In the most extensive renovation in many decades, the Algonquin Hotel is underway with a major overhaul that has removed the bar, restaurant, front desk, and ceiling. The Round Table is gone, and so is the perch that Hamlet had … Read the rest
1939 Radio Broadcast with Broun, Perelman, Powell, Thurber
Listen to the voices of some of the most popular New York authors of the 1930s, all with a tie to The New Yorker. The all-star radio cast includes Heywood Broun, S.J. Perelman, Dawn Powell, and James Thurber. The … Read the rest
Vicious Circle Virtual Tours Begin April 3
I’ve turned the Algonquin Round Table walking tour into a virtual tour. I supply the tour, you can watch with friends and family, and try out your best wisecracks on each other. Plus we can cover a lot more ground … Read the rest
Bedtime with the Algonquin Round Table
For those trapped indoors now there is relief coming from 1920: Weekly “Bedtime with the Algonquin Round Table” to be held on live video conference via Zoom, hosted by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, author of The Algonquin Round Table New York: … Read the rest
Radio Pioneers of the Algonquin Round Table
When I was compiling the material for my book, The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide, I was struck by the group’s versatility. I’d originally believed the group, which met from 1919 to about 1927, was the … Read the rest
The Flop of 1934, Divided By Three Fails to Find an Audience
Eighty-five years ago the Algonquin Round Table members Peggy Leech and Bea Kaufman were licking their wounds after their debut collaboration flopped on Broadway. The two friends worked for about a year on a drama that failed to succeed. Divided … Read the rest
117 Years Ago Today 1st Guests Arrived at the Algonquin Hotel
Today is the anniversary of the opening of the Algonquin Hotel in 1902. Guests 117 years ago checked into the newest hotel on the block, located at No. 59-63 West Forty-fourth Street. When the Vicious Circle launched a century ago … Read the rest
Classic Woollcott Letter Turns 85 Years Old
One of the greatest keepers of correspondence of the Algonquin Round Table was the man who the group formed around, Alexander Woollcott. Of all 30 members of the Vicious Circle, only he had his letters posthumously published. One of his … Read the rest
Video From Talk About Vicious Circle Women
For the centennial of the first meeting of the Algonquin Round Table, author Kevin C. Fitzpatrick presented a brief talk at the Algonquin Hotel. He presented the women of the Vicious Circle–the ones not named Dorothy Parker and Edna Ferber. … Read the rest
Al Hirschfeld Podcast Celebrates Round Table Century
Kudos to David Leopold and Katherine Marshall-Eastman, co-hosts of the excellent Al Hirschfeld Century Podcast. The new episode celebrates the centennial of the Algonquin Round Table, which began in June 1919. There is currently the third annual Hirschfeld gallery … Read the rest