Research Catalog

Title

Ellen Stewart presents : fifty years of La MaMa experimental theatre / Cindy Rosenthal.

Author

Rosenthal, Cindy, 1954-

Publication

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2017]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

viii, 198 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color map; 29 cm

Summary

"Ellen Stewart (1919-2011) was the single most important figure in the history of American avant-garde theater and performance art. Founder of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Stewart was responsible for a staggering array of productions and for fostering the early work of directors, playwrights, actors, composers, and performance artists. Active until her death at age 91, Stewart also established a highly regarded workshop for directors and playwrights in Umbria, after receiving the prestigious MacArthur grant in 1985. Although she was a vital force in American theater for decades, Stewart resisted attempts to have the story of La MaMa written until five years before her death. Following Stewart's vision for this book, theater scholar Cindy Rosenthal relates the history of La MaMa through its performance posters, capturing the irreverence and the aesthetic of La MaMa over five decades. Richly illustrated, including posters and photographs of early productions and other rarely-seen photos, and featuring interviews with a wide range of now-famous La MaMa alums, Ellen Stewart Presents is a book for theater aficionados and anyone interested in the history of Off-Off-Broadway, the cultural history of New York City, or visual culture from the '60s to the present"--

Alternative Title

Fifty years of La MaMa experimental theatre

Subject

• Stewart, Ellen, 1919-2011
• La Mama Experimental Theatre Club
• 1900-1999
• African American theatrical producers and directors > Biography
• Experimental theater > New York (State) > New York > History > 20th century
• African American theater > New York (State) > New York > History > 20th century
• African Americans in the performing arts > New York (State) > New York > History > 20th century
• Theatrical posters, American
• Experimental theater
• New York (State) > New York

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 173-179) and index.

Contents

Introduction -- The 1960s : Ellen's babies, a basement, and a bed -- The 1970s : a defining decade -- The 1980s : "Ellen belongs to everywhere" -- The 1990s : La MaMa turns thirty -- The 2000s : the Ellen Stewart theatre/the Ellen Stewart way.

Call Number

Sc F 18-93

ISBN

• 9780472117420
• 0472117424

LCCN

2017012508

OCLC

985920015

Author

Rosenthal, Cindy, 1954- author.

Title

Ellen Stewart presents : fifty years of La MaMa experimental theatre / Cindy Rosenthal.

Publisher

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2017]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 173-179) and index.

Local Note

Schomburg copy with dust jacket.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Research Call Number

Sc F 18-93