
LA MAMA CANTATA from culturehub on Vimeo.
Meanie by Melissa Murray-Mutch
December 19, 2011 at 8pm
Newish Mom Vanessa, has made her peace with obnoxious parents but can she find zen with their obnoxious children? How do you do this without becoming a Meanie?
Melissa Murray-Mutch explores a Mom’s personal demons in addition to the one she gave birth to.
Christmas in NickyLand 2011
December 17 – December 18, 2011
Saturday at 10pm
Sunday at 5:30pm
$15
Just in time for the holidays, La MaMa E.T.C. presents Nicky Paraiso as the master of ceremonies for the ultimate holiday cabaret, in our intimate 99-seat cabaret space, The Club at La MaMa. Each night there will be a holy host of characters singing, dancing, gender-bending, and merry making, all to get you into the East Village spirit of the season.
Performances by: Poor Baby Bree, David Cale, Ellen Fisher, Jon Kinzel & Vicky Shick, John Heginbotham, Jacek Mysinski, Matt Nasser, Edgar Oliver, George Emilio Sanchez, Chris Tanner, and other special guest artists TBA!
Nicky Paraiso is currently Director of Programming at The Club at La MaMa Experimental Theatre, and co-curates (with Mia B. Yoo) La MaMa Moves!, La MaMa’s annual spring contemporary dance festival. He has been a prolific actor at La MaMa, and the New York downtown theater and performance scene, since 1979. Paraiso’s awards include a 1987 BESSIE Award for Performance, a 2004 Spencer Cherashore Fund grant for mid-career actors and a 2005 NY Innovative Theater Award. Paraiso has been a member of Meredith Monk/The House and Vocal Ensemble (1981-1990), touring extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. Nicky’s critically acclaimed one-man shows Asian Boys, Houses and Jewels and House/Boy have been presented at La MaMa ETC, Dixon Place, PS122, Dance Theater Workshop and on tour.
Teatro Patologico Festival
By Teatro Patologico
December 15 – December 22, 2011
An Italian theater and film performance series from Dario D’Ambrosi
All the plays will be performed in English but the Chorus of “Medea” speaks in Ancient Greek. The films are in Italian with English subtitles.
December 15 – 18, 2011, $25
MEDEA
BUY TICKETS ONLINE
Adapted and directed by Dario D’ambrosi
Featuring the Drama Academy for Disabled Children
Exploring the relationship between language and the human body through a plot as cruel as it is moving. A combination of English and Greek, demonstrating the powerful connection between emotion and movement.
December 20, 2011, The play is $15 and the screening is free
7pm – Tutti Non Ci Sono, – “All Are Not Here” – Theatre piece – Dario in a One Man Show
8pm – L’uomo Gallo, – “Days of Antonio” - Film
December 21, 2011, The play is $15 and the screening is free
7pm – Frusta-azioni, – “Frustration” – Theatre Piece – Dario in a One Man Show
8pm – Il Ronzio Delle Mosche, – “The Flies” – Film
December 22, 2011, The play is $15 and the conference is free
7pm – Romeo e Giulietta, – “Romeo and Juliet” – Theatre piece
7:30pm – I.N.R.I. (a modern vision of Jesus) – Film
9 P.M.
Conference with DARIO D’AMBROSIA, Founder OF TEATRO PATOLOGICO
Introduced prof. RICCARDO VIALE, Director of ITALIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE OF NEW YORK
Alumnight – 4th Annual Event –
December 13 – December 14, 2011
Tuesday, December 13th & Wednesday, December 14th
5:00pm Play Reading
7:00pm Show Case
Free Admission
ALUMNIGHT – 4th Annual Event- is an evening of original theater-dance showcasing the talents of recent Eugene Lang graduates. Presented at La MaMa and curated by Professor Dr. Zishan Ugurlu’s commitment to her former students, the event will feature a rotating lineup of performers and collaborators committed to making an impression upon the New York theater scene.
MACBETH After Shakespeare
December 8 – December 11, 2011
La MaMa in association with Mini Teater Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Novo Kazaliste Zagreb (Croatia) presents “Macbeth After Shakespeare”.
Based on the text of postmodern German playwright Heiner Muller
Directed by Ivica Buljan
In Slovenian with English subtitles
Since its world premiere in Ljubljana nearly three years ago, the Mini Teater Ljubljana (Slovenia) / Novo Kazaliste Zagreb (Croatia) co-production of Heiner Müller’s controversial Macbeth after Shakespeare has garnered critical praise and awards all over the world, including such far-flung locales as Seoul and Havana. The work, directed by Mini Teater co-founder Ivica Buljan—director of Zagreb Youth Theatre’s equally physical The Garage, at La MaMa last year—will make its North American premiere at La MaMa.
MACBETH AFTER SHAKESPEARE from La MaMa on Vimeo.
Women’s Poetry Happening
December 5, 2011 at 8pm
Women’s Poetry Happening, hosted by Ilka Scobie
Ilka Scobie
Ilka Scobie is a native New Yorker poet and art critic, whose work appears in Artnet and Italian Marie Claire. She is honored to be again working with LaMama Theater, where she has curated womens and student readings. She teaches poetry in public schools for Teachers & Writers Collaborative and Lincoln Center. Collaborative work with her husband, Luigi Cazzaniga includes documentary shorts for Italian TV and recent interviews with artists Jiom Dine, Jeff Koons and Ugo Rondonine.
HD Artemis
HD Artemis – considers herself a relational artist and primarily explores intersecting experiences between subject and object, the mystical and the mundane, and people, places and things. Various art forms provide an outlet for her creative expression including creating images in stained glass, folding origami, writing, dancing and producing events that bring people together for meaningful reasons. She lives in Exotic Brooklyn and her poetry is just beginning to be published.
Jackie Sheeler
Jackie Sheeler is a multitasking mofo as well known for juxtaposing divergently brilliant artists at the many NYC shows she’s developed as she is for her own written and WordRocking poetic creations. She is delighted to once again don her MC cap as host of this eClectiC eLectriC, and will be debuting some new work of her own that night.
Lee Ann Brown
Lee Ann Brown is the author of two books of poetry: The Sleep That Changed Everything and Polyverse. She has received poetry fellowships from NYFA, The Fund for Poetry and the Howard Foundation, and teaches poetry at St. John’s University. She is also the founder of Tender Buttons press and of the community performance space, The French Broad Institute (of Time & the River).
Shelly Millers
Shelley Miller is a poet, singer, and songwriter who has been writing and performing, primarily in her hometown of New York City, for over twenty-five years. She is also a member of Poets & Writers, having published in numerous NY magazines.- She’s appeared in poetry videos with Allen Ginsberg, in poetry cabaret, and on cable TV. As a singer, she’s performed with The Roches, Tuli Kupferberg, and many other musicians and bands, and recorded and written for film. She was named after Percy Bysshe, and is proud to consider herself a true (and New) Romantic.
Tavi Fields
Tavi is a brooklyn-based independent hip-hop artist.
Hobbies: Performing w/ her 8-piece band, Mamarazzi; Audio Engineering
Where u can see/hear more: rawrhymes.wordpress.com, www.mamarazzisounds.com
Wanda Phipps
Wanda Phipps is a writer/performer living in NYC. Her publications and recordings include Field of Wanting: Poems of Desire, Wake-Up Calls: 66 Morning Poems, and the CD-Rom Zither Mood. Her poetry has been translated into Ukrainian, Hungarian, Arabic and Galician. She has received awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Theater Translation Fund, and others. As a founding member of Yara Arts Group she has collaborated on numerous theatrical productions presented in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Siberia, and at La MaMa, E.T.C. in NYC. She’s curated reading series at the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church and written about the arts for Time Out New York,Paper Magazine, and About.com. Her website is www.mindhoney.com.
Mad Women
By John Fleck
December 2 – December 11, 2011
Mad Women, in Association with Katselas Theatre Company
A solo performance written and performed by John Fleck
Directed by Ric Montejano
Friday & Saturday at 10pm
Sunday at 5:30pm
Thursday, December 8 at 10pm
$18
BUCKLE UP for a hair raising roller coaster ride through hell and back with 2 hysterical mad women, Ms. Judy Garland and Josephine Fleck accompanied by their sons who survive the ride. The LA Times says “John Fleck is perhaps best known as one of the NEA Four, envelope-pushing performance artists whose denial of funding by the then-NEA chairman was the basis for a landmark Supreme Court case in the early ’90s.
As he proves in “Mad Women,” Fleck is no mere footnote in theatrical history. Nor have the decades mellowed his signature style, which can best be described as cyclonic. Indeed, Fleck invests his new solo show with the kind of manic energy and off-the-wall humor for which he has become justly renowned.”
MAD WOMEN from La MaMa on Vimeo.