Tribeca Trib's Juliet Hindel covers Winsome Brown's This Is Mary Brown, now playing through Sunday, June 28, 2015.
"The play mainly tells the story of Winsome’s charming, eccentric, troubled mother, Mary Brown or Mum as she is called throughout. The drama came to life in the writer’s Tribeca home on Hudson Street in 2014 and that is also where it was first performed. In a bid to find out how people would react to this compilation of some of the wilder stories of her mother’s life, Winsome and director Brad Rouse invited small groups made up of theatre pros and locals to see the play in her home. “It was very intimate,” she explained recently by phone, speaking in a distinctly Irish accent that her mother drilled into her during her childhood in Canada. “There were no lights and the room is pretty small,” she said. But over wine or cups of tea after the play, she discovered that many people were profoundly touched by her memoir-drama. “I think it’s because everyone has a mother,” she said."
La MaMa presents THIS IS MARY BROWN A new play written and performed by Winsome Brown Directed by Brad Rouse Now - 28, 2018 - Final 4 Performances! Thursday - Saturday at 7:30pm; Sunday at 2pm The First Floor Theatre @ La MaMa 74A East 4th Street (between Bowery and Second Avenue) New York, NY 10003 TICKETS: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE
NEW YORK, June 22 -- La MaMa Experimental Theater is now one victim of the widely-reported chaos for business travelers, agricultural workers and international performers as an ongoing computer glitch has halted the application process for US visas. The inability to obtain visas for the actors and crew of Dutch theater troupe Dood Pard has forced the cancellation of "Botox Angels," which was to be presented by La MaMa Experimental Theater Club from June 26 to 28 in its Ellen Stewart Theater, 66 East 4th Street. Written by Rob de Graaf, translated into English by Paul Evans, the play was to be performed by Ellen Goemans, Janneke Remmers and Manja Topper,all from Holland, in its American premiere, which was to coincide with Gay Pride Weekend. In the piece, three clownish lesbian characters negotiate shifting power relationships, play dressup games and crosswords about men, philosophy versus banality and emotion versus rationality. Thousands of European travelers have had to scrap flights to America following an ongoing computer meltdown that has halted all visa applications. Since at least June 15, the State Department computer system for visa processing has been crippled by a hardware failure, causing worldwide delays. It will be at least another week before the problem is resolved, according to official sources, who deny that it is the result of a cyber-attack. ABOUT "BOTOX ANGELS":http://www.jsnyc.com/season/botox.htm MORE INFO: Chaos for Business, Travelers, & Musicians as US Visa Meltdown Halts All Applications Glitch in Visa System Leaves People Stranded
The Korean Cultural Service New York presents an opportunity for talented performers/performing arts organizations to present their works in New York City through the 2015-2016 Open Stage public contest. Selected performers/performing arts organizations will have the chance to co-host the event and to be featured in one performing arts series at the Gallery Korea of the Korean Cultural Service New York, at the Theatre of the Flushing Town Hall, or at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club during the 2015-2016 season. La MaMa will host the selected dance performances as part of the 2016 La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival. Deadline for submission is 5PM, July 10 (Friday), 2015. Forms and full details are on the The Korean Cultural Service New York's website: HERE
BroadwayWorld.com previews Pioneers Go East Collective's AMERICAN MILL #2, directed and designed by Artistic Director Gian Marco Lo Forte, with text and puppetry by co-Artistic DirectorAbby Felder, American Mill #2 plays the La MaMa Galleria June 25 - 27, 2015.
"AMERICAN MILL #2 is a docudrama theatre work about childhood and child labor at the turn of the century, framed by an exploration of the textile industry in the American South. Live and recorded video and photography re-create a textile mill environment, as live artists perform folk music written and arranged by Gina Stewart and Brenda Lee Gambill of the folk duo, Jonesalee, and interview excerpts inspired by original oral historical texts from textile workers."
"A versatile performer on a near-empty stage, Brown inhabits more than a
dozen characters, including her mum, her Alaskan frontiersman dad,
Toronto-bred siblings and herself, shifting adeptly among them with
slight but effective tweaks in voice and stance...a fitting tribute to the title mom, and all the flawed mothers who still toil away uncelebrated."
La MaMa presents THIS IS MARY BROWN A new play written and performed by Winsome Brown Directed by Brad Rouse
June 11 - 28, 2018 Thursday - Saturday at 7:30pm; Sunday at 2pm The First Floor Theatre @ La MaMa 74A East 4th Street (between Bowery and Second Avenue) New York, NY 10003 Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available for every performance (while they last) pre-sale only! 10@$10 Tickets are sold out! Regular priced tickets still available for most performances. Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE
La MaMa Cantata Japan Tour is heading to the Tamagawa University in Tokyo. A delegation of artists from New York City traveled to Tamagawa University
for four days of lectures and workshops with students and artists Mia Yoo, Kaori Fujiyabu and Billy Clark. La
MaMa archivist, Ozzie Rodriguez, gave a lecture on the first day about
the history of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and Ellen Stewart's
role in creating social change for the New York City theatre scene. The culmination of the collaboration will be a performance of La MaMa Cantata on June 20, 2015! Check out the website: HERE
Alexandra Beller spoke with Erin Carlisle Norton, Artistic Director of the NYC-based contemporary dance company The Moving Architects for her "Movers and Shapers" semimonthly podcast. Beller talks about her childhood, career and the making of milkdreams! To download and listen: CLICK HERE
La MaMa presents milkdreams by Alexandra Beller/Dances part of La MaMa Moves! 2015 Dance Festival June 11 - 21, 2015 Thursday - Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 4pm The Ellen Stewart Theatre 66 East 4th Street (between Bowery and Second Avenue) New York, NY 10003 Tickets: $25 adults; $20 students/seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available for every performance - pre- sale only! 10@$10 Tickets are SOLD OUT for the run. Regular priced tickets still available. For Tickets & Info: CLICK HERE
The New York Times' Ken Jaworowski has nice things to say about Winsome Brown's THIS IS MARY BROWN, now playing at The First Floor Theatre at La MaMa through June 28, 2015:
"The title character of “This Is Mary Brown” didn’t lead an exciting
life, but she inspired a lovely little play. This one-woman show,
written and performed by her daughter, Winsome Brown, never sugarcoats a
somewhat sad story, and that honesty makes it all the more admirable."
La MaMa presents THIS IS MARY BROWN A new play written and performed by Winsome Brown Directed by Brad Rouse
June 11 - 28, 2018 Thursday - Saturday at 7:30pm; Sunday at 2pm The First Floor Theatre @ La MaMa 74A East 4th Street (between Bowery and Second Avenue) New York, NY 10003 Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available for every performance (while they last) pre-sale only! 10@$10 Tickets are sold out! Regular priced tickets still available for most performances. Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE
Pioneers Go East Collective creates a new performance of it’s Docudrama theatre, AMERICAN MILL #2, work about child labor in the early 20th century textile industry in the Southern United States. Video and photography re-create the experience of mill workers, as live artists perform folk music and interview excerpts inspired by original audio recordings from textile workers.
La MaMa presents AMERICAN MILL #2 (Lint Head) by Pioneers Go East Collective
June 25 - June 28, 2015
Gallery Hours: Thursday to Sunday 1 to 7pm
Box Office opens at 7PM with gallery viewing Performances: Thursday - Saturday at 7:30pm
La MaMa Galleria
47 Great Jones Street (between Bowery and Lafayette Street)
New York, NY 10003
Tickets: $15; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available for every performance, while they last, pre-sale only.
La MaMa presents milkdreams by Alexandra Beller/Dances part of La MaMa Moves! 2015 Dance Festival June 11 - 21, 2015 Thursday - Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 4pm The Ellen Stewart Theatre 66 East 4th Street (between Bowery and Second Avenue) New York, NY 10003 Tickets: $25 adults; $20 students/seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available for every performance - pre- sale only! For Tickets & Info: CLICK HERE
Arthur Adair returns to La MaMa with his new show, Your War'try Grave, which opens at The Club @ La MaMa on June 12 and runs through June 21, 2015. Your War'try Grave is a musically-charged theatrical installation of psychedelic modernism informed by our species’ relationship to water and war. Arthur took time out of tech week to answer our 6 Questions! 1. What inspired Your War'try Grave?
My father, a Vietnam veteran; SuperStorm Sandy and my buddy’s children; and Ellen Stewart and 74A East 4th st. (there was initially a narrative stream concerning the history of the building but that grew into a piece of its own, perhaps in the future that shall come to the light).
2. How do you use sound and music in the piece?
“Art communicates that which words cannot,” is a quote I oft refer. The piece is non-linear in narrative, but there is a journey. Sound and music reinforce the journey while providing context for the streams within the narrative. I believe the piece wants to be a musical. It’s scratching its way to the surface.
3. What should the audience expect fromYour War'try Grave?
I don’t know. I know that I enjoy the work, I think others will too. Robert Wilson said something to the effect that, art should inspire the question, “what is it?” Anton Chekhov said something to the effect that, theatre need not provide the answer, but rather lead one to ask the question. In my work as designer/director, I heed Wilson; as playwright, Chekhov. I work to provide a compelling experience for the audience, one that is worthy of their time, investment, and thought. I do not take that responsibility lightly.
4. Who has inspired you artistically?
As Director, Ellen Stewart, Peter Brook, Georgia McGill.
As Designer, Jun Meada, Robert Wilson.
As Playwright, Euripides, Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, Samuel Beckett.
5. What was the last good book you read?
The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Wayby Amanda Ripley. A wonderful communication of how process equals product even in education.
6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?
I am proud to be a La MaMa artist. I walked into the building Saturday December 21st, 1996 and never left. When I work at La MaMa I am creating specifically for Ellen, for La MaMa, each intention, each decision. Since I began working on the piece, Ellen has been with me every step of the way. I have never experienced anything quite as magical as living and collaborating with Ellen. When she smiled, the whole world lit up. I can feel her smile in rehearsal.
La MaMa presents Your War'try Grave Conceived, created and assembled by Arthur Adair June 12 - 21, 2015 Friday and Saturday at 10pm; Sunday at 6pm Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available to every performance (while they last) pre-sale only. For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE
From Dood Paard ("Dead Horse") Theatre in Amsterdam comes "the US Premiere of Botox Angels, a play about militant female sexuality which is abundant in sultry dialogue, jealousy and emotional violence. Three clownish lesbian characters, named Swift, Cocky and Deedee, negotiate shifting power relationships, juggle dildos and fake breasts, play dress-up games and cross swords about men, breast reductions, philosphy versus banality and emotion versus rationality. Written by Rob de Graaf, translated into English by Paul Evans, it is performed by Ellen Goemans, Janneke Remmers and Manja Topper, all from Holland.
Botox Angels gets a unique style from the rough mind games among its three protagonists and a tactical/emotional directness that is characteristic of the Dutch. Its characters are women for whom being lesbian is, at least partially, a political choice. They don't want to hide their beauty or their sexuality and they want to be seen as attractive adult girls. The title appropriates the name of a cosmetic surgery drug to suggest women's longing to inspire desire perpetually. For Swift, Cocky and Deedee, for whom sex is a very aggressive game, Botox might also be a warrior's creed: even if they are dykes, they still can be as beautiful and attractive as a magazine cover model.
Imagine "Mean Girls" on steroids with middle-aged lesbian clowns.
La MaMa presents
BOTOX ANGELS by Dood Paard (Amsterdam)
Performed by Ellen Goemans, Janneke Remmers & Manja Topper Text by Rob de Graaf Translated by Paul Evans Choreography by Roy Peters June 25 - 28, 2015 - 5 performances only Thursday & Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 3pm and 8pm; Sunday at 4pm Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors; ten $10 tickets are available for every performance - first come first served - pre-sale only! For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE
Check out the trailer for Obie-award winner Winsome Brown's one-woman play, This is Mary Brown, coming to The First Floor Theatre at La MaMa, June 11 - 28, 2015. Winsome channels her wickedly funny Irish mother, her Alaskan frontiersman father, and her engaging family to tell the story of a simple life.
La MaMa presents THIS IS MARY BROWN A new play written and performed by Winsome Brown Directed by Brad Rouse
June 11 - 28, 2018 Thursday - Saturday at 7:30pm; Sunday at 2pm The First Floor Theatre @ La MaMa 74A East 4th Street (between Bowery and Second Avenue) New York, NY 10003 Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available for every performance (while they last) pre-sale only! Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE
Alexandra Beller is coming to LaMaMa next week for the world premiere of milkdreams as a part of La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival!
milkdreamsstrips the performers of their veneers of ego, agenda, and shame, laying bare their need, their contentment, and the authenticity of their present moment. Both the process of creating the work, and the work itself, attempt to sift from the body the habits, inhibitions, and presentations of the trained dancer, and to recover a physicality motivated entirely by sensation, desire, joy, curiosity, and, ultimately, love.
The performance was inspired by a rehearsal with Alexandra's 14 month old baby, Ivo, who turned out to be a great improviser! The video of the rehearsal went viral on social media with over 1 billion views. The buzz garnered international interviews for Alexandra, her dancers, and her baby and inspired two international documentary films.
Watch the video:
"I think many of us spend a good part of our lives searching for meaning. Some of us turn to religion, or science, some to parenthood, or yoga. I turned to Art. I searched for meaning in art for a long time, and I found it, but I also felt frustrated by the process of trying to connect to something larger than myself through something so self-involved. Then I had kids, and in watching them, I felt like I understood something about what exists beyond what we know, or think we know, something about what binds us, and something about desire. I started to learn the dances of my children, in the hope that it would bring me closer to what it feels like to be a human with no stories, no critiques, no formulas, no delusions, no denials, no successes or failures, no ego.
The result is a new evening-length work for four remarkable dancers called milkdreams."
- Alexandra Beller
The cast of milkdreams became nostalgic during the evolution of the performance and have offered up their own baby photos and childhood memories to share with audiences:
Alexandra Beller
"I was very fierce about my stuffed animals. They were absolutely REAL to me. I used to put their mouths to my ear and I really believed I knew what they were saying. As an only child, I had a good deal of time to myself, and I enjoyed long conversations with each of them. They had distinct personalities (based on appearance, I am sure), and I had specific relationships with them. One I would go to with problems. One I would go to when I wanted to sing a song. One was for gossip.
One day, a "friend" (pretty mean girl, though) came over and told me that my animals were saying bad things about me. I grabbed them and talked to them and explained to her that she'd misunderstood them. "No," she said, "I can hear them right now, yelling about how much they don't like you. I kicked her out of my house on the spot. That was the end of our friendship. Nobody tells me my imagination is hearing things wrong."
Simon Thomas - Train
"I grew up in the mountains. Rivers and streams everywhere. In the summer we used to play a game called "river walking" at some of our favorite swimming holes. To river walk one grabs hold of a large stone, almost too heavy to lift, and then walks from the shore into the river. The weight of the stone holds you to the bottom so you can walk along and not float up. Sometimes we made it a competition to see who could go farthest or hold their breath longest. But the best times were when I would go by myself and it wasn't a race and you could just be calm and still at the bottom of the river with your toes in the sand, looking up through the water at the world above, so easily turned on its head."
SIMON began dancing at Middlebury College, transitioning from an extensive background in competitive cross country skiing to graduate with a BA in Dance and Architectural Studies in 2009. Since then he has had the pleasure of working with Tiffany Rhynard/Big Action Performance Ensemble, Satya Roosens, Attack Theatre, Alexandra Beller/Dances, Megan Bascom and Dancers, Tiffany Mills and Company, Rosie Herrera Dance Theater, Red Dirt Dance, band|Portier, David Dorfman Dance, Pavel Zustiak|palissimo and most recently with the 2013 Bessie-winning "Then She Fell" by Third Rail Projects. He is the co-founder of The Space We Make.
Lea Fulton
"I picked up the Korean national anthem and could sing it pretty well while I was there. Seoul locals thought it was pretty funny to see a blond kiddo in traditional Korean dress."
LEA is a performance artist from San Diego, CA, now based in Brooklyn. She is a collaborator in The Space We Make, a performance collective of musicians and dancers who perform immersive work in non-traditional spaces. She is also a member of MotleyDance. She has worked with Faye Driscoll, Christine Suarez, Deborah Karp, and Laura Peterson. She creates her own work under the name The Motor Room and can be found studying Body-Mind Centering and Movement Therapy with an emphasis in Trauma Studies with Martha Eddy of the Center for Kinesthetic Education. She is excited to be working on her third experiment with Alexandra Beller/Dances.
Edward Rice
"One of my earliest memories is from when I was 4 years old. My family and I were on a vacation in Hawaii. We have many amazing pictures from that trip, but the only memory I have is of taking the flower leis we got as we left the plane into the the refrigerator at our hotel room. I just think it is hilarious that four year old me was so struck by that moment."
EDWARD, originally from Chicago holds a B.S. and an M.F.A in Dance Performance from Illinois State University and the University of Iowa, respectively. In 2012 he started working with Third Rail Projects on the critically acclaimed and 2013 Bessie Award winning Then She Fell. He has performed with Jennifer Kayle + Company, The Brian Brooks Moving Company, Stone Depot Dance Lab, Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects, Amber Sloan, Elizabeth Dishman, Laura Peterson Choreography, Benn Rasmussen's Ardent August, Christopher Williams (Wolf-in-Skins), Heidi Henderson's Elephant Jane, Alexandra Beller/Dances, and Punchdrunk's Sleep No More, NYC. Currently he is a Producer of ROVE and is the Business Manager for Third Rail Projects.
Carly Berrett Plagianakos
"My mother shared her love of dance, nature, and magic with me from a very early age. One night when I was very young, I had been outside and was enchanted by a full moon. I ran into my house to find my mother. I said, "Mom come outside. Come watch me dance to the light of the moon!" My mother patiently obeyed my request and watched my little body try to capture the magic of the moon!"
CARLYis a performer, writer, and multi media dance-maker. She hails from Salt Lake City, Utah and holds an MFA from the University of Utah and a BA from Brigham Young University. The insatiable urge to perform carried Carly to New York City, where she has experienced magic, heartache, and transformation through the art forms of dance and theater. Carly currently performs two leading roles in the Bessie Award-Winning interactive dance theater work “Then She Fell,” by Third Rail Projects. She also performs as a company member in Alexandra Beller/Dances. Carly has created dance film works independently and for various New York City Dance and Theater Companies. She has had the pleasure of working with Gesel Mason, Doug Varone, Ching-I Chang, Alex|Xan: The Median Movement, Nico-Li, Stephen Koester, Paul Matteson, Jen Nugent, and Bill Evans. Carly has been a master teaching artist at Dance New Amsterdam, Gibney Dance 280, 92Y, University of Albany, University of Colorado, University of Maryland, and St. Olaf College. She was an assistant professor at the University of Utah Department of Modern Dance from 2007-2009. Carly also freelances as a grant writer for various art, education and dance non-profits in New York City and Brooklyn.
La MaMa Presents
milkdreams
Alexandra Beller/Dances
A World Premiere/Part of La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival
June 11 - June 21, 2015
Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 4pm
Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors; ten tickets prices at $10 each available for every performance, pre-sale only - first come first served.
