The twenty fourth episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, airs on March 6 at 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996, and streams on MNN2. If you miss the episode, it is archived on my youtube channel.
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company. Photo by Lia Chang
On this episode of Backstage Pass with Lia Chang, I am taking you inside La MaMA Experimental Theatre Club’s re-opening of its landmark home 74A for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the refurbished building located at 74A E. 4 St. in the East Village.
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company. Photo by Lia Chang
Tony, Grammy and Emmy winning Death of Salesman star André De Shields – whose career was launched from the very stages of the old La MaMa at 74A in the 70’s and 80’s, served as master of ceremonies for the event.
David Diamond, André De Shields and Frank Carucci, La MaMa Board President. Photo by Lia Chang
The old La MaMa is where André and I first worked together in Lonnie Carter’s Gulliver in 1993.
André De Shields as Gulliver and Lia Chang as Princess Minor in the 1993 Off-Broadway production of Lonnie Carter’s GULLIVER at La MaMa in New York in 1993.
Recently, De Shields’ fellow La MaMa alumnums, Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein, donated a $250,000 grant to the institution to help complete the renovation of the historic space.
Mia You, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Artistic Director and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and Lia Chang. Photo by Bronwen Sharp
Nicky Paraiso, Lia Chang, André De Shields, Kim Savarino and Perry Yung. Photo by Lia Chang
Representatives from New York City and New York State governments, which have been instrumental in providing funding and support for the 3-year, $24 million renovation, included DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, NY City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, NY City Council Member Erik Bottcher.
André De Shields, DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher, NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera, Frank Carucci, La MaMa Board President. Photo by Lia Chang
Joan Rose, La MaMa E.T.C. Board Vice President, Frank Carucci, La MaMa E.T.C. Board President, Michael Mayer. Photo by Lia Chang
Community Chorus. Photo by Lia Chang
Valois MIckens and Mia Yoo, La MaMa E.T.C. Artistic Director. Photo by Lia Chang
NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo. Photo by Lia Chang
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo. Photo by Lia Chang
NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo. Photo by Lia Chang
Frank Carucci, La MaMa E.T.C. Board President. Photo by Lia Chang
Donald A. Capoccia, La MaMa Treasurer. Photo by Lia Chang
Donald A. Cappocia, La MaMa E.T.C. Treasurer. Photo by Lia Chang
Henu Josephine Tarrant, Muriel Miguel, Murielle Borst-Tarrant. Photo by Lia Chang
Muriel Miguel. Photo by Lia Chang
Janet Kagan, NYSCA Council Member. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and La MaMa Board President Frank Carucci. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and La MaMa Board President Frank Carucci. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
H.T. Chen and Dancers. Photo by Lia Chang
H.T. Chen and Dancers. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and Chinese American Lion Dancers. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and Chinese American Lion Dancers. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and Chinese American Lion Dancers. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and Chinese American Lion Dancers. Photo by Lia Chang
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, André De Shields, NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera and La MaMa E.T.C. Artistic Director Mia Yoo. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
Michal Gamily, André De Shields, Valois Mickens. Photo by Lia Chang
Kenneth D. Ard, André De Shields, Barbara Montgomery. Photo by Lia Chang
Kenneth D. Ard, Basil Twist and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and DCLA Commissioner and Laurie Cumbo. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo and La MaMa E.T.C. Board President Frank Carucci. Photo by Lia Chang
NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher, André De Shields, DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo. Photo by Lia Chang
DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, André De Shields, NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera. Photo by Lia Chang
DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, André De Shields, NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and SaMi Chester. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and Nicole Ansari. Photo by Lia Chang
Ping Chong and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and Sturgis Warner. Photo by Lia Chang
Richard Scheinmel, André De Shields, Sturgis Warner. Photo by Lia Chang
Agosto Machado, André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields, Truth Future Bachman. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and La MaMa artists. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and Sophia Gutchinov. Photo by Lia Chang
Michal Gamily and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
Mia Yoo, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Artistic Director and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
Mia Yoo, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Artistic Director and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
Mia Yoo, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Artistic Director and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
Marawan Mosa-Shahen and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields, Estelle Parsons. Photo by Lia Chang
Cake by BCakeNY. Photo by Lia Chang
Mia Yoo, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Artistic Director and André De Shields. Cake by BCakeNY. Photo by Lia Chang
Cake by BCakeNY. Photo by Lia Chang
Mia Yoo, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Artistic Director and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
La MaMa is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. La MaMa’s 61st “Remake A World” Season believes in the power of art to bring sustainable change over time and transform our cultural narrative. At La MaMa, new work is created from a multiplicity of perspectives, experiences, and disciplines, influencing how we think about and experience art. The flexibility of our spaces, specifically the newly reimagined building at 74 East 4th Street (La MaMa’s original permanent home), gives our local and remote communities access to expanded daytime programming. The digital tools embedded in the space allows artists to collaborate remotely, and audiences worldwide to participate in La MaMa’s programming. A recipient of the 2018 Regional Theater Tony Award, more than 30 Obie Awards and dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie, and Villager Awards, La MaMa has been a creative home for thousands of artists, and resident companies, many of whom have made lasting contributions to the arts, including Blue Man Group, Bette Midler, Ed Bullins, Ping Chong, Jackie Curtis, André De Shields, Adrienne Kennedy, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, Playhouse of the Ridiculous, Tom Eyen, Pan Asian Rep, Spiderwoman Theater, Tadeusz Kantor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Mabou Mines, Meredith Monk, Peter Brook, David and Amy Sedaris, Julie Taymor, Kazuo Ohno, Tom O’Horgan, and Andy Warhol. La MaMa’s vision of nurturing new artists and new work from all nations, cultures, races and identities remains as strong today as it was when Ellen Stewart first opened the doors in 1961.
Lia Chang. Photo by Kalin Ivanov
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, activist, documentarian, corporate photographer and an Award winning filmmaker and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Lia is also the host and Executive Producer of BACKSTAGE PASS WITH LIA CHANG, an Arts and Entertainment and Lifestyle program that airs on Sundays at 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996, and streams on MNN2.
Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. Her short film, When the World Was Young garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.
Lia is the recipient of the 2022 Prospect Muse Award, 2000 OCA Chinese American Journalist Award, the 2001 AAJA National Award for New Media. Lia is an AAJA Executive Leadership Graduate (2000), a Western Knight Fellow at USC’s Annenberg College of Communications for Specialized Journalism on Entertainment Journalism in the Digital Age (2000), a National Press Photographers Association Visual Edge/Visual Journalism Fellow at the Poynter Institute for New Media (2001), a Scripps Howard New Media Fellow at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism (2002), and a National Tropical Botanical Garden Environmental Journalism Fellow (2003).
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2023 Lia Chang Multimedia, unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang, unless otherwise indicated. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at backstagepasswithliachang@gmail.com.
Lia Chang Photography 