Stageworks Media
Presents
Cynthia von Buhler's
Speakeasy Dollhouse:
The Brothers
Booth
Directed by Wes Grantom
Written by Cynthia von Buhler
with additional material by Mat Smart
Long-running immersive theater
piece SPEAKEASY DOLLHOUSE
Starts a new chapter . . .
This time delving into the sibling
rivalry between
John Wilkes and Edwin Booth.
At The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South
Three Special Monthly Performances
Saturdays: March 1st, April 5th, and May 3rd
at 8:00 pm
Stageworks
Media is pleased to announce Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth
by Cynthia von Buhler. A new chapter to
Ms. von Buhler’s Speakeasy Dollhouse,
which has over the past two years become one of the
city's most unique, interactive, and surreal theatre experiences, Speakeasy
Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth brings von Buhler’s unique brand of
immersive theater to the legends of John Wilkes and Edwin Booth. Directed by Wes Grantom (Eager to Lose at Ars Nova), Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth
will play monthly performances (on the first Saturday of the month) at The
Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South) beginning in March 2014. For tickets and more information, visit www.speakeasydollhouse.com
Speakeasy
Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth
is an immersive time-traveling theatrical experience, set in the renowned Players
Club -- the former home of Edwin Booth -- which explores the sibling rivalry
between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth. Set in 1919, the various characters presented
in Speakeasy
Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth include John Drew (the
then-president of The Players Club) and John Singer Sargeant, as well as the
ghosts of Edwin and John Wilkes Booth. Like the original, Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth also features live jazz, moonshine and burlesque.
According to Speakeasy Dollhouse creator Cynthia von Buhler, “My research on the
Booth family has led me to believe that Abraham Lincoln was murdered as a
result of sibling rivalry, and not because of John Wilkes’ love of the
confederacy. Edwin Booth, a staunch Lincoln supporter, was honored by the
president -- and even saved Lincoln’s son Robert from being crushed by a train
shortly before the president’s assassination. Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers
Booth encourages audiences to
roam Edwin Booth's former mansion in search for the truth. Utilizing
Shakespearean themes, longtime conspiracy theories, and surreal vignettes, Speakeasy
Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth weaves together a story of the brothers'
troubled lives.”
Artist
and author Cynthia von Buhler is the creator of Speakeasy Dollhouse, an immersive theatrical hit that explores the
murder of von Buhler’s Italian immigrant grandfather, Frank Spano. A speakeasy owner, Spano was shot and killed
on a Manhattan street in 1935. Though
the shooter was caught, his case was inexplicably dismissed, leaving the
question of motive forever unanswered. Long haunted by the mystery, von Buhler, whose mother was born the day her grandfather
died, began interviewing family members about the killing and scouring autopsy
reports, police records, and court documents. Inspired by a 1940s investigative
technique called "nutshell studies," von Buhler first recreated the
crime scene in an elaborate dollhouse diorama (which can be explored on
location during each performance). Von
Buhler brought her miniature set to life in Speakeasy Dollhouse, which was first
intended to be a one-night theatrical staging (via a successful Kickstarter
campaign). It has since become a hot underground theater ticket, going from
monthly performances to weekly performances as it consistently sold out, and extended
its run repeatedly over the past two years.
Speakeasy
Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth
is the first show of its kind to be staged at The Players Club, which was
founded in 1888 by Edwin Booth, America's pre-eminent Shakespearean actor, and
15 other incorporators (including Mark Twain and General William Tecumseh
Sherman). Located in a Greek Revival
townhouse facing historic Gramercy Park, modeled after London's famed Garrick
Club, The Players was the first American club of its kind. Its
purpose: "The promotion of social intercourse between members of the
dramatic profession and the kindred professions of literature, painting,
architecture, sculpture and music, law and medicine, and the patrons of the
arts . . ." Today, leaders from a variety of professions in the arts,
business, and commerce enjoy The Players' unique spirit of conviviality and discourse. Edwin Booth's bedroom remains on a top floor
of the club, undisturbed since his passing in 1893. 2014 marks the 125th anniversary
of The Players Club.
Cynthia
von Buhler’s Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth, directed by Wes
Grantom, will be presented at Edwin Booth's mansion, The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South) monthly
on the following Saturdays in 2014: Saturday,
March 1st at 8pm; Saturday, April 5th at 8 pm; and Saturday, May 3rd at 8 pm.
Tickets (advance only) are priced at $75 (general admission) and $125 (VIP,
which includes exclusive access beyond the staircase to the third floor, VIP-only
scenes, and lounge and cocktail service).
Tickets are now available by visiting www.speakeasydollhouse.com.
