[Literature] [Algonquin Round Table], No Sirree!

Lot 56

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Books & Manuscripts

By Freeman's

Feb 18, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-02-18 10:00:00 2021-02-18 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Books & Manuscripts https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/freemans/books-manuscripts-6379 A collection of important books and manuscripts curated by Darren Winston, Head of Department Books, Manuscripts, Photographs & Photobooks at Freeman's. Freeman's info@freemansauction.com

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Lot Description

[Literature] [Algonquin Round Table]
No Sirree!
Original playbill for No Sirree! An Anonymous Entertainment by the Vicious Circle of the Hotel Algonquin. Approximately 23.25 x 5.5 inches, archivally framed. The one-night-only performance was held at the 49th Street Theatre on April 30, 1922. The invited audience was made up largely of writers, critics, and friends of the cast which included the following:

Franklin P. Adams
Tallulah Bankhead
Robert C. Benchley
Heywood Broun
Marc Connelly
Jane Grant
Helen Hayes
Jascha Heifetz
George S. Kaufman
Neysa McMein
Dorothy Parker
Harold Ross
Robert E. Sherwood
Donald Ogden Stewart
Alexander Woollcott

The style of the show, as well as its title, was a spoof on the popular Russian/French revue, La Chauve-Souris, which was a big hit on Broadway from February to June 1922.

The closest thing to a foundation document for the Algonquin Round Table that one can imagine. An almost mythical single performance that still resonates today. Dorothy Parker sang; Jascha Heifitz provided incidental music from the wings; Robert Benchley first performed his "Treasurer's Report" (which was deliberately left off of the playbill to fool the audience); O'Neill and Milne were spoofed among many others.

Benchley's "The Treasurer's Report," was the one element from the performance that later found its own fame. The disjointed parody went over so well that Irving Berlin hired Benchley the following year to perform it as part of Berlin's Music Box Revue for $500 a week. Five years later it was made into a short sound film which also marked the beginning of a second career for Benchley in Hollywood.

No copies of this playbill have appeared at auction since it was performed, almost 99 years ago and there are no copies recorded in WorldCat. It is our belief that this might be the only recorded copy/surviving copy. A similar example is pictured in "Wit's End" (James R. Gaines, 1977) but appears to be a program although identical in the way the type is set.

From the library of author and playwright, Julian Street (1879-1947), whom we assume was there. It was found folded up in one of his books.
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