Ellen Stewart's Memorial Service Announced, 1/17

Ellen Stewart, the legendary Founder and Director of the La Mama E.T.C.   -- the theatre that began in October 1961, and to this day continues to be of great importance to world culture - died on Thursday, January 13, 2011 at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan.  Ms. Stewart died of natural causes after an extended illness, according to Mia Yoo, co-artistic director of La MaMa, E.T. C. (Experimental Theatre Club).  Born November 7, 1919 in Chicago, Ms. Stewart was 91 at the time of her death. 
 
Ms. Stewart was beloved by theater artists and audiences around the world - which truly was her stage. In her 49-year tenure, La MaMa presented 3000 productions and earned countless cultural awards as it maintained the reputation established and tirelessly upheld by Ms. Stewart as a haven of off-off Broadway's experimental performing arts community. 
 
La Mama E.T.C.  resident theatre troupes have performed in countries throughout the world including Columbia, Venezuela, Lebanon, Iran, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Scotland, England, Sweden, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Croatia, Korea, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Australia, Greece, Ukraine, Siberia, The Netherlands, and Macedonia. 
 
Ms. Stewart began her career in New York as a fashion designer and started La MaMa in 1961 when she rented a tiny basement on East 9th Street in Manhattan for $55 a month to provide her brother and his playwright friends with a space to showcase their plays.  La MaMa took up residence in its original and current space at 74A E. 4 St. in 1969.  
 
In 1974, the company acquired a second space, The Annex, down the street at 66 E. 4 St.  And in November 2009, on the occasion of Ms. Stewart's 90th birthday, The Annex was officially renamed the Ellen StewArt Theatre. 
 
New Eastern European Theatre was introduced in America in 1967 when Ellen Stewart brought Jerzy Grotowski, Ryszard Cieslak, and Ludwig Flaszen to America. In this endeavor she was aided by TEd Hoffman of New York University. Ms. Stewart was instrumental in introducing to America some of the world's most influential artists including Andrei Serban, Tom O'Horgan, Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson, Harvey Fierstein, Maria Irene Fornes, Tom Eyen, Jean Claude Van Itallie and countless others.  She was proud of La MaMa's long heritage as an international theatre, having hosted artists from more than seventy different countries. 
 
In 1972, Ms. Stewart co-founded Great Jones Repertory Company with Andrei Serban and Elizabeth Swados, and in recent years the company has presented singular productions - often adaptations of ancient Greek classics -- written and directed by Ms. Stewart.  Ellen Stewart staged, composed, directed and written librettos for original folk-opera/ spectacles, presented in America, Uruguay, Argentina, Austria, Italy, Turkey, the Philippines, the Cameroon, Zaire, Central African Republic, Senegal, Nigeria, Brazil, Haiti, Morocco, Israel, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. She lectured in all of the above countries, and was a visiting professor of the Institute of Drama in South Korea. 
 
Ellen Stewart was the recipient of many Honorary Doctorates and awards, among which are the prestigious MacArthur "Genius" Award and the National Endowment for Arts and Culture. She was appointed an "Officer" in the "Odre Des Arts Et Letters" of the Republic of France and received the Les Kurbas Award for "Distinguished Services to Art and Culture" from the Ukraine. In January 1993 Ellen Stewart was inducted into the "Broadway Theatre Hall of Fame," becoming the first Off-Off-Broadway Producer to ever receive this honor. In 2006 she received the Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre. In December 1994 
 
Ellen Stewart was awarded the "Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette" by the Emperor of Japan. She also received the Human Rights Award of the Philippines from President Corazon Aquino.  Other citations of note include the Vernon Rice Award in 1965, 1968 Margot Jones Award, New York State Award from the NY State Council of the Arts in 1973, Outer  Critics and Drama Desk Awards, the Bessie, The Paul Robeson Theatre Lifetime Achievement Award, the  Lucille Lortel Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2007 the prestigious Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Arts Association. In the late 1980's, Ellen Stewart established La MaMa Umbria International, an artist residence in Spoleto, Italy.
 
A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, January 17 at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. In lieu of flowers, donations to La MaMa ETC can be sent to 74A E. 4 St. NY NY 10003 or can be made online at www.lamama.org.