Let's Talk About The Algonquin Hotel

The Algonquin Hotel is a landmarked hotel in New York City. It  is best known as the site of the Algonquin Round Table, a regular gathering of  a group of writers, critics, actors etc. in the 1920s. They called themselves the Vicious Circle. The author, Dorothy Parker is probably most well known for being part of the Vicious Circle. However, the group also included playwright, George S. Kaufman, actress, Talullah Bankhead, and more. In 1994, a movie about the group was made called Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. It starred Jennifer Jason Leigh as Dorothy Parker.

Me & Mom - We recently had the opportunity to visit the Algonquin Hotel. It is located at 59 W. 44th Street. There is currently an exhibit of Al Hirshfeld's drawings in the lobby. Al Hirshfeld is famous for his caricatures of celebrities including many Broadway stars. There is even a Broadway Theatre named after him where Kinky Boots is currently playing. The exhibit includes drawings from many of the Broadway shows Hirshfeld covered including Annie, Damn Yankees, Phantom of the Opera and The Sound of Music. The exhibit will be at the Algonquin through August 8. If you are in New York, and you have some time, you might want to stop by. It is not a very big exhibit and will not take very long. Just be prepared to look up for a while because the drawings are quite high up. Also, if you are interested in looking for the Nina's, it is kind of hard to do because of how the high the drawings are located. If you are unfamiliar with the Nina's, Nina is Hirschfeld's daughter's name. When she was born, he started hiding her name in his drawings. He put a number in the corner of the picture to indicate how many times her name was in the picture. Part of the fun of looking at Hirschfeld drawings is to find the Ninas.

Also, at the Algonquin we saw a cat. Since the 1930's the Algonquin has at a habit of having a hotel cat. A male cat is usually called Hamlet. A female cat is usually called Matilda. The current cat is named Matilda III. She is really cute. When we there, she was sitting in the window. However, sometimes you can see her in the lobby of the hotel. She is not allowed in the areas of the hotel where food is kept.


And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.