La MaMa Alumni: John Jesurun directs Hilton Als' “Andy Warhol: The Series”

Hilton Als “Andy Warhol: The Series”

Originally written for television, Hilton Als’s Andy Warhol: The Series draws on historical accounts, rumors, and artwork to tell the story of the artist’s childhood, career, and fascination with Hollywood. The series is from the point of view of significant women in Warhol’s life–his mother and Shirley Temple. This evening will present the premiere reading, directed by New York-based director and La MaMa Alimni John Jesurun (Distant Observer, Shadowland, Stopped Bridge of Dreams). Co-produced by Claire Montgomery and Alsun Keogh/Location One.

Monday, May 21 at 5:00pm


Segal Theatre
365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street
New York, NY 10016

5:00pm Reading + Discussion

FREE + Open to public. First come, first served.

For more info: CLICK HERE

La MaMa Wants To Know What You Think

Rendering of 74 East 4th Street

This summer, La MaMa will be breaking ground on the gut renovation of our landmark building at 74 East 4th Street. As we look towards this transformation of our performance and community spaces after more than half a century, we want to find out what you, our audience members and supporters, think about La MaMa.

Click here to take our 2-minute survey!

6 Questions: Rolls Andre and Elena McGhee

Rolls Andre and Elena McGhee are up next in our 6 Questions with the cast of SEAGULLMACHINE. Now in its second week at The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa, SEAGULLMACHINE is a mashup of Chechov's The Seagull and Heiner Müller's Hamletmachine.  Don't miss this epic production by The Assembly, now through May 5th only.

1. Who do you play in SEAGULLMACHINE? 

Rolls: Shamrayev...the lead...but ssshhh don't tell Arkadina...
Elena: Paulina 

2. The play asks “What’s the good of making theater anyway?”  How would you answer that? 

Rolls: Theatre is a place where ideas can be debated, explored and challenged. We HAVE to make theatre. Theatre entertains and provokes us.
Elena: The good in making theatre is that we gather as a live community, and we are sorely lacking in direct contact with other people. Social media is an oxymoron, more isolation is happening as a result of social online contact. 

3. Do you have a preference: Anton Chekhov or Heiner Müller?

Rolls: I'm a Chekhov guy for sure but there's no need to choose between the two. hamletmachine is an amazing piece of work.
Elena: Chekhov.

4. Do you have a “dream role” or a favorite role you've played?

Rolls: Uncle Vanya...Falstaff...Lear in that order...
Elena: Lady in Orpheus Descending, Mary Queen of Scots 

Any role in a Churchill play 

5. What is the last good book/play/film/art exhibit you’ve seen/read?

Rolls: "The FerventYears" by Harold Clurman. One of my biggest inspirations as a theatre artist...I re-read it every few years.
Elena: film: Moonlight 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

Rolls: It feels good to be playing in a theatre that is such a big part of NYC theatre history. Like my character in the Seagull...I'm a big theatre history buff. I'm so excited!!!

Elena: It means being a part of a Tradition of experimental theatre history that embraces cultures world wide. 

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La MaMa in association with

The Assembly presents 

SEAGULLMACHINE 

Created by The Assembly 

Conceived by Nick Benacerraf 

Co-directed by Jess Chayes & Nick Benacerraf 

Text by Anton Chekhov, Heiner Müller, and The Assembly 

 April 14 - May 5, 2018 

The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa 

66 East 4th Street 

(between Bowery and Second Avenue) 

New York, NY 10003 

Tickets: $30 Adults; $25 Students/Seniors; first ten tickets to every performance available for $10 each, advance sales only, as part of La MaMa 10 @ $10 ticketing initiative 

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

A Message from Nicky Paraiso, La MaMa Moves! Curator

The choreographers participating in La MaMa Moves! 2018 are all strong, powerful individuals, beholden to no one, answering to nobody but themselves, adhering to no one style or genre, holding on to not one physical practice, dance technique, or philosophy. 

Each individual artist is listening to her/his/their own voice, taking the road less traveled, actively seeking the detour to hell as well. Each does this with a fierce determination, and a deep kind of listening to the movement directives and intentions of their physical body(ies). 

These personal directives coming from within are motivated by the breath, always present and inexorable. The body and breath inform and direct the content of the dance, rather than the dance directing the body. As a result, content from these choreographers has touched on issues of race, gender, exclusion, and seeking inclusion, articulating what living on the margins and peripheries looks and truly feels like, where the diasporas of larger communities lie. 

This methodology (way of work) requires a deep listening and attention to the dictates of one’s internal journey, which necessarily creates a window towards an authenticity and truth which can’t be discovered otherwise. This particular process happens with a rigor, a blind but knowing faith, with a deep intelligence and a kind of devotion. Leading possibly to grace. 

We invite you to join us, dear audience. 

Much love to all, 
Nicky Paraiso, La MaMa Moves! Curator 

---

La MaMa presents

La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival

Curated by Nicky Paraiso
Assistant Curator of La MaMa Moves: Gian Marco Lo Forte

May 10, 2018 - June 3, 2018

Performances @ La MaMa
66 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003

Limited $10 tickets available

For Info and Tickets: CLICK HERE

2018 La MaMa Umbria: International Playwright Retreat

La MaMa is pleased to announced that this summer's playwright in residence at La MaMa Umbria is MIGDALIA CRUZ.  Spend two weeks this summer participating in writing workshops led by an Migdalia while enjoying the peaceful surroundings of the Italian countryside

MIGDALIA CRUZ is a Bronx-born, award-winning playwright, lyricist, translator, and librettist of more than 60 works including: Miriam’s Flowers, El Grito Del Bronx, Salt, Frida, Satyricoño,  & FUR, produced in venues—across the U.S. and abroad—including INTAR, Latino Chicago, BAM, Mabou Mines, National Theater of Greece, Houston Grand Opera, & Ateneo Puertorriqueño, An alumna of New Dramatists, she was named the 2013 Helen Merrill Distinguished Playwright, and was awarded a 2016 NYFA grant.  Current commissions: OSF’s PlayON! & Princeton University. In June 2018, Migdalia will teach her third Fornés Playwriting Workshop at University of Notre Dame (Chicago campus).

Applications are now being accepted for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

For more information and to apply: CLICK HERE

First Look at La MaMa Kids: Don Quixote Takes New York

 Photos by Theo Cote

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La MaMa in association with
Loco 7 Dance Puppet Theatre Company presnets

Don Quixote Takes New York

Inspired by the novel The Ingenious Nobleman Sir Quixote of La Mancha 
by Miguel de Cervantes 
Adapted from the novel by Ivan Cardozo & Beatriz Caballero 
Re-imagined and adapted by Denise Greber & Federico Restrepo 
Choreographed & Designed by Federico Restrepo 
Sound Design & Music by Hao Bai 
Costume Design by Becky Hubbert 
Video Design / Animation by Laura Restrepo 

Featuring: Federico Restrepo with Zulivet Díaz, Luis Grande, Chris Ignacio, and Fleur Voorn 

April 21, 2018 - May 6, 2018
Saturdays & Sundays at noon

The Downstairs @ La MaMa
66 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003

All Tickets: $10

For Info and Tickets: CLICK HERE

Martyrs | Behind the Scenes of the World Premiere

"Sisters do it for themselves in Romana Soutus's new play, described as a 'convent party turned upside down.' The piece has been developed with director Pirronne Yousefzadeh and an all-female cast of nine." -TIME OUT NEW YORK

The Downstairs at La MaMa is transformed for the world premiere of Martyrs this weekend -- a fall down the rabbit hole of shame, femininity, and food! This all female cast and creative team are loading into the space in preparation for this unforgettable slumber party where tensions rise as Cat and Kitten, the two main characters, negotiate restraint versus indulgence & sensuality versus innocence. 

Scroll through a 360-sneak peek of this incredible set complete with two twin beds complete with pink comforters and plenty of pillows where the cast will play from April 19th to May 6th. Nine actresses round out the ensemble featuring Madison Fae, Shea Kelly, Kayla Jackmon, Kimiye Corwin, Alexandra Lapp, Lindsay Rico, Amira Nader, Jenna Bosco and Shelley Fort.

Tomorrow is your last chance to purchase limited $10 tickets for Martyrs before opening night -- part of La MaMa's TEN @ $10 program to ensure our productions are accessible for everyone!

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La MaMa presents

MARTYRS

Written by Romana Soutus

Directed by Pironne Yousefzadeh

 April 19 - May 6, 2018 

The Downstairs at La MaMa 

66 East 4th Street 

(between Bowery and Second Avenue) 

New York, NY 10003 

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors; first ten tickets to every performance available for $10 each, advance sales only, as part of La MaMa 10 @ $10 ticketing initiative 

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

6 Questions: Christopher Hurt

Christopher Hurt of SEAGULLMACHINE is up next in our 6 Questions series. Christopher talks making theater, his favorite role and working at La MaMa. Come see SEAGULLMACHINE to see Christopher and the rest of this amazing ensemble at work. SEAGULLMACHINE runs through May 5th at The Ellen Stewart Theater at La MaMa.

1. Who do you play in SEAGULLMACHINE?

Doctor Yevgeny Sergeyevich Dorn (55 years old)​

2. The play asks “What’s the good of making theater anyway?”  How would you answer that?

​Making theater is a wholesome, welcoming, celebratory, interpretive, social craft driven by curiosity, imagination, creativity, intellect, emotion, and morality. What's not to like? Other than high ticket prices?

3. Do you have a preference: Anton Chekhov or Heiner Müller?

​Chekhov is easy, Müller is hard. It depends what you're in the mood for, I guess.​

4. Do you have a “dream role” or a favorite role you've played?

​I played Crow in "The Tooth of Crime" many years ago; I hope I get a chance to play Hoss before too long.​

5. What is the last good book/play/film/art exhibit you’ve seen/read?

​The Tennessee Williams exhibit at the Morgan was wonderful; and I finally got around to reading "The God of Small Things" last month, and it's the best book I have read in a long time.​

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

​I have waited a long time since first visiting La MaMa in 1982 then moving to the East Village​ in 1988 to finally work my way onto this stage. It's the Jupiter in my solar system!

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La MaMa in association with

The Assembly presents 

SEAGULLMACHINE 

Created by The Assembly 

Conceived by Nick Benacerraf 

Co-directed by Jess Chayes & Nick Benacerraf 

Text by Anton Chekhov, Heiner Müller, and The Assembly 

 April 14 - May 5, 2018 

The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa 

66 East 4th Street 

(between Bowery and Second Avenue) 

New York, NY 10003 

Tickets: $30 Adults; $25 Students/Seniors; first ten tickets to every performance available for $10 each, advance sales only, as part of La MaMa 10 @ $10 ticketing initiative 

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

2018 La MaMa Umbria: International Symposium for Directors

The 2018 La MaMa Umbria: International Symposium for Directors announces this summer's workshop leaders: 

Semion Aleksandrovskiy (Russia)

Stefanie Batten Bland (USA)

Krzysztof Garbaczewski (Poland)

The Talking Band: Ellen Maddow / Paul Zimet  (USA)

Spend two weeks in Italy working with directors from around the world!  Applications are now being accepted.

For more information: CLICK HERE

6 Questions: Layla Khosh

It's Layla Khosh's turn at our 6 Questions. Layla talks about her role in SEAGULLMACHINE, Chekhov and working at La MaMa. SEAGULLMACHINE begins performances this Saturday, April 14th and now runs through May 5th (we just added three additional performances). Seating is limited, so get your tickets now.

1. Who do you play in SEAGULLMACHINE?

Nina Zarechnaya (plus another version of her and myself that's birthed from The Assembly's interpretation of Heiner's interpretation of Hamlet and theater at large and the world at large).

2. The play asks “What’s the good of making theater anyway?” How would you answer that?

I'm not sure what the good of it is. Entertainment? Stories unite us. Tradition unites us. There's a particular emphasis on connection in the whole project of theater making that's at once intellectual, emotional, and, most gratifyingly for me, physical. A great deal of effort goes into it, perhaps just for the purpose of declaring our aliveness. In that way it's a celebration of humanity. More? Maybe this show will inform me too.

3. Do you have a preference: Anton Chekhov or Heiner Müller?

Chekhov, because I get to apply my self and my own experience. His work is straight-forward, unmistakably human, and considered for action. Heiner Müller is interesting in a different way; his work seems to live outside of consciousness. So you do it, and then you learn what it means. And the meaning always changes. Performing something so unbound opens one up to a rare and special type of information. The chaos of that embraces and confronts the human condition in a very raw way.

4. Do you have a “dream role” or a favorite role you've played?

Dream Role: Probably Hedda Gabler, because she is so incredibly out there. Her motives are deeply odd and personal. She's a killer.

5. What is the last good book/play/film/art exhibit you’ve seen/read?

The last thing I've seen that meant a great, great deal to me was Toni Erdmann.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

I'm honored to work in a space with such a glorious and powerful history. Perhaps the spirit of Ellen Stewart will move me to do something great.

_____

La MaMa in association with

The Assembly presents 

SEAGULLMACHINE 

Created by The Assembly 

Conceived by Nick Benacerraf 

Co-directed by Jess Chayes & Nick Benacerraf 

Text by Anton Chekhov, Heiner Müller, and The Assembly 

 April 14 - May 5, 2018 

The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa 

66 East 4th Street 

(between Bowery and Second Avenue) 

New York, NY 10003 

Tickets: $30 Adults; $25 Students/Seniors; first ten tickets to every performance available for $10 each, advance sales only, as part of La MaMa 10 @ $10 ticketing initiative 

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE