We got word that there is a new show based on Dorothy Parker material, the first one for 2010 (and it won't be the last). The show is running in Mrs. Parker's old neighborhood too, the Upper West Side.
"Against Her Better Judgement" runs at the Drilling Company Theater, 236 West 78th Street, February 11-13th at 7:30pm and Feb 14th at 2pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance here. The show's creator/producer Meg Flaherty was kind enough to play 5 Questions and tell us about "Against Her Better Judgement" and the cast that is taking part:
Why did you want to produce a show based on Dorothy Parker material?
Dorothy Parker is well remembered today for her wit and bitter charm; her quips and bon mots are quoted (and misquoted) all over the internet and, generation after generation, women—and men—are drawn in by her poetry and prose. Whatever it is we find in her work, her life, her legacy, continues to affect us. What we read in a piece of hers from the 20s or 30s might just as well be happening tomorrow, next door, only perhaps the characters are a little less gussied up and their speech a little less precise.
There are lessons to be revisited, if not relearned, in her work. Fashions may change, but the bone structure is the same. The men and women in these stories have the same fights today. Her poetry touches on the universal.
Many one-woman shows and movies are made to showcase the character of Dottie herself. In crafting this piece, we wished to focus more on the people who populate Mrs. Parker's fiction, to explore these caricatures as facets of her multifarious personality. These sketches and dialogues are a gold-mine for the actor, full of barbs and tactics, but also a beating, bleeding emotional center when you boil the material down to the fundamental problem of relationships.
What Parker pieces are in it?
Stories: Here We Are, The Sexes, A Telephone Call, Dusk Before Fireworks, You Were Perfectly Fine and The Waltz. Poems: Ballade of Unfortunate Mammals, Parable for a Certain Virgin, Love Song, Men, Unfortunate Coincidence, Two Volume Novel, Social Note, Threnody, To A Much Too Unfortunate Lady, Résumé, Mortal Enemy, But Not Forgotten, Theory, Inventory and Symptom Recital.
Is there a favorite of yours in the show? Why?
We have tried to tie the pieces together into one 90 minute evening, stringing the stories along with a convivial dance-hall atmosphere punctuated by the poems. It is hard to choose a favorite moment, but we feel the crux of the matter is best expressed in A Telephone Call, where we have positioned the men in the ensemble as voyeuristic spectators to the damage caused in their name.
Who are the actors in the production?
Emily Asbury performed in the national children's theatre tour of Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing with Two Beans Productions. She is a recent graduate of Otterbein College with a BFA in Acting where some of her favorite credits included Julius Caesar (Portia), Peter Pan (Mrs. Darling), The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and Nine.
Lee Chrisman was last seen in Amateurs Under St Marks. He has acted in several other premieres, including Jiminy In The Wild City with Prophet In Your Pocket, and Donut Play (With Guns) through Basement Arts and LAByrinth.
Kristen Gehling is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School where she studied musical theatre. She most recently was seen on the stages of Florida in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and A Christmas Carol.
Meg Flaherty last appeared in The Best Friend, the Ingenue and the Vamp at Don't Tell Mama. Recent New York credits include Clytemnestra in the Subjective Theatre Company's Face of Beauty, Woman in Intimate Things and Charlie in Cardboard Box. Other favorite credits include Dr. Dysart in Equus, Jean in the US premiere of After Mrs. Rochester and Anne in Mother of Us All.
Levi Morger is a seven year veteran of New Rome. He was most recently seen as a bearded Russian in The Assembly's Three Sisters and as Bosola in Art.Party Theatre Company's The Duchess of Malfi.
Winston Osgood has been seen on the stages of some of the most prestigious barns, basements and church gymnasiums in America and has appeared in a number (4) of independent films.
Dorothy Parker has been passed over for inclusion in the inaugural group of a dozen authors named to the New York State Writers Hall of Fame. The list of writers whose “writings have made a lasting contribution to literature” was chosen by the New York Library Association and they will be feted at a gala this spring in Albany.
Parker (1893-1967) is one of the state’s best-known writers and world famous for being a New Yorker. Last September, the Museum of the City of New York named Parker to its list of “The New York City 400” as one of the people that have made the city great since Henry Hudson first spied it 400 years ago. However, the New York Library Association has overlooked an author that is closely identified with the Empire State and New York City.
There are no criteria listed in the announcement for how the 12 authors (10 deceased, two still breathing) were chosen. Having a New York birthplace is not one of the criteria: 2010 selectees Edna St. Vincent Millay, a Parker contemporary, is from Maine and Elizabeth Bishop from Massachusetts. Parker can’t claim native-born status because she came into the world at her family’s summer beach cottage on the Jersey Shore. However, she grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. One of her teenage apartments, 310 West 80th Street, got a landmark bronze plaque last year.
It is an eclectic list that Parker is not on. The two living authors are Robert Caro and Mary Gordon. The deceased are: James Baldwin, Elizabeth Bishop, Frederick Douglass, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Isaac B. Singer, Edith Wharton, E.B White and Walt Whitman.
However, Parker is in good company. Also skipped over are such Empire State all-stars as Herman Melville, Sojourner Truth, J.D. Salinger, Dawn Powell and Nathanael West. Incredibly, the freshman class also does not include Washington Irving or Susan Sontag.
According to a press release from the Library Association, the 12 names were chosen by Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation; Barbara Genco, retired librarian from Brooklyn Public Library and Editor of Collection Management at Reed Business, Brian Kenney, Editorial Director for Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and School Library Journal; Kathleen Masterson director of the New York State Council on the Arts Literary Program, Bertha Rogers, executive director of Bright Hill Press & creator of the New York State Literary Tree; Rocco Staino, chairman of the Empire State Book Festival and Hong Yao, Associate Coordinator Collection Development of the Queens Library.
The hall of fame will be inducted as part of Empire State Book Festival Gala scheduled from 6-10 p.m. on Friday, April 9, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albany. The gala will kickoff the state’s first Empire State Book Festival.
Perhaps the NYLA will remember Parker's name in 2011. If not, there is always the New Jersey Hall of Fame membership.
Update 2-6-2010 12:05 PM: We got a very nice message from Rocco Staino, Chairman of NYS Writers Hall of Fame. He is putting it to the DPS to get Parker nominated for 2011:
The New York State Writers Hall of Fame was recently established to celebrate the literary heritage of the Empire State. You are certainly correct in pointing out the number of great writers who were absence from the list. It was a long and difficult process and all those names that you mentioned, including Dorothy Parker, were seriously considered.
The absence of their names from the list is in no way an attack on their literary greatness but in fact illustrates the rich literary heritage of New York. I am sure all those you mention will be added to the Hall of Fame in the years to come.
Nominations are open to the public and I encourage you and your readers to visit and nominate an author for induction in 2011.
Announcing a night to salute Dorothy Parker in her old neighborhood, the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Come out on Monday, February 15, 7pm, to Barnes & Noble, 150 E. 86th Street, for the “Writers on Writers” series. The “Dorothy Parker Post-Valentine Recovery Night” will feature brief talks about Parker by Marion Meade (editor of the Portable Dorothy Parker and author of Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This?) and Kevin C. Fitzpatrick (author of A Journey into Dorothy Parker’s New York and president of the DPS). With a reading by Miss M, Emily Linstrom. There will also be book signings and author Q&A. Cocktail reception to follow at Elaine’s. Open to the public.
Wit's End is the hottest vintage party in New York, and the Dorothy Parker Society is pleased to be a small part of the 2010 activities that are planned. Wit’s End was launchd by Diane Naegel and Don Spiro, a couple who have made vintage their own personal style. Diane is a designer and the publisher of Zelda, the “magazine of the vintage nouveau.” Don is a noted writer and photographer, he is the official photographer of the Burlesque Hall of Fame and teaches photography.
Wit’s End has a new home, Flute Midtown, 205 West 54th Street (at Seventh Avenue). Flute was at one time during Prohibition a real speakeasy; one of the proprietors was the legendary Texas Guinan. It’s only appropriate that the new home of Wit’s End is Flute.
“Starting in 2010, each month will feature a different aspect of early 20th century culture,” Don says. “January’s Wit’s End will be an homage to South Seas influences like the ukulele and tropical themed songs. Hollywood glamour, the Ziegfeld Follies, Jazz Age writers, and more will highlight future evenings.”
Diane and Don were kind enough to answer some questions for us. If you want to participate, the Wit’s End party is the last Saturday of the month at Flute, starting January 30th.
Q: What's the history behind Wit's End? How did it start?
Diane: Well, Don and I had been attending Dances of Vice for some time—the event our pal Shien Lee runs—and after awhile she wanted to branch off and do parties with a lot of various themes instead of just hosting Jazz Age parties. Since the Jazz Age events were always our favorite, we thought it would be great to have a consistent monthly club that catered to that genre—and so Wit's End was born! We wanted to make the event that we really wanted to go to; and for us that meant a place that would have live and recorded music of the era, great cocktails of the time, evening attire, and quality people: lucky for us, everything has come true!
Don: I used to shoot photos at Bricktop’s, a friend’s Jazz Age club night in Hollywood. Shien Lee would attend. When Shien moved to New York she started Dances of Vice, the closest thing New York had to Bricktop’s. That’s where my friend Jen, who had produced a one-time only Bricktop’s night in Manhattan with NYU, introduced me to Diane. When Shien started taking it in new directions we loved it, but we also missed the pure Jazz Age aspect, so Diane and I started Wit’s End. Also, we wanted to cross promote our interests: we love boutique cocktails, dressing up to go on the town, dancing with partners, discussing history, listening to live Jazz Age music and we wanted a night where you could do all that together. It was just a club we wanted to attend, but no one else was doing it regularly so we started it. Also, I feel there is plenty of Manhattan clubs with a late 20th Century feel (and I love music from the ‘50s to the ‘90s), but no clubs represented the Jazz Age. By the way, our first performer at Wit’s End was Shien.
Q: Why do you think there is an interest in this time period, 1920s-1940s?
Diane: I certainly think that people are looking back to the Depression given the financial circumstances of our time today—looking at the values of that time, the films, the music, and style. I think we've gotten so casual in the way we dress today that there's a fascination with any era that showed a different way of presenting oneself to the world. I think it's easier to understand that in the ‘20s and after because it’s more relevant to modern dressing than some earlier eras. I also think that the music is pretty infectious! When you’re on hard times, its great to hear that uplifting sound that anyone can relate to—even if you've never heard it before.
Don: I think there’s a general interest in everything that is in the past, everything that came before us led us to the present. My favorite time period is the present; I prefer nostalgia through modern convenience. I love playing Duke Ellington and Annette Hanshaw on my iPod, I can buy Dorothy Parker books online, and I can print our Prohibition cocktail menu from my computer. With modern technology we have more access to the past than ever, our earliest records of pop culture in film and audio are from the 1910s and 1920s, so that set the standard. I think people particularly like the Jazz and swing age because of the style and the art that shows in the music and films that people remember. People today didn’t personally have to deal with the Depression, prejudice, and hardships of the early 20th Century; they focus on the nostalgia and glamour. After WWI life was a celebration until the stock market crashed, after that the New Deal funded a huge output of artistic creation, and those highlights stick in our memory. That Jazz Age was a golden age for America; for the first time Americana spread all over the world. It was a youth culture, morals were relaxed, people traveled more, and minorities became more empowered. We had celebrities. The world looked to the U.S. for the lead in fashion, industry, technology, music… just about everything, and anything seemed possible. On a generational level, I find more and more young people are into the time period than before. They really glamorize the era, they are too young to have heard stories from relatives who lived through the times, but they see it through movies and TV. They also realize that Jazz was the punk of its day, and dancing with a partner can be more fun that the solitary freeform moves their parents call dance. They appreciate that things made to last have more value than things that are simply new, and that many of the fashions of the 1920s and 1930s simply never go out of style. Decades old swing and blues songs are still recorded by top forty pop stars, the newest style is reimagining the old.
Q: At a Wit's End party, what can one expect to happen?
Diane: If you come early, you’ll start out grabbing a bite (some free hors d’oeuvres at the bar or ordering dinner from Flute) and mingling with other guests. Then there’s a free dance lesson—usually Charleston, Balboa, or basic Lindy—that happens before the band goes on. The band plays two sets during the evening, and the rest of the time is filled with period danceable music playing. We’ve added some fun giveaways to the lineup as well, and of course, there are amazing cocktails to enjoy and great conversation to have the entire time! I think I imagine it as a modern interpretation of what some clubs of the ‘20s/’30s might have been like: some people dancing, some mingling or lounging, most drinking, and all making that extra effort to look fantastic!
Don: Flute Midtown is an authentic Prohibition era speakeasy, once run by Texas Guinan, and that sets the tone. You can expect a lot of people having fun, dancing to the hot jazz or talking over cocktails. You won’t see jeans or baseball caps; the dress code is enforced to keep the mood. Some people are in vintage attire but it isn’t a costume affair, most are in modern suits and dresses, adding to the atmosphere. The music is paced for dancing. It’s also an early night by New York standards, so you can enjoy yourself for a few hours then go to a late night bar or show.
Q: You always have fantastic live entertainment, whom can we expect to see at the parties in 2010?
Diane: We’ll be having a lot of our favorites back this year as well as some new friends! We'll definitely be having the Moonlighters (Jan. 30), Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators, The Red Hook Ramblers, Gelber & Manning, Molly Ryan with Dan Levinson and his band, and more! We're also looking to have some special guests, especially in April and October when we launch new issues of Zelda: The Magazine of the Vintage Nouveau!
Don: There are so many great bands that we want to showcase and expose to our patrons, deciding is always a tough choice because we are only once a month. We have been proud to feature bands like Baby Soda and Cynthia Sayer, and I would love to bring in bands from the West Coast and Europe someday, too. And there are always surprises: last October we were fortunate enough to have Michael Arenella and Drew Nugent stop by to join Gelber and Manning for an after hours jam that will be hard for others to top. We also want to collaborate more with other events. Last year we provided a specialty cocktail to the Salon at the Player’s Club and produced a Speakeasy Night for the Museum of the City of New York. We plan to keep cross promoting Dances of Vice, the Art Deco Society of New York, the Dorothy Parker Society and, if things go well, we hope to be involved with organizations around the country, perhaps the world
Q: Vintage theme attire is encouraged. Where can one shop for the right outfit?
Diane: There are a lot of outlets to find vintage today, but for me, I've had the best luck on eBay, shopping online, flea markets, and a handful of finds in shops here in town. As far as NYC, I've had the most luck at the Chelsea Flea Market, Cobblestones on East 9th, and The Family Jewels on 23rd. (I have to admit, a lot of my vintage attire is bought in Los Angeles, Ohio, and I recently found great stuff in Austin, Texas.) It's always a treasure hunt, and a challenge to find that dress that will fit you AND be what you're looking for! The first issue of Zelda has a great NYC shopping guide, too. Although I will mention that there are a lot of dresses and other articles of clothing made today that can be festive and fun for our night when styled the right way. We love vintage, but we know it's tough to get a hold of and certainly don't require it. Dress well, and in the spirit of the era, and you're good to go. We don't think of it as costume, but rather just taking an evening to really dress in your finest!
Don: There are a lot of great places for women to find vintage wear. It’s much harder for men but, luckily, menswear hasn’t changed style too much. Wear what you likely have in your closet: a dress shirt and business suit will work just fine. I have vintage, but when I wear a modern suit I just add suspenders, a pocket square, or a vintage tie to aid the proper look.
Thanks to Diane and Don, and we hope to see you at Wit’s End in 2010. All information and a calendar of events about Wit's End is here. Saturday, Jan. 30: Twilight Tropicale brings you the hottest Hawaiian tunes of the Jazz Age (and some snazzy originals) from our pals The Moonlighters! They're brushing up on some old favorites- you don't want to miss this one! FREE HORS D'OEUVRES AT THE BAR FROM 7-8PM! Flute Bar features some delicious bites- come early for dinner before dancing off those nibbles! FREE DANCE LESSON at 830pm! We're now going until MIDNIGHT! $12 door, 21+
Did you ever want to know exactly where Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley worked? Wanted to walk in the footsteps of George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly? Well try the Algonquin Round Table Walking Tour. The 2010 schedule is posted now. The first walk is Saturday, Jan. 30, and each walk is on the last Saturday of the month (except May, when it will be May 22). All info is here. What is great about 2010 is that the walks are the same day as the Club Wit's End parties at Flute. So in the afternoon have a walking tour, followed by lunch at the Algonquin Round Table. Then at 7 p.m. put on your best vintage attire and go to a real speakeasy. A terrific New York day.
It has been awhile since we tapped the YouTube vault for a Dorothy Parker video. This gem is actually a radio broadcast by one of Mrs. Parker's associates, Tallulah Bankhead. She rolls through "The Waltz" in a radio performance from NBC's The Big Show, January 7th 1951. At least Mrs. Parker was around to enjoy the royalty check from NBC. It's a good performance, but the guffawing from the live studio audience is annoying.
A lot of people believe that Bankhead was a member of the Algonquin Round Table, but she was not. Bankhead was a teenager when the group started, but later she became friendly with several members.
Scribner recently published a new edition of Not Much Fun: The Lost Poems of Dorothy Parker. This is exciting because it is an updated version of the 1996 book. Editor/Compiler Stuart Y. Silverstein gave the DPS an exclusive new interview about the book, and he will be in New York City in January to talk about it and sign copies:
Sun Jan 10 - 4:00 PM - Idlewild Books - 12 W 19 St, NY 10011 (212-414-8888)
These are two fantastic independent bookstores. The Dorothy Parker Society will be out in full force for both events, with a meeting directly to follow both author appearances. We hope you will come out for the talks.
The Museum of the City of New York, one of the most prestigious history institutions in the region, this week released its list ‘The New York City 400’ to mark the 400th anniversary of the exploration of New York. Among the list of the city's greatest residents is Dorothy Parker.
The Museum said, “The NYC400 is the first-ever list of New York City's ultimate movers and shakers since the City's founding—from politics, the arts, business, sports, science, and entertainment. In commemoration of Henry Hudson's epic 1609 voyage into New York Harbor, the Museum is celebrating our City's 400th birthday by recognizing the people who have had the greatest impact and influence on the world's greatest city.”
Parker, born in 1893, grew up in New York and had numerous homes throughout the city, most on the Upper West Side. Just last month, her teenage apartment at 310 West 80th received a landmark plaque on the building. She died June 7, 1967, at age 73, at 23 East 74th Street.
Parker is in good company on the list. Among her peers are Lou Reed, who has remarked in the past that he is a fan of her work, as well as Woody Allen, John Barrymore, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Aaron Burr, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Ella Fitzgerald, Robert Fulton, Martha Graham, William Randolph Hearst, Babe Ruth and Arnold Rothstein. Two people she worked for, Condé Nast and Harold Ross, are on the list. Ross is the only other member of the Algonquin Round Table to make ‘The New York City 400’ list of notables.
On August 22, the 116th anniversary of Dorothy Parker's birth, a magnificent bronze plaque was unveiled at her teenage home, 310 West 80th Street, by members of the Dorothy Parker Society and local residents. Parker lived in the apartment house with her father, J. Henry Rothschild, around 1909-1910. The plaque was unveiled by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, president of the DPS, and co-editor of the new book, The Lost Algonquin Round Table.
At the unveiling, Fitzpatrick thanked the building's owner, Ira Schwarz, for buying and erecting the memorial, which is the only marker on any of the numerous homes Parker resided in around Manhattan.
"This is a terrific literary landmark for the Upper West Side, a neighborhood that does not lack for notable authors and artists," Fitzpatrick said. "I really am touched that a building owner took it upon himself to pay tribute to a former resident, 100 years after she lived here."
At the unveiling, a champagne toast was followed by readings of Parker verse by actresses Natalie Wilder and Maureen Van Trease, who both recently starred in Those Whistling Lads, the Poetry and Short Stories of Dorothy Parker.
Long Branch, NJ - "Long Branch, a town that may not know who Bob Dylan is, but certainly knows who Dorothy Parker was," said Kevin Fitzpatrick, founder and president of the National Dorothy Parker Society and co-editor of The Lost Algonquin Round Table, in reference to the recent failure to recognize the music legend by a rookie policeman, at the fourth annual Dorothy Parker Day.
Parker was a poet writer, humanitarian and dog lover, best known for her caustic wit. The day began with readings and dramatic interpretations of Parker’s works by local authors and historians at the Long Branch Public Library and a Parker Lookalike Contest.
Fittingly, The City of Long Branch celebrated Mrs. Parker's premature birth on August 22, 1893, one week early on August 16. The day was sponsored by the Long Branch Arts Council, Long Branch Public Library, West End Merchants Society and the NJ Chapter of the Dorothy Parker Society. Events continued with a luncheon special at Jesse's Natural Foods on Brighton Avenue in West End complete with a complimentary poem read with each meal, a Dog Parade beginning at St. Michael's Catholic Church with a blessing of the animals and a walk past Dorothy Parker's birthplace on Ocean Avenue, where her family's summer cottage once stood.
The day concluded with an eclectic crowd of authors, historians, academics, thespians, and Parker fans mingling at the Mix Lounge on Brighton Avenue for a cocktail party. One couple came as far as Virginia for the event.
In the hot afternoon sun, Director of The Long Branch Arts Council, Gabe Barbaras, thanked the dogs for bringing their owners to St. Michael's for the walk, a Dorothy Parker Day annual tradition. Each dog received a doggie treat bag that was prepared by Joelle Aponte, president of the New Jersey chapter of the DPS. Several dogs were interviewed with their human spokespersons. Jay Kulin and Joe Reale of Long Branch, who recently adopted Diesel, an American Pitt Bull Terrier, who wore a small bottle of fine malt whiskey around his collar. A black and white Shitsu named "Dulcie Dog" who was dressed in pearls, also attended. According to her owner, she often "prances around with Dorothy’s restless energy."
Aponte said that the Jersey chapter hasn't been on a mission since its inception in 2005, other than to participate in the planning of D Day. "Kevin (Fitzpatrick) dubbed us President and Vice President, since we were the only two that showed up," referring to Laura Greenstone, Vice President.
“Very soon Dorothy Parker will be to the Jersey Shore literary reputation, what Springsteen is to music," Fitzpatrick said. "Dorothy Parker can be nominated to join the New Jersey Hall of Fame, and we want her to join people like Frank Sinatra in the Hall. It is another opportunity to get Long Branch on the map. We will be voting again in 2010."
After being approached by many people who attended the day about membership, Aponte and Greenstone held an executive board meeting and voted to make the 2010 NJ Hall of Fame the mission of The Society. To join the society and vote for Dorothy Parker for the NJ Hall of Fame, log onto dorothyparker.com/nj
