Green Room Club (New York City)

The Green Room Club was a New York fraternal organization founded on December 20, 1902, for men involved in the dramatic arts. Its members included actors, managers, singers, composers, librettists, dramatists, other members of the theatrical profession, journalists, and lay members. Its purpose was to bring actors and managers into close personal relations.[1]

This article is about former club for men involved in theater in New York City. For the London-based club, see Green Room Club.

Library

By 1908, the club claimed that its library held the most complete collection of dramatic materials in the country and had a goal of building it into the most complete in the world.[2][3] Aubrey Boucicault (son of Dion Boucicault and brother of Nina Boucicault) was the chairman of the library committee in 1906.[4]

Club founding

The Green Room Club was founded in 1902. Those signing the articles of incorporation were by William A. Brady, Milton Nobles, Thomas McGrath, Walter Fessler, F.F. MacKay, and Charles Dickson.[5] Some of its founding members had been former members of the Actors Order of Friendship. They founded the Green Room with the aim of attracting younger actors. But later, the club became the primary social organization for managers and producers of theater, whose members included David Belasco and Daniel Frohman.[6]

Club dissolution

The Green Room Club disbanded on November 11, 1928, under financial duress. Among other things, the organization was in arrears on rent for its clubhouse located at 19 West 48th Street. Its landlord was Columbia University, which, at the time, was located in that area.

Former addresses
  • 1921: 139 West 47th Street
  • 1938: 19 West 48th Street

Former officers

The elected officials were titled Prompter (president), Call Boy (vice president), Copyist (secretary), and Angel (treasurer). Its board of directors were referred to as Board of Supers.[7]

Prompters

  • 1902–19??: William Aloysius Brady (1863–1950), actor, producer
  • 19??–1908: Hollis Eli Cooley (1859–1918), theater manager
  • 1908–1909: Herbert Hall Winslow (1865–1930), playwright
  • 1909–1910: James O'Neill (1847–1920), actor, father of playwright Eugene O'Neill
  • 1911–1912: George M. Cohan (1878–1942), entertainer, actor, playwright, composer, lyricists, dancer, producer
  • 1912–19??: Frank G. Stanley ( –1921), theatrical insurance agent
  • 1916–1920: Edwards Davis (1873–1936), actor
  • circa 1920: Frank Bacon (1864–1922), actor, playwright
  • 1922–1923: Frank Gillmore (1867–1943), actor, playwright
  • 1924–1926: S. Jay Kaufman (1886–1957), stage columnist
  • 1926–1928: Paul A. Meyer (1870–1953), co-publisher of Theater Magazine & theater impresario

Other thespian clubs in New York City
Note: Neither the Green Room Club of London nor the Green Room Club of Melbourne was affiliated with the Green Room Club of New York.

References

General references

  • Articles of Incorporation, Constitution, By-Laws and House Rules, With List of Officers and Members of the Green Room Club, (1904) OCLC 42414857, 81861747
  • Articles of Incorporation, Constitution, By-Laws and House Rules, With list of officers and members of the Green Room Club (1909) OCLC 38993782, 26957355
  • A General Letter of Invitation to the Annual Dress Rehearsal of the Green Room Club (1916) OCLC 46952626, 46939036

Inline citations

  1. The Stage Year Book (1909)
  2. Green Room Club Dress Rehearsal, New York Times, April 26, 1907
  3. Klaw & Erlanger Aid Library, New York Times, February 14, 1908
  4. Green Room Club Library, New York Dramatic Mirror, June 23, 1906, pg. 8
  5. The Green Room Club, The Green Book Album (magazine), Volume 2, July 1909, pg. 350
  6. Joey A. Condon, An Examination Into the History and Present Interrelationship Between the Church and the Theater (masters thesis), University of Missouri—Kansas City (2007)
  7. Famous Clubs of New York — The Green Room Club, The Evening Star Telegram (New York), May 24, 1913, pg. 6
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