La Mama Experimental Theater Club is the pinnacle of off-off Broadway. The Tony Award winning cultural institution has nurtured artists like Julie Taymor, Sam Shepard, David and Amy Sedaris and Harvey Fierstein.

Since being founded 60 years ago this crucible of creativity has had two artistic directors - both of whom are women of color. Mia Yoo has led the theater for the past 10 years; the 50 years before that were under the direction of its founder, Ellen Stewart aka "Mama." 

What You Need To Know

  • La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village was founded by Ellen Stewart 60 years ago

  • The club has helped produce and create legendary shows including "Godspell," "Torch Song Trilogy" and Blue Man Group

  • La MaMa continues to be led today by another powerful female voice, Artistic Director Mia Yoo

"Ellen Stewart was a force of nature," says Yoo. "She wasn't a theater person. She didn't start theater because she was interested in doing theater herself - she started La MaMa because she had two people, very close people in her life, who were playwrights. She decided she was going to rent a basement space on East 9th Street so that they could have a space to read their plays, to have their friends come and talk about it."

In this non-commercial endeavor Stewart, a fashion designer with no background in theater, was amazingly able to give birth to massive commercial successes, shows like "Torch Song Trilogy," "Godspell" and the world famous Blue Man Group.  But her ascent into the American Theater Hall of Fame wasn't necessarily an easy one.

Stewart's first space was in an all white building, and her unwelcoming neighbors cited the foot traffic in and out of his space when they accused her of operating a bordello.

Although an investigation by the fire inspector threw cold water on those incendiary claims, Stewart was arrested for operating a theater without a proper license, and as a result, she was forced to move locations. This happened multiple times over the first few years of La MaMa's existence.

"At some point she realized the value of space for the artists, you know, so she held onto it," says Yoo. "And she kind of credited Ed Koch for having to move all those times because each space that she went to became larger and larger, and so the actual work could expand in scope. We have 88,000 square feet now in the East Village, and that's a testament to her chutzpah, her perseverance, her ability to navigate the system, her vision and her mission to make sure that these spaces survived and existed for artists of the future."