What Does Working at La MaMa Mean to You, Part 2!

The 53rd season has come to an end at La MaMa after another wonderful year featuring dozens of different artists performing in 80+ productions and working in our art spaces on the Lower East Side! There is no better time to reflect on our mission dedicated to the artists and all aspects of the theatre. Ever since Ellen Stewart founded La MaMa in 1961, our interest has been in the people who make art, and it is to them that we give our support with free theater and rehearsal space, lights, sound, props, platforms, and whatever else we have that they can use to create their work. 

We want them to feel free to explore their ideas, and translate them into a theatrical language that can communicate to any person in any part of the world. Here are some thoughtful quotes from old friends and new artists who spent time at La MaMa this season about what brought them to La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and why they keep coming back:





"La MaMa has always been an artistic home for me."

~ Nicky Paraiso, Christmas in Nicklyland & Director of Programming -- The Club

"La MaMa means having a safe haven to experiment and create alongside some amazingly talented and wonderful artists."

~ Sorab Wadia, Tempest directed by Karin Coonrod

"La MaMa is an amazing place. They love and support artists above all, and I am so in awe of that."

~ Jane Comfort, Altiplano 

"La MaMa is home. I have been in two plays here, and I wrote and directed a circus at the Café years ago. It’s a place where my work is welcomed and supported, and where the community of fellow artists is rich and diverse." 

~ Obie-award winner Winsome Brown, This Is Mary Brown

"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."

~ Arthur Adair, Your War'try Grave

"I can tell you exactly what the dressing room smells like in the Ellen Stewart Theater with the same detail that I can tell you what the kitchen in my childhood home smells like, if that’s any indicator as to how vivid and loved La Mama is in my memory."

~ OBIE Award-Winner Heather Christian, Daily Life Everlasting

"I feel lucky to have the opportunity to perform and develop in such a nurturing environment. I will keep coming back, sniffing out all your squirreled pianos, as long as y'all will have me."

~ Dane Terry, Bird in the House

"Ever since I was a drama student at NYU, La MaMa, and The Public Theater, have always, and continue to be, definitive hubs for cutting edge, innovative theatre, and we're proud to be a part of that tradition."

~ Darian Dauchan, INCOMING! The Mighty Third Rail

"To have my students and my colleagues come together for this production at La MaMa is an honor."

~ Martha Tornay, The Shell Shocked Nut

"For me, working at La MaMa means having a home to pursue my creative work to its fullest potential. It also means having an artistic family and being directly connected to an amazing culture and community."

~ Mike Gorman, If Colorado Had an Ocean…

"To step into the house that Ellen Stewart built is a watershed."

~ Daniel Alexander Jones, An Integrator's Manual 

"Rehearsing at 47 Great Jones is like coming home." 

~ Andrea Assaf, Eleven Reflections on September 

"To have this work, which is so important to me, at la MaMa, which has been on an altar of creativity for such a long time, is empowering and inspiring. La MaMa, for me, represents exactly what this work is attempting: to build on history while constantly seeking a new way to communicate, to bridge relationships, to foster a future."

~ Alexandra Beller, Milkdreams

"Having known both Ellen Stewart and Mia Yoo, I can say that they both radiate this same quality, a sort of ethic of being welcoming and nurturing, of hearing you, and supporting you, not just materially but morally."  

~ Trav S.D. , Horseplay

"What I love most about La MaMa is the lack of fear in the shows they choose to present, with a look towards risk and beauty and vital things that need to be said."

~ Megan Kennedy, Dusk Ahead

"Working at La MaMa means performing in a space I have been thinking about since I was a teenager in Virginia, imagining the magical world of experimental New York theater. And in a space where I have seen work that defined my idea of what performance could and should be. We are so honored to be here."

~ James Harrison Monaco, INCOMING! Aaron/Marie

"I love the values that La Mama supports and promotes, and am glad to play a part in this." 

~ Sam Trubridge, Sleep/Wake

Looking forward, keep an eye out for the new season on our website and consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our artists & productions!