Supporting the Actors Fund at The Players

A neighborhood connection

In its May 2016 newsletter, the Gramercy Park Block Association reported sponsoring the Actors Fund’s annual Edwin Forrest Day celebration at The Players. Arlene Harrison had been introduced to the organization by her longtime friend and colleague Susan Latham, then its deputy director of advancement.

The setting connected a neighborhood cultural institution with a wider tradition of care for people working in the performing arts. The Actors Fund, founded in 1882, provided support with health, housing, employment and social services.

Lunch, Shakespeare and song

Approximately 130 supporters gathered for lunch at The Players. Tony Award winner Len Cariou and musician Mark Janas performed excerpts from Broadway and The Bard, followed by a celebration of William Shakespeare’s birthday.

The occasion honored Edwin Forrest, the nineteenth-century Shakespearean actor whose philanthropy supported fellow actors in old age. The newsletter connected that legacy with the Edwin Forrest Wing of the Fund’s home in Englewood, New Jersey.

The arts as a community relationship

The Block Association’s participation belongs alongside its long relationship with New York Theatre Ballet’s Project LIFT. In each case, a connection through the arts also became a way to support people’s practical needs.

The Players’ own history reaches back to Edwin Booth and the club’s founding in 1888. Explore that earlier chapter in the history of Gramercy’s artists and clubs.

2017

The relationship continued

An April 27, 2017 newsletter again recorded the Block Association sponsoring Edwin Forrest Day at The Players. Its group photograph named Alex Nguyen, Susan Latham, Arlene Harrison, Tom Pike, Norman Kurlan and Joseph P. Benincasa.

The later account connected the two famous Edwins: Players founder Edwin Booth had been named for Edwin Forrest. It again described the celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday that formed part of the tradition.