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.The Stage Year Book (1909)
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.Green Room Club Dress Rehearsal, New York Times, April 26, 1907Klaw & Erlanger Aid Library, New York Times, February 14, 1908 Aubrey Boucicault (son of Dion Boucicault and brother of Nina Boucicault) was the chairman of the library committee in 1906.Green Room Club Library, New York Dramatic Mirror, June 23, 1906, pg. 8
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.The Green Room Club, The Green Book Album (magazine), Volume 2, July 1909, pg. 350 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.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)
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.Famous Clubs of New York — The Green Room Club, The Evening Star Telegram (New York), May 24, 1913, pg. 6
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 The Lambs Friars Club Strollers Club The Dunlap Society 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) Articles of Incorporation, Constitution, By-Laws and House Rules, With list of officers and members of the Green Room Club (1909) A General Letter of Invitation to the Annual Dress Rehearsal of the Green Room Club (1916) Inline citations