On Wednesday, November 29th, Untapped Cities invites you on an exclusive insider tour of the Players Club on Gramercy Park, led by a Players Club docent. In spirit of the holiday season, we’re excited to offer two tickets for the price of one when you use the code PLAYERS50 at checkout.
The members-only Players Club was founded in 1889 by Edwin Booth, one the most renowned American actors of the 19th century, along with fifteen friends and colleagues including Mark Twain and General William T. Sherman. Today’s notable members include Jimmy Fallon, Ethan Hawke and Tommy Lee Jones, whose portraits hang in the club’s grand staircase.
Insider Tour of the Players Club on Gramercy Park
Edwin Booth commissioned his friend, famed architect Stanford White, to redesign the façade and interiors of the Gothic-Revival mansion at 16 Gramercy Park South. This lovely building stands today, an historic and atmospheric private social club that has been home to several generations of actors, artists, writers and arts aficionados far and wide. Edwin Booth, brother of the infamous John Wilkes who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, lived in an apartment on the third floor that remains virtually unaltered since he died on June 7th, 1893.
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Learn about the history of the Club and its members
- Visit the room in which actors met secretly in 1913 to form the Actors Equity Association, and walk inside Edwin Booth’s bedroom, where you can find the skull that was used in his famous 100 consecutive performances of Hamlet
- Visit the Hampden-Booth Theatre Library, which contains a vital collection of books, plays, theatre magazines and other artifacts of 19th and early 20th century American and British theatre history
- View the Players Club’s impressive art collections, including portraits by Everett Raymond Kinstler, Edwin’s theater costumes, and more
- Get a close look at Mark Twain’s poker table.
DETAILS:
Price: $35
What to wear: Bring comfortable shoes
What to know: The tour is 1 hour long. Some rooms of the Players Club may not be accessible if they are booked out for private events on the day of the tour. The Players Club enforces a dress code; please no shorts or flip-flops.
Here are more photos of places you will see on this tour:
The Edwin Booth Room
The Edwin Booth Room
Hampden-Booth Theatre-Library
Mark Twain’s pool cue
Insider Tour of the Players Club on Gramercy Park
See all upcoming Untapped Cities Behind the Scenes Tours.
