Viewing page 560 of 607
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
531 all these things perplex me and I do not know what to do. The breaking up of our dear old house is going to be a great trial and I wish it could be avoided [[newspaper clipping]] PLAYERS WELL BESTOWED. OPENING OF THEIR NEW CLUB-HOUSE IN GRAMERCY PARK. [[note]] Tribune Jan 1" 1889 [[/note]] MR. BOOTH'S GENEROUS LIBERALITY AND HOW IT WAS RECEIVED——A CHARMING SURPRISE BY HIS DAUGHTER AND MR. BARRETT——RARE AND PRICELESS RELICS OF THE STAGE. As the new year joined the old and journeyed onward with the caravan of time, Edwin Booth saw the Players well bestowed. The club house, No. 16 Gramercy Park, sheltered them for the first time last night, and as 1888 and 1889 were being welded together, or, in other words, just about midnight, the giver gave and the recipients received one of the completest little houses that ever actors were blessed with. Everything was done quietly and in order. The occasion was one of dignity. The opening ceremonies of the bestowal were somewhat formal, but long before the night gave place to morning the Players were a happy family. The hour was necessarily late, because many members of the club were obliged to amuse the public before they were allowed to amuse themselves. Actors left the stage between 10 and 11 o'clock, and the company was gathered together a little before 12. Mr. Booth arrived with the deeds to the property in his hand, and proceeded to the main hall and lounging-room on the first floor, where the Players awaited him. There was no delay. After a brief exchange of courtesies, he began in a grave voice, full of feeling, the presentation address, in the course of which he was frequently interrupted by the applause which his words called forth. His turning over to this organization of the foremost actors, managers and dramatic writers of America a house upon which he had expended not less than $200,000 was one of the most graceful and gracious acts of his life. His address was as follows: Gentlemen: Although our vocations are various, I greet you all as brother Players. At this supreme moment of my life, it is my happy privilege to assume the character of host——to welcome you to the house, wherein I hope that we for many years, and our legitimate successors, for at least a thousand generations, may assemble for friendly intercourse and intellectual recreation. Especially for the worthy ones of my profession am I desirious that this association shall be the means of bringing them, regardless of the theatrical rank, in communion with those who, ignorant of their personal qualities, hidden by the mask and motley of our calling, know them as actors only. Frequent Intercourse with gentlemen of other arts and professions who love the stage and appreciate the value of the drama as an aid to intellectual culture must inspire the humblest player with a reverence for his vocation as one among the first of "fine arts"——which too many regard as merely a means to the gratification of vanity and selfishness. Such is the object of this club. For many years I have cherished a hope that I might be able to do something for my profession of a more lasting good than mere alms-giving, but could not determine what course to pursue. Our several benevolent institutions for the relief of poor and disabled actors (foremost among them the noble Forrest Home), great as their good work is, do not afford the social advantages so necessary for what is termed "the elevation of the stage." Not until after many conversations with numerous friends of theatre on this subject, and while discussing it with Messrs. Barrett, Daly and Palmer (a club of this character being suggested as the best means to the good end), did I resolve to act to do my utmost in futherance of the scheme proposed. This is the first step toward the accomplishment of our purpose. To our treasurer, Mr. William Bispham, we owe the wise selection of our house, to Mr. Stanford White its admirable reconstruction and embellishment, while to the poet Aldrich we are indebted for the choice of our appropriate and comprehensive title——the world being but a stage where every man must "play his part." Mine just now, as the New Year dawns, is a very happy one, since it permits me to present to you, by the hands of our vice-president, Mr. Daly, your title deeds to this property. Having done so, I am no longer your host. I resign the role with profound thanks for your prompt and generous co-operation in a cause so dear to me, so worthy of all well-wishers of the theatre and of the Player who "struts and frets his hour upon the stage." Though somewhat past the season, let us now fire the Yule-log, sent from Boston by my daughter, with the request that it be burnt as her offering of "love, peace and good-will to the Players." While it burns, let us drink from this loving-cup, [[bequeathed]] by Will- as they have become the property of "The Atlantic," in the January number, of which magazine they will appear. When he had read them Mr. Barrett advanced upon Mr. Booth, and crowned him with the wreath. This ended the formal ceremonies of the occasion. Mr. Booth, from the elevation of host, had become, as it were, chief guest. Old friends gathered around him to grasp his hand and those among the company who did not know him personally were introduced. Meanwhile Mazzetti and his little army were setting the table. The dining-room doors stood invitingly open and the Players straggled in. The apartment was brimful of curiosities. The walls were literally frescoed with those emblems of jolly-good-fellowship——pewter mugs, which useful as well as ornamental, could be taken from their pegs and filled and emptied and emptied and filled to the heart's content. The great antlers of a monster elk sprung from the wall over the fireplace at the cast end. These were a present from Lawrence Barrett. Those who warmed themselves at the fire and admired the encaustic tiles above the grate came suddenly upon this indelible, kiln-burned invitation to the feast: Mouth it, as many of our players do. At the opposite end of the room this fireplace was duplicated, but the invitation here was: Sit by my side and let the world slide, For we shall ne'er be younger. A bristling boar's head, with protruding tusks, looks from a panel upon the groaning board. The centre chandelier, peculiarly constructed of stags' horns, was designed by Stanford White. it is arranged for both gas and electric lights, but the latter were not available last night on account of a trouble with the wires. ADMIRING THE DINING-ROOM. The dining-room is finished in oak. Many Players gazed musingly and reminiscently upon the mural decorations, among which is an old bill of the play announcing Edwin Booth's first appearance on the stage. It was at the Boston Museum and the time was September 10, 1849. The elder Booth was playing Richard III, which fact is set forth in bold type. Then follows the cast beginning thus: Duke of Gloster, afterward King........Mr. Booth Tressel (his first appearance on any stage)...Edwin T. Booth Another wall decoration, and one of which the Players are proud, is this, presented by Mr. Booth: AMERICAN THEATRE. Tuesday Evening, Oct. 9, 1855. Second night of the engagement of MISSES ADELAIDE AND JOEY GOUGENHEIM, Who will appear this evening in Tobin's celebrated comedy of the HONEYMOON! Which for the first time in this city will be performed in five acts, JULIANA.........MISS ADELAIDE GOUGENHEIM VOLANTE.............MISS JOEY GOUGENHEIM DUKE ARANZA..............MR. EDWIN BOOTH It is not necessary to give the rest of the cast. The performance concluded with the laughable farce of "Rough Diamond," and the patrons of the theatre were comforted by this assurance: "An efficient police force will be in attendance." A PLAYBILL OF DRURY LANE IN 1773. But go back more than a hundred years and with the players see what Joseph Jefferson's grandfather was doing in Drury Lane. This old bill of the play, in alternate lines of red and black, is scarcely legible: The fourth time AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, In Drury Lane. The present Wednesday, Feb. 10, 1773. HAMLET (with alterations). HAMLET.............by Mr. GARRICK KING.............by Mr. JEFFERSON GHOST.............by Mr. BRANSBY. HORATIO.............by Mr. PACKER POLONIUS..........by Mr. BADDELEY LAERTES.............by Mr. LANKIN ROSENCRANS.........by Mr. DAVIES. GUILDENSTERN.......by Mr. FAWCETT MARCELLUS...........by Mr. ACKMAN PLAYER KING...........by Mr. KEEN QUEEN.............by Mrs. HOPKINS PLAYER QUEEN.....by Mrs. JOHNSTON OPHELIA.............by Mrs. SMITH To which will be added not acted
Transcription Notes:
Of the handwritten entries, only the paragraph preceding the clipping is transcribed here. Because other handwritten portions are partly or wholly hidden by the clipping on this page, they are transcribed on the next page.
not done... not sure I was able to line the text up - my screen is too small.
[[handwritten]] not required, pls read instructions, pls put notes here and not in transcription window,
