Earlier this year, La MaMa ETC. completed the renovation and restoration of its original theater building at 74A East 4th Street. The individually landmarked building, constructed in 1873 as a German professional orchestral musicians’ association in the heart of what was then New York’s “Kleindeutschland,” later became home to a German singing society, several public meeting and dance halls, the Newsboys Athletic Hall, a laundry, and a meatpacking plant. In the late 1960s, however, it was rescued from abandonment by the scrappy new Off-Off-Broadway theater organization founded by Ellen Stewart, which would become an incomparable powerhouse in its field. 

A years long renovation has restored the building to its historic glory, greatly expanded its capacity to serve artists and the public, and won awards and accolades from across the city, including from Village Preservation at our 2023 Annual Village Awards. 

La MaMa ETC will be joining Village Preservation to convene a panel discussion and presentation by experts from the theater and the restoration team about the work to transform this beloved historic landmark, followed by a tour of the sparkling new space. Spaces are limited.

This program was moderated by Dena Tasse-Winter, Village Preservation’s Director of Research and Preservation.

Mia Yoo is La MaMa’s Artistic Director, a role she has held since 2011. She has introduced numerous programming initiatives at La MaMa, is the co-creator of the International Directors’ Symposium at La MaMa Umbria, and in 2006, she was involved in creating the annual La MaMa Moves! dance festival.

Mia has been a member of La MaMa’s Great Jones Repertory since 1995. She has appeared in many productions, and also as a director locally and internationally, and assisted Ellen Stewart in her direction of the Company for many of their productions in New York and abroad.

Billy Clark is the Founding Artistic Director of CultureHub and has overseen the development of

CultureHub’s arts, education, and community programming since 2009. He has curated over 300 events featuring more than 500 artists from over 30 countries. Billy has been a member of the Great Jones Repertory Company since 1996. He has directed, curated, and created visual concepts for many productions and premieres with La MaMa, including for the La MaMa Moves! dance festival. He is an esteemed graduate of the Experimental Theater Wing at NYU, has been a guest lecturer at many universities, and is currently a professor at the Seoul Institute of the Arts.

Owen Hughes is a Director at Charcoalblue with 20 years of professional experience in the performing arts, having worked as a lighting designer, production manager, technical director, electrician, and stagehand. As a freelance Production Manager and Lighting Supervisor, he has toured productions to festivals and theaters across Europe and Asia. He is an award-winning lighting designer, and has lit dozens of theater, dance, and opera productions, as well as concerts at venues around New York City and beyond.