Alice Ripley to Launch 'Live From 16 Gramercy Park' Concert Series

 

The Players, the city's most fabled private social club for actors and artists, will kick off a new music series on October 28th with a performance by Tony Award-winning Broadway star Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) and music director John Fischer.

Select Fridays from 9:00 p.m. to midnight, Live From 16 Gramercy Park will showcase in two 90-minute sets the leading lights of New York City theatre, cabaret, and beyond, including a performance this January by stage and screen icon Christine Ebersole (42nd Street, Grey Gardens).

Exclusive to members of The Players, the series will take place in the dining room of the club's Gramercy Park mansion, in a cozy theatre-in-the-round setting where special desserts and drinks will be served.

The new series joins The Players' popular Friday evening lineup, featuring fine dining at the club's weekly pop-up restaurant, Edwin's, and a late-night soiree dubbed #PlayersAfter. Members can now end their week with an elegant meal in the mansion's parlor or on the balcony overlooking Gramercy Park, then opt for either an intimate musical performance by a world-class artist, or cocktails and music tailored for the younger set.

Live From 16 Gramercy Park is the latest in a series of initiatives that have sparked a renaissance for the 126-year-old club, spearheaded by a new leadership team led by Players President Michael Barra, who was elected in June 2016 after serving two years on the club's board of directors. Under the current leadership, The Players has expanded its cultural programming, made award-winning improvements to its landmark home, and added new membership levels, including the Young Players Society for members forty years old and under. The club has also enhanced its culinary services, tapping Waldorf Astoria veteran Jonathan Masel as its new General Manager earlier this fall.

"This latest expansion of our cultural and culinary offerings means that members can now enjoy an exquisite dinner and an excellent show without ever leaving the comfort of our beautiful building," said Barra. "Live From 16 Gramercy Park also presents a unique opportunity to catch some of the city's best musicians in an intimate setting surrounded by show business peers, where they can let their hair down and show a side of themselves that the general public may not get to see."

Alice Ripley won the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical as well as a Helen Hayes award for her role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock opera Next to Normal. She first won acclaim playing the conjoined twin Violet Hilton in the 1997 cult hit Side Show, for which she was nominated for both Tony and Drama Desk Awards. In addition to appearing on numerous Broadway cast albums, she has recorded four solo albums. She recently completed filming on the new Netflix comedy series Girlboss, which premieres next April.

John Fischer served as music director for Unattached, a cabaret show by Ripley and Tony Award nominee Emily Skinner that recently played to sell-out audiences at Feinstein's/54 Below. For the past eight years, he has been music director for the Broadway's Rising Stars and Broadway Originals concerts at Town Hall.

The Players was founded in 1888 by a group of artists and thinkers led by Booth and colleagues like Mark Twain. The club is the oldest in New York still based in its original home, a Stanford White Gramercy Park mansion that houses a treasure trove of theatre-related artworks and artifacts including paintings by John Singer Sargent, drawings by Al Hirschfeld and James Cagney, and the human skull brandished by Booth in his legendary performances of Hamlet. Current and past notable members include Broadway luminaries such as Eugene O'Neill, George M. Cohan, Liza Minnelli, Angela Lansbury, Alfred Lunt, Tony Roberts, RoseMary Harris, Martha Plimpton, Jimmy Fallon, Ethan Hawke and many more.

The cover charge for Live From Gramercy Park is $45, with no drink minimum. A special dessert and drink menu will be available.

Founded in 1888 by actor Edwin Booth with 15 other incorporators including Mark Twain, The Players is New York City's premier social club for theatre, television, film, music, and publishing professionals, patrons of the arts, and business and civic leaders. Housed in the Booth mansion, a landmark Greek Revival townhouse on Gramercy Park, The Players celebrates the rich cultural life of New York City with exclusive membership events that include live performances, readings by leading authors and playwrights, film screenings, and special dining and cocktail experiences in its famous Grill Room. Presidents of The Players have included Jose Ferrer, Lynn Redgrave and Timothy Hutton.

 

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