Ellen Stewart (November 7, 1919 – January 13, 2011) was an American

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and producer and the founder of

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as 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. Located in the East Village neighborho ...

. During the 1950s, she worked as a fashion designer for

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...

Bergdorf Goodman Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is an American luxury department store based in New York City, founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf. , it operates a women's store and a men's store across the street from each other on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. ...

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

, and

Henri Bendel Henri Bendel, Inc. (pronounced BEN-del), established in 1895, was a women's department store based in New York City which in its later history sold women's handbags, jewelry, luxury fashion accessories, home fragrances, chocolate and gifts. Its ...

Early life

Ellen Stewart was born in either

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, or

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat and largest city of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River of the South, Red River ...

. This uncertainty stems from Stewart's reticence to reveal details of her early life. As an observer wrote, "Her history is somewhat difficult to sort out—indeed it takes on a legendary quality—since on different occasions she gives different versions of the same stories." Stewart said that her father was a tailor from Louisiana and her mother was a teacher, and that they divorced during her youth. La Mama Theater by David Shankbone

Around 1939, Stewart may have become the second wife of Larry Lebanus Hovell (August 10, 1910October 1963), a Chicago waiter who was a native of

, though it is possible they never wed legally. They had one child, a son, Larry Lebanus Hovell II (1940–1998).

Career

Fashion design

Stewart moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1950, where she worked as a trimmer in the brassiere-and-corset department at

and later as a dress designer under the direction of Edith Lances, head of the custom-corset department of the store. Stewart continued to work as a fashion designer throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Most notably, she worked for a manufacturer named Victor Bijou, designing "sport dresses and beach wraps".

Founding La MaMa

Stewart had no background in theatre, yet she became a key figure in the beginnings of the

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...

movement. In 1961, Stewart founded Café La MaMa together with Paul Foster and others. A major reason she began the theatre was because her foster brother, Frederick Lights, wanted to be a playwright and he was having difficulty getting his work produced. Café La MaMa eventually became

. The theatre was named, La MaMa, after Stewart because she was referred to by many as "Mama". La MaMa was created as a space for playwrights to experiment with their new work without the influence of critics or commercial interests. In the early days of La MaMa, Stewart continued designing clothing to support the theatre. She had an incredible work ethic and dedication, and her influence on

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...

was enormous. Stewart was known to come out before a performance to "ring a cowbell and announce La MaMa's dedication to the playwright and all aspects of the theatre." She also contributed as a designer to many of the early productions, including

Tom Eyen Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 – May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and director. He received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''Dreamgirls'' in 1981. Eyen is best known for works at opposite end ...

's ''Miss Nefertiti Regrets'' (1965) and

Andrei Serban Andrei Șerban (born June 21, 1943) is a Romanian- American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings. In 1992 he became Professor of Theater at t ...

's production of

Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...

's '' The Good Woman of Setzuan'' (1978). In 1969, La MaMa moved to 74-A East Fourth Street, which was built into a 99-seat theatre with the financial support of W. MacNeil Lowry and the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

. In 1974, Stewart converted a former television studio at 66 East Fourth Street into a 295-seat theatre named La MaMa Annex. In 2009, the annex was renamed the Ellen Stewart Theatre. La MaMa also has an art gallery and a six-story rehearsal space in the East Village. Altogether, La MaMa puts up approximately 70 productions a year.

Directing and international work

Stewart started directing theatre later in her life. In 1985 at La MaMa, she directed a production named ''Mythos Oedipus'', which featured music by Sheila Dabney. Stewart also directed the

Great Jones Repertory Company The Great Jones Repertory Company is the Repertory Company of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. The company is named after Great Jones Street, where La MaMa's rehearsal building is located. As descr ...

in ''Mythos Oedipus'' at the Delphi Stadium during their 1985 tour of Greece. That same year, she directed ''

Cotton Club The Cotton Club was a 20th-century nightclub in New York City. It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue from 1923 to 1936, then briefly in the midtown Theater District until 1940. The club operated during the United States' era of P ...

Gala'', which featured music by Aaron Bell. In 1989, she directed the Great Jones Repertory Company in ''Mythos Oedipus'' and ''Dionysus Filius Dei''. Her work was produced internationally in Uruguay, Argentina, Austria, Italy, Turkey, the Philippines, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Senegal, Nigeria, Brazil, Haiti, Morocco, Israel, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. She both presented theatre and taught in many of these nations. She was a visiting professor at the Institute of Drama in South Korea and was a member of the Seoul International Theatre Institute. The New Eastern European Theatre was introduced to La MaMa when Stewart brought

Jerzy Grotowski Jerzy Marian Grotowski (; 11 August 1933 – 14 January 1999) was a Polish theatre director and theorist whose innovative approaches to acting, training and theatrical production have significantly influenced theatre today. He is considered one ...

, Ryszard Cieslak, and Ludwig Flaszen to visit the United States with support from Ted Hoffman of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. She was appointed an officer in the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

of France and received a Distinguished Services to Art and Culture Award in Ukraine. She also received an award from Japan and a

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

award from the Philippines.

Recognition

In 1992, Stewart was inducted into the

American Theater Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame was founded in 1972 in New York City. The first head of its executive committee was Earl Blackwell. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the Uris Theatre, ...

. She was the first Off-Off-Broadway Producer to receive this honor. In 2007, she was awarded the

Praemium Imperiale Prince Takamatsu The Praemium Imperiale () is an international art prize inaugurated in 1988 and awarded since 1989 by the Imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, mu ...

in the field of Film and Theater and the Witkacy Prize, granted annually by the Polish Centre of the

International Theatre Institute The International Theatre Institute ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation, founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO. It has hosted various events through its history, including the Theatre of Nations, an intern ...

for "outstanding achievements in the promotion of Polish theatre throughout the world". In 2005,

Tom O'Horgan Tom O'Horgan (May 3, 1924 – January 11, 2009) was an American theater and film director, composer, actor and musician. He is best known for his Broadway work as director of the hit musicals ''Hair'' and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. During his c ...

presented Stewart with the Stewardship Award from the

New York Innovative Theatre Awards The New York Independent Theater Awards (also known as NYIT Awards and IT Awards) are accolades given annually by The League of Independent Theater to honor individuals and organizations who have achieved artistic excellence in Off-Off-Broadway ...

. This honor was bestowed to Stewart on behalf of her peers and fellow artists of the Off-Off-Broadway community "in recognition of her significant contributions to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership". More recently, the Ellen Stewart International Award was created to be given to "an individual theatre artist or theatre company whose work promotes social change and community participation with a particular focus on the engagement of young people". The International Executive Committee chooses ten artists or companies, then gives the award to one of the ten chosen. The awardee receives a trip to attend the

's World Congress and a residency at La MaMa Umbria to create a new work to be produced at the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds and at La MaMa. A book about Stewart and La MaMa, ''Ellen Stewart Presents: Fifty Years of La MaMa Experimental Theatre'', by Cindy Rosenthal, was published in 2017.

Death

Ellen Stewart died on January 13, 2011, at age 91. She had a history of heart trouble and died at

Mount Sinai Beth Israel Mount Sinai Beth Israel was a 799-bed teaching hospital in Manhattan. It was part of the Mount Sinai Health System, a nonprofit health system formed in September 2013 by the merger of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center, and ...

after a long illness. Her memorial service was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Monday, January 17, 2011.

References

External links

Stewart's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
*
La MaMa official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Ellen 1919 births 2011 deaths American theatre directors American women theatre directors American theatre managers and producers MacArthur Fellows People from Alexandria, Louisiana American fashion designers American women fashion designers American impresarios African-American Catholics