It pays to be a player
The time is right to join the Players Club on Gramercy Park.
The private club founded 125 years ago by Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth, the elder brother of President Lincoln’s assassin, has slashed its initiation fee of $2,000 (on average) to as low as $125, if you’re below the age of 35 and a member of a performing arts union.
The club — where Ethan Hawke often plays pool and where Jimmy Fallon hosts his Christmas party — is adding members, climbing out of debt, and nearly finished renovating the façade of its landmarked Stanford White mansion.
“Every private club is struggling these days, but the Players just needs to be shaken up and revitalized,” new president Johnnie Planco told me. “I think the future is rosy.”
The club sold a John Singer Sargent portrait for $750,000 and raised another $800,000 in donations from members.
“We have a lot of committed people,” said Michael Smith, the new general manager. “I wouldn’t have come here from Boston if I didn’t think we could succeed.”