Remembering Bruce Kessler

Remembering Bruce Kessler

A promotional photograph from "The Contestants" by Bruce Kessler,
directed by Wilson Lehr, and produced at La MaMa in 1966.  

Sunday, October 20, 2019 
1pm-4pm

La MaMa Rehearsal Studios
47 Great Jones Street
New York, NY 10003

Bruce Kessler was a playwright, director and actor 

who was involved with La MaMa beginning in 1963. 

His memorial will take place on October 20th, 2019. 

E-mail mkessler@uvm.edu for more information.

Find out more about Bruce on La MaMa's Digital Archive

La MaMa Alumnus Jesse Freedman at The Doxsee

Featuring innovative production design, live Kung-Fu movie cinematography and choreographed Talmudic debate, Meta-Phys Ed.’s THE TALMUD is a genre-bending performance that draws from a century of Chinese martial arts and a single chapter of 5th century Rabbinic Judaism text.  THE TALMUD is directed by Jesse Friedman, who was seen at La MaMa in 2016 with JEW VS. MALTA in The Club.

Target Margin presents

THE TALMUD

by Meta-Phys Ed.
Directed by Jesse Freedman

September 12 - 28, 2019

Tix: $20 - $25

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

Five La MaMa Alumni Receive Tony Nominations

Congratulations to all the 2019 Tony Nominees especially 
our La MaMa Alumni on Broadway!

Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song, which began its life at La MaMa as three one-act plays that eventually became the Torch Song Trilogy. Torch Song is nominated for Best Revival of a Play.  Harvey made his acting debut at La MaMa in 1971 in Andy Warhol's only play, Pork.  He went on to write and perform in many shows at La MaMa in the 1970s, 80s & 90s.

Heidi Schreck is nominated for both writing and staring in her play What The Constitution Means to Me, now playing at the Helen Hayes Theater. Heidi played the title role in Shaw's Major Barbara directed by Brooke O'Harra for her company The Theater of a Two-headed Calf  at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre in 2006.

Taylor Mac's play Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus is nominated for Best Play. Taylor has performed numerous times at La MaMa including Walk Across America for Mother Earth (with Talking Band) in 2011, The Foundry Theater's production of Good Person of Szechwan in 2013 and The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac in The Club at La MaMa in 2007.

David Neumann is nominated for Best Choreography for Hadestown on Broadway! Neumann most recently performed in the Jane Comfort: 40th Anniversary Retrospective in 2018. 

André De Shields is nominated for Supporting Actor in a Musical for his fierce performance in Hadestown. André began performing at La MaMa on the 1970s and appeared in such shows as Ken Rubenstein's Sacred Guard (1973), Lamar Alford's Thoughts (1974), Haarlem Nocturne (1984) and the Cotton Club Gala with music by Aaron Bell and directed by Ellen Stewart (1985). 

Congratulations again to these and all the nominees and good luck on June 9th!

AJIJAAK ON TURTLE ISLAND to play New Victory Theater

Photo by Theo Cote

IBEX Puppetry's AJIJAAK ON TURTLE ISLAND, seen at La MaMa in February 2018, returns to New York City to play The New Victory Theater on 42nd Street.

Visionary puppetry artist Heather Henson and Grammy Award winner Ty Defoe bring together an ensemble of North American First Nations Peoples to tell the tale of Ajijaak, a young whooping crane who must face her first migration south. Indigenous songs, languages, and dance weave together in a spectacle of artistry to create this affecting fable about the dangerous effects of climate change on animals and our Mother Earth. With puppets from Jim Henson's Creature Shop and music by Ty Defoe, Grammy nominee Dawn Avery and Kevin Tarrant of The SilverCloud Singers, AJIJAAK ON TURTLE ISLAND takes flight in a celebration of the natural world.

Don't miss your chance to see this amazing show once again.

Photo by Theo Cote

AJIJAAK ON TURTLE ISLAND
An IBEX Puppetry Production
Directed by Ty Defoe and Heather Henson

March 1 - 10, 2019

The New Victory Theater 
229 W 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036 

Tickets & Info: CLICK HERE

La MaMa Alumni are Working (It) this January!

It's January and festival season here in New York and lots of La MaMa Alumni are working (it) all over the city.  

Here's a sample:

James & Jerome, who were seen at La MaMa with their show Piano Tales (November 2016), are performing their newest site-specific new piece, INK: a piece for museums, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art this weekend as part of the 2019 Under The Radar Festival.

INK: a piece for museums
January 5-6, 2019
part of the 2019 Under The Radar Festival
For Tickets & Info: Click Here

       

Peter Mills Weiss (La MaMa Alum from 2015 with MAKE PEOPLE Parts 1 & 2) has created a new work with and Julia Mounsey.  Titled: [50/50] old school animation, the piece flirts with the horrific and dips into the surreal and is also  being performed as part of the 2019 Under The Radar Festival. 

[50/50] old school animation
January 4 - 13, 2019
part of the 2019 Under The Radar Festival
For Tickets & Info: Click Here

       

Jesse Freedman and  Meta-Phys Ed.’s THE TALMUD is a genre-bending performance that will premiere at The Exponential Festival at The Doxsee in Brooklyn.  Based on the Talmud and Kung-Fu films, THE TALMUD is about the transmission of ancient traditions and sacred wisdom across generations; from teacher to student and master to disciple.  Meta-Phys Ed was last seen at La MaMa with Jew vs. Malta in 2016. 

THE TALMUD

January 10-13, 2019

part of the 2019 Exponential Festival

For Tickets & Info: Click Here

       __

Also part of the Exponential Festival, performer Chris Ignacio (seen at La MaMa in works by Theodora Skipitares, Loco 7 and more) will appear in What Holds Heat's very intimate Duet-ed at Vital Joint, every Friday in January (4, 11, 18, and 25) from 12pm - 6pm - six consecutive hour-long performances, starting at the top of each hour. Duet-ed Friday in January (4, 11, 18, and 25) from 12pm - 6pm

part of the 2019 Exponential Festival

For Tickets & Info: Click Here 

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And John Gutierrez (seen at La MaMa in Conquest of the Universe, Pylade and CultureHub's Hi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Sci-Fi) is performing in This Bridge Called My Ass at The Chocolate Factory as part of American Realness. In the piece, six Latinx performers map an elusive choreography of obsessive and perverse action within an unstable terrain of bodies, materials and sound. This Bridge Called My Ass January 9 - 19, 2019 part of American Realness For Tickets & Info: Click Here

La MaMa Alumni: Brian Belovitch's Trans Figured

In his new autobiography Trans Figured: My Journey from Boy to Girl to Woman to Man, Brian Belovitch (recently seen at La MaMa in Charles Ludlam's Conquest of the Universe) shares his true story of life as a gender outlier and his dramatic journey through the jungle of gender identity.

Trans Figured is now available for pre-order on Amazon: CLICK HERE

La MaMa Alumni: Spiderwoman Theatre

Long-time La MaMa artists Spiderwoman Theatre will premiere their latest play, Fear of Oatmeal, at Theatre for the New City from June 8 - 24, 2018.  Written and directed by Muriel Miguel, Fear of Oatmeal, is the story of Nelly, an old Native woman and her house. She is surrounded by the detritus of the generations who came before her and her memories. The show features Donna Couteau, Joe Cross, Gloria Miguel, Soni, Moreno and Sheldon Raymore.

For more information and tickets: CLICK HERE

La MaMa Alumni: Karen Finley

The legendary Karen Finley brings her show UNICORN GRATITUDE MYSTERY (seen at La MaMa in May 2017) to VFD in London on Saturday, May 26, 2018.  The European premiere of UNICORN GRATITUDE MYSTERY is the centerpiece of VFD's Femmetopia Festival happening May 23 - 28.

For Tickets and more information: CLICK HERE

La MaMa Alumni: Choreography by Alexandra Beller in Assembled Identity

Choreographer Alexandra Beller, whose milkdreams was seen as part of La MaMa Moves! in 2015, is choreographing Assembled Identity by Purva Bedi, Kristin Marting, and Mariana Newhard now playing at HERE through May 19, 2018.

Assembled Identity is about twin sisters who discover they are actually clones. The piece uses original and found text, live cinematography, and contemporary music, and delves into racial ambiguity, the science of identity formation, and questions who has the authority to define it.

For tickets and info about Assembled Identity: CLICK HERE

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 Alumni: Kate Bornstein & Ty Defoe on Broadway

La MaMa Alumni Kate Bornstien seen at La MaMa in Squirts and On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us and Ty Defoe seen at La MaMa in Ajijaak on Turtle Island just this past February, have joined the cast of  Second Stage's production of Young Jean Lee's Straight White Men on Broadway.  Kate and Ty join an amazing cast that includes Josh Charles, Armie Hammer and Tom Skerritt.  Anna D. Shapiro directs.

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Second Stage presents

Straight White Men

By Young Jean Lee

Directed by Anna D. Shapiro

With Kate Bornstein, Josh Charles, Ty DeFoe, Armie Hammer, Tom Skerritt

It’s Christmas Eve, and Ed has gathered his three adult sons to celebrate with matching pajamas, trash-talking, and Chinese takeout. But when a question they can’t answer interrupts their holiday cheer, they are forced to confront their own identities. This is one white Christmas like you’ve never seen before.

Click Here for a special La MaMa discount on tickets: BUY TICKETS

La MaMa Alumni: Target Margin Theater's PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE GIRL

Photo by: Emon Hassan for The New York Times

Target Margin Theater, seen at La MaMa with EGYPT (1992), Objects Lie on a Table (1993) and Young Goodman Brown (1995) now have their own space, The Doxsee in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and a brand new show: PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE GIRL.

Directed by Artistic Director David Herskovits,  PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE GIRL is an interlocking set of tales about the deceptions of the sexes, tales within tales, that lead us deep into the labyrinth of The One Thousand and One Nights.  

The show just got a rave review and a Critics' Pick by Ben Brantley in The New York Times so this is a great time to check out NYC's newest venue and the latest work from Target Margin Theater!  PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE GIRL runs through April 21, 2018.

For More Info: CLICK HERE

La MaMa Alumni: John Jarboe @ Joe's Pub

If you missed John Jarboe's You Can Never Go Down The Drain: a Musical Children's Program for Adults in 2018, when it was at La MaMa in February - you're in luck.  John brings The Bearded Ladies Cabaret show to Joe's Pub at The Public Theater for one night only:  Thursday, April 19th at 7pm.

You Can Never Go Down The Drain: a Musical Children's Program for Adults in 2018 is created by The Bearded Ladies Cabaret  and written and performed by John Jarboe. Mr. Rogers was known for saying no matter how bad things are "You can never go down the drain." Using and abusing iconic songs from the program, Philadelphia's Bearded Ladies Cabaret, puts this to the test. For this workshop performance, expect a gold fish funeral, gay romps into the land of make-believe, and some earnest questions about irony.

For more info and tickets: CLICK HERE