SCENE FROM THE STREET
La MaMa Theater Restoration
The LA MAMA Theater restoration at 74A East 4th Street is a designated New York City landmark long associated with the performing arts. It was constructed in 1873 for the German-American orchestral society Aschenbroedel Verein. Later refurbished at a cost of $24 million by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects, it is now state-of-the-art performance spaces and amenities for this world-renowned cultural institution, while preserving the building’s cherished historic character. Major changes include lowering the first-floor ceiling to expand the performance venue above, new all-gender bathrooms, a larger dressing room and an expanded lobby that includes full ADA access and an elevator.
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart in the basement boutique where she sold her fashion designs. She turned the space into a theater at night, focusing on the work of young playwrights.
La MaMa’s mission is dedicated to “the people who make art, and it is to them that we give our support with free theatre 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.”
On April 2, 1969, Stewart purchased the building at 74A East 4th Street using grant money from the Ford, Rockefeller, and Doris Duke Foundations, becoming its fifth and final location. The ground floor is a theater which seats 100 people. The second-floor space is a cabaret called the La MaMa Experimental Club with the capacity to seat 75. With additional funding, the third floor became a rehearsal space and workshop. Finally, the top floor was turned into an apartment for Stewart. Staff offices are now located on the fourth floor.
Stewart continued to be artistic director and “mother” at La MaMa until her death on January 13, 2011. Her successor Mia Yoo shut the building down in March 2018 for this restoration, which took five years to complete.
Text credit: Wikipedia. Photo by Brian J. Pape, AIA
