first priority club News April 28, 2014 The Cosmopolitan CluB
122 E 66th St, New York
6:30pm Reception 7:30pm Dinner & Parodies Please see the enclosed invitation for more information on the evening.
Thank you to our attendees & supporters Gretchen Adkins Kim & David Adler Linda & Lloyd Alterman Louise L. Arias Catherine Cahill & William Bernhard Jane Condon & Kenneth G. Bartels In honor of Gus Kaikkonen Jo Ann Corkran Bob Donnalley & The Cory & Bob Donnalley Charitable Fdtn Marjorie Ellenbogen Barbara G. Fleischman Ruth Friendly Agnes & Emilio Gautier Gene C. Gill John Harrington Brian & Darlene Heidtke Linda Irenegreene Joan Kedziora Fran & Carter Keithley Sarah-Ann Kramarsky Mildred C. Kuner Jann Leeming & Arthur Little Mary Rose Main Mrs. Larry Morales George Morfogen Enid Nemy & Dorothy Strelsin Fdtn Barbara & Milt Strom Mr. & Mrs. Dennis Swanson Mary Elizabeth Swerz Kathryn Swintek Joan Vail Thorne Litsa Tsistera Helen S. Tucker Robert G. Walsh Please contact us with any inaccuracies or omissions to this list, we’ll be happy to remedy them.
For further information call Christina Roussos at 212-315-9434 or see the enclosed invitation.
Discovering a Parody and a Playwright’s Versatility One of the most exciting elements of my job, here at the Mint, is helping to conduct the research necessary to bring new life to each “lost” play we produce. I was especially lucky, while researching our current production of London Wall, to have access to a comprehensive collection of the playwright’s personal papers, which are stored at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The collection is a fascinating one, containing boxes of John Van Druten’s private letters, diary entries, and typescripts. I spent hours poring over the contents of his papers—finding that each discovery further revealed Van Druten as a deeply thoughtful, humble, and versatile artist. Van Druten’s versatility became even clearer to me when I came upon a box that contained thirty typescripts for short parodies he had written, each lovingly burlesquing the work of such established writers as A.A. Milne, St. John Ervine, J.B. Priestley, John Galsworthy, and William Shakespeare. His humility shined even brighter when I had found that he had even parodied himself—twice. I was especially delighted to find that one of these parodies, titled Maiden Lane, was of London Wall. Sure enough, the parody was spot on, and I found myself laughing aloud. I brought a copy of Maiden Lane to Mint’s Producing Artistic Director, Jonathan Bank, and we swiftly decided that it should be the centerpiece of our Spring Benefit. Now, we had to find the story behind these parodies. Where did they come from? Had they been written just for fun, or had any of them been published? I decided to further pursue these questions by seeking out a second batch of John Van Druten’s personal papers, stored at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. I was thrilled to find that the second collection of papers proved just as revealing as the first. In it was stored a folder of clippings—many of which contained the same parodies I had read at the Performing Arts Library, but this time in published form. I found that at least eleven of Van Druten’s
parodies had been published anonymously in Punch, a weekly British magazine of humor and satire, between the years 1922 and 1932. Maiden Lane, it appeared, had been published in that magazine on May 27, 1931—nearly a month after the West End opening of London Wall. Also in this second collection of papers was a large stack of letters between Van Druten and Dodie Smith, a close friend and confidant of the playwright who remains best known as the author of The Hundred and One Dalmatians. In a letter dated April 5, 1942, Smith writes: The parodies have arrived safely. I will take good care of them and register them back to you. I am reading them rather slowly because I find it spoils them to bolt them. Most of the ones I’ve read are quite brilliant, I think—indeed, I am sure of it—though, surprisingly, I’ve seen hardly any of the plays. Although I had recognized many of the authors Van Druten was burlesquing, I too was unfamiliar with some of the plays. Nevertheless, I found Van Druten’s sharp skewering of theatrical conventions and literary tropes irresistible. I found myself in full agreement with Ms. Smith, who writes later in her letter, “The parodies are very revealing of yourself in one way. They show how acutely your sense of criticism is alive when watching a play… your sense of satire is obviously keenly alive in the theatre.” Our upcoming benefit has been named “With Apologies to the Author” as a nod to Mr. Van Druten, who subtitled each of his parodies with a formal apology to the author being lampooned. I hope you’ll join us on April 28th at The Cosmopolitan Club for this special evening of levity and laughter—an evening dedicated to a talented and prolific playwright who, despite his success, wasn’t above having a little bit of fun at his own expense.
-Jesse Marchese Assistant to the Producing Artistic Director