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New York theater pioneer Ellen Stewart dies
Source: Agencies |
January 14, 2011, Friday
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ELLEN Stewart, the founder of influential theater group La MaMa Experimental Theater Club and a pioneer of live productions made outside Manhattan's Broadway district, died yesterday, age 91.
A spokesman for the company told the New York Times that Stewart had a history of heart problems and she had been ill for a long time.
Stewart, a dress designer, started La MaMa in a New York City basement in 1961 on Manhattan's Lower East Side, and it soon grew into a theater company known for creative stage productions that gave rise to the term Off Off Broadway.
She was known for her drive and the indomitable spirit that she used to promote her productions, and La Mama was influential in the formative years of numerous actors including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Olympia Dukakis and Diane Lane.
Playwrights such as Sam Shepard and directors including Tom O'Horgan, who helped create rock musical "Hair," worked with La MaMa, and the company even saw a few of its productions, such as "Godspell," become successful on Broadway.
The company's website says it is "a place where emerging artists learn from established artists and where artists from around the globe share work and ideas."
During her lifetime, Stewart received numerous honorary degrees and awards, including a MacArthur Genius Award, and in 1993 she was inducted into the Broadway Theatre Hall of Fame -- the first Off Off Broadway producer to receive that honor.
A spokesman for the company told the New York Times that Stewart had a history of heart problems and she had been ill for a long time.
Stewart, a dress designer, started La MaMa in a New York City basement in 1961 on Manhattan's Lower East Side, and it soon grew into a theater company known for creative stage productions that gave rise to the term Off Off Broadway.
She was known for her drive and the indomitable spirit that she used to promote her productions, and La Mama was influential in the formative years of numerous actors including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Olympia Dukakis and Diane Lane.
Playwrights such as Sam Shepard and directors including Tom O'Horgan, who helped create rock musical "Hair," worked with La MaMa, and the company even saw a few of its productions, such as "Godspell," become successful on Broadway.
The company's website says it is "a place where emerging artists learn from established artists and where artists from around the globe share work and ideas."
During her lifetime, Stewart received numerous honorary degrees and awards, including a MacArthur Genius Award, and in 1993 she was inducted into the Broadway Theatre Hall of Fame -- the first Off Off Broadway producer to receive that honor.
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