This memorable exhortation from Hamlet is declaimed above the bar in The Grill, The Players' most casual, and arguably, most convivial room. Here, members gather to shoot pool and share war stories past and present; it's the location where they most often greet and entertain their fellow Players and guests.
The Grill has long been recognized as one of "the best bars in New York." More than in any other room in the club, here Players are surrounded by tributes to our own. Nearly every inch of wall space is covered by in-house memorabilia that provides an enjoyable glimpse of the Players' colorful history. Brass plaques honor winners of the club's bridge and pool tournaments. Silver trophies won by Players billiards champions adorn the mantelpiece by the pool table. Photographs of some of the Grill's notable former denizens -- Spencer Tracy, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard, among others -- hang above the spinet. Above the long oaken communal tables Raymond Everett Kintsler's
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portraits of Katherine Hepburn and Gregory Peck hang on the Grill walls alongside Al Hirschfeld's line drawing of Edwin Booth and John Barrymore's water-colors of scenes from Hamlet and Macbeth. Kintsler's drawings of both Barrymore brothers (Jack and Lionel) flank another of the Grill's greatest treasures: an oil painting of Mark Twain, one of The Players' incorporators. Twain's pool cue is mounted above his portrait. The "retired" pool cues of past Player champions, including that of actor Frank Morgan, best-known for his portrayal of the title character in the The Wizard of Oz are displayed as well. A photo of Bert Lahr, Morgan's co-star as the Cowardly Lion, squints at his fellow Players from behind the bar.
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The brass rail at the foot of the bar was once in the National Theatre, located at Bowery and Chatham Square, where Edwin Booth made one of his first stage appearances, supporting his father Junius Brutus Booth in a play called The Iron Chest.
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Gratefully , some things never change. Pictured relaxing in the Grill in 1963 are CBS correspondent Charles Collingwood, Ross Ulman, playwright and club President Marc Collelly, playwright and club President Howard Lindsay, and actor and club President Dennis King ...
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