Stonewall 50 at La MaMa
Presented by La MaMa
“Queer artists have been an integral part of shaping La MaMa and the global cultural landscape. Our legacy is deeply rooted in this community’s contributions. Stonewall 50 at La MaMa celebrates the transformative power of queer creative expression.”
– Artistic Director, Mia Yoo
We celebrate World Pride with exciting voices from around the globe and down the block. Join multiple generations of queer performers as they pose questions, honor legacies and ignite the present.
LGBTQ+ artists from NYC, Philadelphia, Paris, Italy, and South Korea will participate in the STONEWALL 50 as part of World Pride. La MaMa, which has presented works by queer artists since the company was founded by Ellen Stewart in the East Village in 1961, has assembled this month-long programming in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of what is widely-regarded as the birth of the gay rights movement that began one legendary night, June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Bar in Greenwich Village in NYC.
Cover Photo by Rody Shima
MESSIAH
May 23 - June 2, 2019 in The Downstairs
Written & Directed by Nia O. Witherspoon
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Messiah is 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. The production features a ten-member cast and creative team comprised of predominantly queer, trans, and people of color.
LA MAMA’S SQUIRTS
May 31 - June 2 in The Ellen Stewart Theatre
Curated by Cecilia Gentili, Charlene Incarnate and Mizz June
Each year, La MaMa’s Squirts: Generations of Queer Performance gathers the most exciting voices from New York City’s queer performance world, across the generations. This year, three trans women artists with deep community roots will each craft a night of the festival, marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
GLOBAL GAY
June 6 - June 9 in The Ellen Stewart Theatre
Directed by Salvino Raco
The U.S. premiere of Global Gay dramatizes the plight of queer people around the world as they claim their human rights in the face of authoritarian regimes and homophobic cultural norms. In the spirit of the “theater of engagement,” Salvino Raco has crafted a provocative narrative that challenges audiences to abandon their complacency and squarely confront the issues faced by many millions of LGBTQ people outside of Europe and North America.
COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES #154
June 8 in the Ellen Stewart Theatre
Curated by Michal Gamily
Coffeehouse Chronicles #154: TAYLOR MAC honors the career and achievements of American actor, playwright, performance artist, director, producer and MacArthur Fellow recipient Taylor Mac with panelists, live performances and archival materials. Coffeehouse Chronicles is an educational performance series exploring the history of Off-Off Broadway.
13 FRUITCAKES
June 13 - June 16 in The Ellen Stewart Theatre
Written & Directed by Byungkoo Ahn
Filled with movement and music, 13 Fruitcakes is a series of 13 staged musical vignettes about 13 significant LGBTQ figures that influence humanity through their great achievements in the arts, politics, philosophy, and science. Moments in the lives of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, Dong Xian (董賢), King Hyegong, Leonardo da Vinci, Hans Christian Andersen, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, Alan Turing, Frida Kahlo, Josephine Baker and Eleanor Roosevelt are staged along with a beautiful song cycle based on poems by queer poets such as Wilde, Mew, Whitman, Rimbaud and Lorca.
A BIRTHDAY FUNERAL FOR HEROES
June 20 - June 29 in The Ellen Stewart Theatre
By The Bearded Ladies Cabaret
On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the much lauded homo poet Walt Whitman’s birth and the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret is throwing a pageant for the ancestors called Contradict This! A Birthday Funeral for Heroes. Part trial, part birthday, part funeral, this spectacle will feature original music performed by a host of misfits, drag artists, queers, and a local choir. Come with friends, complaints, heroes and villains alike. All are welcome to the death, birth, and reckoning of the great poet.
