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The following articles were selected from the club’s newsletter, Brief Chronicles. A
PDF version of the complete current newsletter may be viewed by Clicking Here.
Past Issues: June 2009; Jan 2009;
Reflected Glory
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Sargent’s portrait of Jefferson on loan to major exhibition in 2010
By Ray Kinstler
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| Beyond fellowship, our
clubhouse and the stage,
world-class art is high among
The Players’ treasures. We prize John
Singer Sargent’s portraits of Barrett
and Jefferson for many reasons.
“Sargent without question
in my lifetime is the artist who
has meant the most to me,” said
Everett Raymond Kinstler, Chair
of the Club’s Art Committee.
“I remember a major exhibition of
his work in Boston, and one of the
docents said Sargent was as great
as Velázquez. He was arguably the
greatest portrait painter who ever
lived.
“Sargent produced thousands
of watercolors, drawings and
portraits. There has been no one
like him in the history of art,” said
Ray. “Think about what more he
could have done had he lived longer.
He was dead before he was 70.
“Our Club is very fortunate. He
painted three portraits for the Club,
including Joseph Jefferson and
Lawrence Barrett. The portrait
of Joseph Jefferson, in costume, is
considered one of the great Sargent
portraits. The Art Committee
authorized the loan of the Jefferson
portrait for an exhibition next year.”
The exhibition will pair Sargent
with a contemporary, Spanish master
Joaquín Sorolla. Representative
works from both artists will travel
to San Francisco and the National
Academy of Design in 2010.
Sargent and Sorolla had parallel
careers, working during the
Impressionist era while remaining
apart from the movement. Sharing
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an interest in the effects of light
and color, both aimed to produce
modern works taking the naturalist
tradition as a starting point. Both
Sargent and Sorolla enjoyed
social and commercial success.
“Sargent was already recognized
as the greatest living portrait
painter when he painted Booth,
Jefferson and Barrett,” said Ray.
“The first work of his that I
saw was when I was 16. It was a
portrait oil sketch he did of Eleonora
Duse. I was captivated by it, but I
couldn’t explain then what I found so
fascinating. But I look at the Duse
now, almost 60 years later, and I can
tell you why. I was pretty perceptive.
“When I was painting Katharine
Hepburn she and I talked about a
sketch Sargent had done of Ethel
Barrymore, who was using it as a
calling card. Hepburn had a print
sent to her by Ethel - ‘To my darling
Kate from her greatest admirer.’”
“His energy, his skill and his unique
way of looking at people, interpreting
people. He was one of a kind.”
John Singer Sargent was a
member of The Players for 30
years until his death in 1925.
Ethel Barrymore |
Eleonora Duse
Joseph Jefferson |
Wallach Performance Benefits
Players Foundation
 It isn't every day you can see a legendary actor perform before an intimate audience, but last night (Jan 26) afforded one such opportunity when Eli Wallach took to the stage at The Players. The one night performance was to benefit The Players Foundation for Theater Education, a newly-founded non-profit group that is dedicated to promoting theater history. Wallach was reviving a role he played more than a decade ago in writer Jeff Baron's acclaimed two-character play Visiting Mr. Green. Wallach and Peter Sabri performed a reading of the play in front of a packed house. The plot centers on Ross, a 30 year-old New York executive who has a mishap with his automobile that results in his hitting an 86 year-old widower, Mr. Green. The judge "sentences" Ross to visit Mr. Green one day a week and help him perform errands and odd jobs. When he arrives at Mr. Green's apartment, he finds the elderly Jewish man to be a cynic who seems to have lost his zest for life since the recent death of his wife of many years. Mr. Green is obstinate and abrasive - and makes it clear he does not want Ross's help. Nevertheless, the younger man is persistent and in the course of the play, an unlikely friendship develops between the two men - until it is threatened when a revelation by Ross causes their fragile relationship to be jeopardized.
Visiting Mr. Green is sentimental without being mawkish, as it explores how prejudice and intolerance often preclude relationships with people who would otherwise be fast friends. As the cantankerous Mr. Green, Wallach was in top form, mingling cringe-inducing insults with hilarious witticisms. Seeing Wallach perform was a genuine treat. I was transported back in time by the realization that I was watching the man who played Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Calvera in The Magnificent Seven, not to mention the last living member of The Misfits. At age 93, Wallach is as feisty as his on-stage alter-ego, and he charmed the audience after the show by mingling and posing for photos. In terms of acting ability, however, Wallach should be looking over his shoulder because he was matched by Peter Sabri, who brought his complex and tortured character to life through a mesmerizing performance. If there's any justice in the New York theater community, we should be seeing a great deal more of this very talented performer.
In all, a wonderful night of entertainment that was made all the more enjoyable by the presence of Jeff Baron, who joined Wallach and Sabri for a post-show Q&A with the audience. Visiting Mr. Green is a true pleasure, made all the more entertaining when it is combined with visiting Mr. Wallach. -- Lee Pfeiffer. (Lee Pfeiffer is the publisher of Cinema Retro magazine, which often covers events at The Players. Web site: www.cinemaretro.com ) Photo: Lee Pfeiffer
Introducing The Players Foundation
for Theater Education
New non-profit organization leads arts outreach to theater professionals, teachers, students and the public
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Edwin Booth would be pleased. When The Players was incorporated in 1888, Booth had few resources to preserve the history of the American stage beyond his library of books and scripts and trunks of memorabilia.
He would have welcomed a major initiative to bring American theater arts to a community of artists, academics, students and the public.
And had there been a federal income tax in that happier time, he surely would have appreciated the value of tax-deductible contributions to such an initiative.
Today our Club has taken a major step to further Booth’s vision by establishing The Players Foundation for Theater Education.
It is a new, non-profit organization whose mission is to foster an understanding and appreciation of the American Theater using what we know best: the history of The Players and the many personalities who have played a part in our history.
The Foundation is an organization separate and apart from our Club. Its officers include Players and non-Players. The President of the Foundation is Player Elliott Martin; Player Brian Drutman is Vice President; the Treasurer is Annette Green, a leader in the fragrance industry and past president of the Fragrance Foundation; the Secretary is Mary Horner, and Player John Martello serves as a director. The Foundation’s activities will be supported by the Club’s administrative staff at the outset, but within its first five years of operation we expect the Foundation will provide its own support.
“The goal of the Foundation is broad by design: it is to use our history and the great Players of the past and present to educate and inform,” said Elliott Martin. “Considering today’s level of cultural illiteracy, this work is obviously important and timely. It is also presents vast opportunities for creativity and imagination in our programs.”
At the outset, the Foundation’s initial scope of projects includes free tickets for students at readings, lectures and other events; acting master classes and seminars for theater students; readings of plays; lectures on all arts and other topics related to the history of the theater; musical evenings celebrating the great American songwriters as well as the fields of classical music and opera; Booth Award celebrations and Pipe Nights celebrating significant achievements in the arts; playwrights’ workshops and developmental projects for new playwrights and new plays; and the maintenance of The Club Archive.
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Depending on the support received from individual donors and institutions, the Foundation envisions a new multimedia room on the second floor of the Clubhouse, dedicated to the study of noted The Players and others in the theatrical and entertainment professions. Such a multimedia center would be available to researchers and students from around the world. Its collection would include representative works of Players as well as tapes and DVDs of Club events and Pipe Nights, and appropriate audiovisual equipment. Such a center could also have online resources available.
The Foundation is also now responsible for The Players Hall of Fame, celebrating the rich history and legacy of The Players. (See sidebar for our slate of 2009 Honorees.)
Members of the Hall of Fame will be commemorated with portraits displayed on the second floor. In future, touch screens will be added to give visitors a short biography of each honoree. The Hall of Fame will be open to the public at times and days to be determined by The Players.
The Foundation’s ambitious agenda comes at a time when the economic downturn has hurt many well-established non-profit organizations.
“We recognize this is a challenging time,” said John Martello. “We announced our plans at the Annual Meeting in June 2007, and it’s been about a year since we really got to work on the application, which we submitted this past June to a very positive response. The Foundation was formed in the interim and awarded (c)3 status in the fall.
“It’s a challenging time, but that doesn’t make this work any less important,” said John.
“A great many people in the theater, business and the arts care passionately about arts education. said Elliott Martin. “With their support and the support of Players everywhere, we believe The Players Foundation will play a major role in educating current and future generations.
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The Players Foundation Launches
New Bechstein Series
Musical performances and master classes celebrate art of collaboration
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Some 19th century Manhattan brownstones are undoubtedly more welcoming to ghosts than others. Should the spirits of Brahms or Liszt visit our Club they would happily feel right at home, for the piano they favored, a top-of-the-line, German-made C. Bechstein, is now on our stage in all its gleaming glory.
The piano and a companion gift of regular tuning and adjustment come to us through the generosity of the storied company founded in Nuremberg by Carl Bechstein in 1853.
Bechstein’s rich history touches even The Beatles: Paul McCartney and many other popular artists favored the classic sound of the now 127-year old Bechstein resident at the famous Trident Studios in London from 1968 to the mid 1980’s. Heard Hey Jude? You’ve heard a Bechstein.
The long term loan of this magnificent new instrument marks the launch of the Bechstein Series at The Players to benefit the Players Foundation for Theater Education. It is the brainchild of composer, conductor and coach Louis Menendez, who has long been associated with Player Sherrill Milnes’ annual Opera as Drama event at the Club.
“The Bechstein is the perfect instrument to sing with, and what I've been looking to do is to provide a very special venue to promote the art form of artistic collaboration said Menendez. “We want to showcase a wide range of artists, doing what they do best, in specially created programs combining singing, acting and other art forms.”
Over time the visual component of each event will become more important. “I want to do a combination with videography and special lighting effects -- lighting and scrims, not props -- to do something really creative, multimedia, with the piano,” said Louis. “We will continue to present one person shows where the repertoire is both classical and new, and to blur the lines between the recital format and theater. What we want to do is not cabaret, not concerts but real theater pieces.”
At least three of the 18 dates in the series will be master classes. One such class was held on November 5 with internationally known soprano and teacher Maria Spacagna. Future master classes will feature Dr. William Reilly, an expert in working with all sorts of voices and teacher to Celine Dion. Carol Kirkpatrick will bring a business-sensible approach to art, to marketing oneself and managing a career.
The new Bechstein series was prompted both by Menendez’s love of the Bechstein and knowledge of The Players. He has become an unofficial goodwill ambassador for Bechstein in America, fueled largely by personal experience.
“I suppose the first Bechstein I played was when I was an undergraduate. One of my professors had brought his concert grand over from Europe, and I fell in love with the instrument,” said Louis. “Years later I was on tour in Germany with Porgy and Bess, in Hannover, and I
needed a place to practice. The Bechstein Center was around the corner from the hotel, and they were very accommodating and I got to know them very well.”
“This new series and the work of the Foundation are beautifully matched with the strengths of the Club. For me, it's not just about people who stand and sing; my interest is in working with people who act,” said Louis.
Players and guests can learn more about these unique instruments by visiting the Bechstein Piano Centre at 207 West 58th Street, about a block from Carnegie Hall
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The Players Archives
A look at our history from the pages of The Players Bulletin
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80 YEARS AGO
The main story in the Club’s October 1928 Bulletin headlined “Culinary Catacombs” described a remodeling effort which created “ample space conjured out of nothing” for the downstairs kitchen. We now had, as the editor reported, tongue firmly in cheek, “ample storage for our other egg.” The alterations cost $29,000.
What would eventually become a contentious issue was the announcement of a new Players revival, The Beaux Stratagem, planned as the Club’s first traveling production. (The play was one of the last of the Restoration comedies, written by George Farquhar and first produced at The Haymarket in London in March 1707. The plot: two young gentlemen, fallen on hard times, propose to travel the countryside and entrap young heiresses; one falls in love rather quickly.)
The month’s political commentary poked fun at both Herbert Hoover and his opponent, happy warrior Al Smith.
Also noted was E. H. Sothern’s gift of “his collection of theatrical objects of interest and historical value,” which was to be displayed in special cases on the third floor “adjacent to the room formerly known as the Florence Room, but now to be known as the Sothern Room.” One wonders where that was, precisely.
Click Here to see Oct 1928 Bulletin.
The November 1928 Bulletin found members up in arms about the scheme to take The Beaux Stratagem on the road, with a special meeting called on 5 November to debate the issue. At least 25 of our brethren felt the prospect “unbecoming to the dignity and traditions of the Club, not consonant with its welfare or its objects, nor with the purposes of the Founder.”
Not a group to avoid contretemps, the issue went on to innocently propose setting aside “one Sunday evening per month when members may bring lady guests for dinner” – into the grill, which was what we today call the dining room. Ladies were not, however, to be permitted in the pool room or the bar. This naïve idea was suggested as a means to “offset the cost of the grill and bring more people in.” ‘Twas ever thus.
The issue also included stories and anecdotes heard around the Club, a report of James Cagney’s doings on Martha’s Vineyard, and noted the passing of long time Player Warren William.
Click Here to see Nov. 1928 Bulletin.
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70 YEARS AGO
Headlines in the November 1938 Bulletin described the Club’s anniversary dinner held at the Waldorf. 1100 attended, and Club Secretary Whitney Darrow (founder of Princeton University Press and father of famed New Yorker cartoonist Whitney Darrow Jr.) was saluted for making the evening a success. President Walter Hampden was master of ceremonies for an evening which included the Founders’ Night ritual recreated on stage.
Nov. 1938 also marked the announcement that the 50th anniversary volume The Players Book was in type and that copies might be ready in December. And the Bulletin offered its own 50 year retrospective by listing the shows playing at the city’s theaters in the last two months of 1888.
One of the most interesting stories in the issue described the arrival in the library of The Unlocked Book, an unpublished memoir of John Wilkes Booth by Booth’s sister Asia, who had kept it hidden to avoid destruction by the family.
Also reported was the gift of Ellen Terry’s death mask by playwright and poet Percy MacKaye.
Click Here to see Nov. 1938 Bulletin.
60 YEARS AGO
Dennis King’s Booth birthday tribute leads the Christmas 1948 issue, followed by a Kipling-esque poem by James Garrett Wallace about the Dewey-Truman election upset. Booth Day in the West Room (The Player’s Los Angeles outpost) was reported by Thurston Hall.
Next is a story about a disaster that almost claimed the manuscript of Clarence Day’s Life With Father. The editor reports on the uproar created by yet another proposed Ladies’ Night dinner; Heywood Broun’s Christmas Legend of 1929 is reprinted, followed by notes on the passing of beloved Player Royal Cortissoz.
The issue closes with news of a committee formed to look into the subject of television presentations at the Club, and a story about The Players and The Little Church Around the Corner.
Click Here to see the Christmas 1948 Bulletin.
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Jump In
Ever wonder how the Club calendar comes together?
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Want more good ideas? Get more people involved. That’s the not-so-surprising principle behind our Club’s program planning.
“A lot of people come to us,” said Executive Director John Martello. “Sandy Rochelle and I chair the Pipe Night and Special Events Committee. The best Pipe Night ideas we’ve had have come from fellow Players who come up with them and want to get involved. For example, it was Player Lee Pfeiffer's idea to do a pipe night for Sir Roger Moore. He ran with the idea and had the right connections to make it happen.
“Another great example is the pipe night we plan to do in the spring honoring Mary Tyler Moore. That came to us from Player Ray Kinstler, and his famous portrait of Player Carol Burnett. Carol and Mary are friends, and Ray did a portrait of Mary Tyler Moore, so one thing led to another.
“Similar links have also been behind other events such as the presentation of the Booth Award for lifetime achievement to Player Angela Lansbury. We had the idea when Angela was starring on Broadway with Player Marian Seldes in Deuce.
Putting the idea and the right connections together doesn’t happen overnight, John points out. The Club had never before honored a playwright when the Booth Award was presented to Edward Albee, and the event took two years to organize.
Looking back, many great ideas for events have involved celebrating the careers of legendary artists. “There are always things you know that will be popular with the membership, those ideas that, as soon as you have them, you realize there's something there,” said John. Such as marking what would have been Frank Sinatra's 90th birthday and remembering his career.
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“Ten years ago we had a series of these events honoring Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Cagney, and Fred Astaire when they each would have reached 100 years. It's tougher the more time goes on, because there are fewer people around who can share their own stories of having worked with them.”
Basically, event planning at our Club is like any other creative endeavor. You have to come up with creative ideas.
“When I joined The Players in 1987, John Bartholomew Tucker was the chair of the Events Committee. I worked on the Eugene O'Neill centenary celebration. It was a very successful event, and John said to me, ‘you know, I've done this for 10 years, why don't you have a try.’ So, I've been doing it ever since.
“I find that it works best, the more casual it is. I've always said that I looked at the Pipe Night and Special Events Committee as a committee of the whole. Any Player is encouraged to bring up ideas. It's not complicated. And look what it’s has gotten us. It's gotten us Project Shaw and Poetry by Players and the Players Creative Workshop as well as all the other events we’ve spoken about.
“It's your Club. That's how I look at it.
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Eight Nights, Four Performances, Lifelong Memories
Join your fellow Players in the UK in November
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Beyond its rich history, the London stage can claim younger audiences, fuller houses, and more innovation than many other artistic destinations. It also boasts an annual visit by several dozen Players. This year marks our Club’s 16th annual week in the United Kingdom, and the program ahead is one of the best.
Arriving on Saturday, November 15, Players will check in to their base of operations in London: the five star Hampshire Hotel in Leicester Square.
Sunday will feature a private visit to Welford Park in Berkshire, the home of Deborah and James Puxley, whose ancestors include the first Governor of the Bank of England as well as Sir Isaac Newton. Players will tour their house and gardens and lunch with the couple in their splendid dining room. (Their house dates from around 1652, and was remodelled by Thomas Archer in 1700.) Sunday evening will be free.
Monday brings the first performance of the week, potentially Sophocles’ Oedipus the King in a new version by Frank McGuinness at the National. Ralph Fiennes takes the title role in this new production directed by Jonathan Kent. There will be a post-performance dinner with a guest from the evening’s production.
Wednesday and Thursday are free days. Friday November 21 brings the third performance of the week, which will be named shortly. The post-performance dinner will be in a private room at the famous theaterland haunt, The Ivy.
Saturday November 22 rounds out the week with a morning discussion with Matt Wolf of The International Herald Tribune, giving Players a chance to compare impressions. The week’s last scheduled performance will be the matinee of Chekhov’s Ivanov, in a new version by Tom Stoppard, starring Kenneth Branagh. The evening will be free, and departures begin the following day.
What a week: eight nights at the Hampshire Hotel, daily full English breakfast, four performances, post-performance guests, and transportation to and from the Club’s group flight. More details will be available in the weeks ahead, but if you can, plan now to be part of one of our most successful annual events.
If you are a new member and are interested in joining the trip, please call the office.
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Treasures Above, Treasures Below
Players’ Archives Open a Window on the Past
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Join the
Creative Workshop
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The top floor of our clubhouse is referred to, occasionally ironically, as the penthouse. As near as we can tell, the little room above the fourth floor was originally the servants’ laundry room when the building was a private residence.
For much of our history, the penthouse was one of eight guest rooms available for overnight stays. A 1950 brochure shows redecorated fourth floor rooms available for rental at $125 a month. (The penthouse was available for $150 a month. It had its own bathroom.)
Reached today through narrow and rickety stairs (note: the staircase and the penthouse are currently closed to members) the locked room at the top of the house is now the home of The Players archives: the records, files, mementos artwork and detritus of more than a hundred years of our history.
The Hampden-Booth Library has been the custodian of these records until now. Librarian Ray Wemmlinger has been fielding questions about The Players' history for years as a courtesy to the Club. At our request, the Library has now turned the archives over to The Players.
It presents a challenge that Doug Gerbino, a Board member and student of Club history, relishes. Doug has been appointed archivist by the Executive Committee. His first step is to complete a basic inventory and begin to organize the material.
"The issues are deciding what we want to keep, identifying what's there, and then beginning to scan and digitize the information. But the very first thing we need to do is make a viable workspace or staging area,” said Doug.
The archives are spread across dozens of boxes of materials, dozens of file cabinet drawers and the occasional scrapbook. Archive materials are in envelopes and on shelves, in folders and binders and, well, stacked on the floor. All of it needs to be handled with care."After 70 years in a non-climate controlled environment, a lot of this material is brittle,” said Doug.
The archive reflects the emotions and passions of Club members and management through the decades. Contents are as diverse as letters from an agitated Ralph Bellamy, threatening to resign for various reasons, as well as the records of Jerome Kern's house charges, which had once reached the shocking and unpaid level of $14.
A random dip into the archive turns up rare bits of whimsy, very much in keeping with the Club’s character. For example, Player Jerome Kern's daughter Betty and son-in-law Artie Shaw gave birth to a baby boy in 1944. To mark the occasion, Kern and fellow Player Charles Coburn submitted a Players membership application on behalf of the boy dated 21 years in the future, in 1965.
The archive also contains Frank Capra's 1947 application for membership, signed by his proposer, Spencer Tracy.
While many of the items in the archives have deteriorated with time, some materials have weathered the years successfully, such as a videotape of a 30 minute television special about the Club called Booth's Legacy. Broadcast in 1964 and hosted by Charles Collingwood, the tape is a copy of a kinescope and is likely restorable.
Also in the archives are copies of every issue of the Players Bulletin, the predecessor of Brief Chronicles, from 1900 on.
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The Players Creative Workshop was founded four years ago for members of the Players (and invited guests) to come together to promote the talent of our actors and to cultivate new works by our writers. Several works that have come out of the workshop have been produced and formally published.
Actors, writers, directors, producers and theater lovers are welcome to join us as we promote and explore the arts with the ultimate aim of keeping the spirit of the Club alive, create exciting new works and contribute to the cultural life of our members. Membership has grown steadily and exceeds fifty active participants.
The Workshop meets the third Monday of each month from September to June in the Card Room from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. At each session new works in progress are read and constructive feedback is given by the group.
Writers must book ahead to have their work read by the actors who attend each meeting. Everyone participates.
A gala Showcase on the main stage at the Players is presented in June with excerpts from the year's best pieces. Last year's Showcase was exceptional and we played to a standing room only house. And next year's show looks to be even better!
Herb Blodgett Named President Pro Tempore
Meeting with these remarks.
“I am overwhelmed by this honor.  When John Martello asked me if I would serve as President Pro Tem, I was thrilled. I love this Club, and I'm honored to have the chance to serve. I will work as an extra pair of hands, I'll do whatever is needed to make our Club successful.
“At the same time I challenge you, I challenge you all to do what you can to help. Bring in a new member. Use the Club for an event. Join a committee. Sponsor a function, something that you would like to see performed here. There's really nothing standing in your way. We are a wonderful organization with a grand history, and I think we have a great future ahead of us.”
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