Inner Circle (parody group)
Encyclopedia
The Inner Circle is a parody group established in 1922 by New York City
newspaper reporters covering City Hall
. The organization is a successor to Amen Corner
and the Association of City Hall Reporters, two groups of reporters who would parody local politicians at what were called 'stunt dinners'. The Inner Circle sought to expand the reach of group, by satirizing national politicians as well while the Amen Corner met on Sundays and parodied local politicians.
The Inner Circle has been compared to "the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, only cooler.”
The Inner Circle holds one event every year in March at the New York Hilton.
Every year the show has a different theme. The theme for the 2011 show is "Meet the Focker-uppers."
The Inner Circle is currently written and performed by seasoned reporters, bloggers, web journalists, television and radio personalities.
There is a strict "No Professional Talent" rule.
The show is followed by a rebuttal by the current mayor of New York.
Prior to that, the Inner Circle had been something of a boy's club, despite the fact that there were many women reporters and editors at the time. This was something of a sore spot. Women guests were relegated to the balcony. Dorothy Schiff
, owner and publisher of New York Post
, refused to attend in protest. Mayor Lindsay's wife Mary would flip peanuts down at the men on the tables below from her a balcony table.
In 1972, the Inner Circle held a meeting to vote on whether or not they would permit women to join.
At the meeting to vote on the change, George Douris of the Long Island Press, and Mickey Carroll, argued to admit women into the Inner Circle. Two Daily News (New York)
newsmen, Eddie O'Neill and Owen Fitzgerald, argued against. The meeting concluded with a decision that the vote be conducted by mail.
The mailed-in vote was 69-to-15 in favor of the women and it was decided that the four new members for the 1973 show would be women. The first women admitted to the Inner Circe were Edith Evans Asbury of The New York Times
, Marcia Chambers of the Associated Press
Jean Crafton of the Daily News and Maureen O'Neill of Newsday
. The show began with the following announcement " ... the Inner Circle, 50 years old and they've just learned about girls," followed by the first four female members singing the Maurice Chevalier song, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls
".
government of discriminating against gay people.
The GAA expected the Inner Circle audience to be mostly mild-mannered journalists and members of the press. Unbeknown to them, all of the mild-mannered journalists were backstage, preparing for the show. The actual Inner Circle audience consisted mostly of politicians, judges and labor union people. While coming up the escalator to hand out fliers to the crowd, one of the activists grabbed Mickey Maye, the leader of the firefighter's union at the time, by the groin. Maye, a former Golden Gloves
boxer knocked the activist down the escalator. Unfortunately for the activist, it was the "up" escalator and he came back up to Maye, who knocked him back down. Maye was arrested and charged with harassment. Inner Circle members did not find out about this until it was written about in the news.
became embroiled in a prostitution scandal
.
These changes included the addition of a song called "Love Client Number 9".
Hour Children
Cardinal Hayes High School
Publicolor
Big Apple Greeter
Achilles International
Our Lady of the Isle R.C. Church
Salvation Army Manhattan Citadel
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen
Midtown West School
National MPS Society
Garment Center Synagogue
Church of the Presentation Youth Ministry Mexico Mission
Citizens Union Foundation
- Gotham Gazette
Friends of New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies
YM-YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood
Incarnation Children's Center
Museum of the City of New York
Court Appointed Special Advocates
Robert Mindlin Journalism Foundation Inc
Warwick Community Ambulance
Queens College Foundation
St Agnes Annual Fund
Coalition for the Homeless
K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations Inc.)
Natalie's Way Foundation
Songs of Love Foundation
Search and Care
Goddard-Riverside Community Center
Ballet Hispanico
Pregnancy Care Center
Crown Heights Youth Collective
SFK - Success for Kids Inc
Sacred Heart Food for the Hungry Program
Committee to Protect Journalists
New York Press Club
Foundation
Columbia College Fund
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
newspaper reporters covering City Hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
. The organization is a successor to Amen Corner
Amen Corner
Amen Corner may refer to:*Amen Corner , 1960s British pop group*Amen Corner , 1983 musical*Amen Corner , novel by Rick Shefchik*The Amen Corner, 1954 play by James Baldwin...
and the Association of City Hall Reporters, two groups of reporters who would parody local politicians at what were called 'stunt dinners'. The Inner Circle sought to expand the reach of group, by satirizing national politicians as well while the Amen Corner met on Sundays and parodied local politicians.
The Inner Circle has been compared to "the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, only cooler.”
The Inner Circle holds one event every year in March at the New York Hilton.
Every year the show has a different theme. The theme for the 2011 show is "Meet the Focker-uppers."
The Inner Circle is currently written and performed by seasoned reporters, bloggers, web journalists, television and radio personalities.
There is a strict "No Professional Talent" rule.
Structure of The Show
The Inner Circle show happens in two acts.- The first act focuses on lampooning the current New York City Mayor
- The second act "attacks" state and national politics. During the 1990s, the Inner Circle also began to focus on celebrities
The show is followed by a rebuttal by the current mayor of New York.
Highlights: 1927 - 1966
- 1923 the first ever Inner Circle satirized Governor Alfred E. Smith in a musical comedy called “The Supersmith.”
- 1927 Mayor Jimmy WalkerJimmy WalkerJames John Walker, often known as Jimmy Walker and colloquially as Beau James , was the mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932...
joined the reporters on stage in a show called “Off The Record” at the Hotel Astor.
- 1936 Reporters spoofed Mayor Fiorello La Guardia’s difficulties with snow, noise and racketeering in “Quiet, Please! or What a Racket!”
- 1947 Governor Thomas E. Dewey and Mayor William O'DwyerWilliam O'DwyerWilliam O'Dwyer was the 100th Mayor of New York City, holding that office from 1946 to 1950.-Biography:O'Dwyer was born in County Mayo, Ireland and migrated to the United States in 1910, after abandoning studies for the priesthood...
were parodied in "The Axeman Cometh."
- 1954 Governor Dewey and Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr.Robert F. Wagner, Jr.Robert Ferdinand Wagner II, usually known as Robert F. Wagner, Jr. served three terms as the mayor of New York City, from 1954 through 1965.-Biography:...
were lampooned in "Ringmaster"
- 1954 In a skit titled “Dragnet,” the reporters chided the abolishment of the Police Dept. band and glee club with a trumpet solo sounding something like a Bronx cheer.
- 1960 Mayor WagnerRobert F. Wagner, Jr.Robert Ferdinand Wagner II, usually known as Robert F. Wagner, Jr. served three terms as the mayor of New York City, from 1954 through 1965.-Biography:...
cut his vacation in the Bahamas short so that he would be able to attend The Inner Circe.
- 1962 President KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, Governor RockefellerNelson RockefellerNelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
and Mayor WagnerRobert F. Wagner, Jr.Robert Ferdinand Wagner II, usually known as Robert F. Wagner, Jr. served three terms as the mayor of New York City, from 1954 through 1965.-Biography:...
were parodied with a song called "The Unsinkable Bobby Wagner, or How to Succeed in Politics Without Really Trying."
Highlights of the Lindsay Mayoralty
- 1966 Mayor John Lindsay enlisted the help of Sheldon HarnickSheldon HarnickSheldon Harnick is an American lyricist best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof....
and Jerry BockJerry BockJerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof with...
, who wrote the music and lyrics for Fiddler on the RoofFiddler on the RoofFiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
to prepare his singing rebuttal to the reporters’ show.
- 1967 Mayor Lindsay appeared in a sequined tie, dancing such popular dance moves as The FrugThe FrugThe Frug was a dance craze from the 1960s that evolved from another dance of the era, the Chicken. The Chicken, which featured lateral body movements, was used primarily as a change of pace step while doing the Twist. As young dancers grew more tired they would do less work, moving only their hips...
and The Swim.
- 1968 Mayor Lindsay was portrayed as an airplane hijacker trying unsuccessfully to land in Cuba, but whom the Cubans would not allow to land because they "had enough of their own troubles already."
The Inner Circle Admits Women
The Inner Circle only admitted its first women members in 1973.Prior to that, the Inner Circle had been something of a boy's club, despite the fact that there were many women reporters and editors at the time. This was something of a sore spot. Women guests were relegated to the balcony. Dorothy Schiff
Dorothy Schiff
Dorothy Schiff was an owner and then publisher of the New York Post for nearly 40 years. She was a granddaughter of financier Jacob H. Schiff...
, owner and publisher of New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, refused to attend in protest. Mayor Lindsay's wife Mary would flip peanuts down at the men on the tables below from her a balcony table.
In 1972, the Inner Circle held a meeting to vote on whether or not they would permit women to join.
At the meeting to vote on the change, George Douris of the Long Island Press, and Mickey Carroll, argued to admit women into the Inner Circle. Two Daily News (New York)
Daily News
Daily News or The Daily News is the name of several daily newspapers around the world, including:- Australia :* Daily News - United Kingdom :...
newsmen, Eddie O'Neill and Owen Fitzgerald, argued against. The meeting concluded with a decision that the vote be conducted by mail.
The mailed-in vote was 69-to-15 in favor of the women and it was decided that the four new members for the 1973 show would be women. The first women admitted to the Inner Circe were Edith Evans Asbury of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Marcia Chambers of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Jean Crafton of the Daily News and Maureen O'Neill of Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
. The show began with the following announcement " ... the Inner Circle, 50 years old and they've just learned about girls," followed by the first four female members singing the Maurice Chevalier song, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls
Thank Heaven for Little Girls
"Thank Heaven for Little Girls" is a 1957 song written by Lerner and Loewe and performed by Maurice Chevalier. It opened and closed the 1958 film Gigi. Alfred Drake performed the song in the 1973 Broadway production of Gigi....
".
The 1972 Debacle
On April 15, 1972, the Gay Activists Alliance used the annual show to hand out leaflets to raise awareness about gay rights issues at the time. The leaflets accused the news media and New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
government of discriminating against gay people.
The GAA expected the Inner Circle audience to be mostly mild-mannered journalists and members of the press. Unbeknown to them, all of the mild-mannered journalists were backstage, preparing for the show. The actual Inner Circle audience consisted mostly of politicians, judges and labor union people. While coming up the escalator to hand out fliers to the crowd, one of the activists grabbed Mickey Maye, the leader of the firefighter's union at the time, by the groin. Maye, a former Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
boxer knocked the activist down the escalator. Unfortunately for the activist, it was the "up" escalator and he came back up to Maye, who knocked him back down. Maye was arrested and charged with harassment. Inner Circle members did not find out about this until it was written about in the news.
Recent Changes
For the first 30+ years of The Inner Circle the mayor would deliver a humorous speech rebuttal.- In 1966, Mayor John V. Lindsay, with the help of a straw hat, white gloves and cane, and an actress named Florence HendersonFlorence HendersonFlorence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
, sang and danced his way through his rebuttal. The act was a huge hit, and a new mayoral tradition was created.
- Ed KochEd KochEdward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...
popped out of the mouth of a man-eating plant from the Broadway show Little Shop of HorrorsLittle Shop of Horrors (musical)Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
. In 1984 then Mayor Koch appeared in a gold lame stretch bodysuit with a mechanical pigeon on his head.
- Mayor David DinkinsDavid DinkinsDavid Norman Dinkins is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993; he was the first and is, to date, the only African American to hold that office.-Early life:...
put on a comedic newscast with Mary Tyler MooreMary Tyler MooreMary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms. Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as...
and Gregory HinesGregory HinesGregory Oliver Hines was an American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Born in New York City, Hines and his older brother Maurice started dancing at an early age, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang...
.
- Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiRudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
's drag appearances showed his more feminine side as he unveiled himself in a full-length gown and wig as Rudia, a "transvestite nightclub singer," and proceeded to sing Happy Birthday, Mr. PresidentHappy Birthday, Mr. President"Happy Birthday, Mr. President" is a song sung by actress and singer Marilyn Monroe on Saturday, May 19, 1962, for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, at a celebration of his forty-fifth birthday, ten days before the actual day of his 45th birthday . Sung in a sultry voice, Monroe...
in a falsetto. in 1997, and later in 2000, he was dressed on stage in male discoDiscoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
garb, spoofing John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
in Saturday Night FeverSaturday Night FeverSaturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...
, but also appeared in taped video clips in drag again, reprising the "Rudia" stage name, in which he flirts with real estate mogul Donald TrumpDonald TrumpDonald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
, then later has an exchange with Joan RiversJoan RiversJoan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...
about Hillary Rodham ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonHillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
.
- Mayor Michael Bloomberg has sung and danced with the Broadway casts of “Chicago,” “Spamalot” and “Mary Poppins,” and once rode out of the show on a donkey that he dubbed The Burro of Manhattan. Previous Mayoral accompanists have included Caroline KennedyCaroline KennedyCaroline Bouvier Kennedy is an American author and attorney. She is a member of the influential Kennedy family and the only surviving child of U.S. President John F...
and Quarterback Eli Manning. Last year, the Mayor, in full hippie regalia performed in "Mair" a sendoff of "Hair".
The Inner Circle and the Eliot Spitzer Prostitution Scandal
In March 2008, the Inner Circle enacted a major change the show last minute after Governor Eliot SpitzerEliot Spitzer
Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
became embroiled in a prostitution scandal
Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal
The Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal began on March 10, 2008, when The New York Times reported that Democratic New York Governor Eliot Spitzer had patronized a prostitution service called Emperors Club VIP...
.
These changes included the addition of a song called "Love Client Number 9".
Beneficiaries of The Inner Circle
The annual Inner Circle event (held at the Hilton in New York) raises money for a number of different charities each year. Last year, the beneficiaries included:Hour Children
Cardinal Hayes High School
Cardinal Hayes High School
Cardinal Hayes High School is a Catholic high school for boys in the Bronx, New York City. The school serves the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. It is a member of the CHSAA.- History :...
Publicolor
Publicolor
Publicolor is a New York City-based non-profit organization founded in 1996, by Ruth Lande Shuman, an industrial designer with an interest in the psychological effects of color., that aims to improve education in youth by promoting an imaginative use of color in school buildings.Its operations...
Big Apple Greeter
Achilles International
Our Lady of the Isle R.C. Church
Salvation Army Manhattan Citadel
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen is an emergency feeding program of the Church of the Holy Apostles, located in the Chelsea section of Manhattan...
Midtown West School
National MPS Society
Garment Center Synagogue
Church of the Presentation Youth Ministry Mexico Mission
Citizens Union Foundation
Citizens Union
Citizens Union is one of the United States' first good government groups. Founded in 1897 as a political party, the group was reconstituted in 1908 as a non-partisan member organization with the broad mission of serving "as a watchdog for the public interest and an advocate for the common...
- Gotham Gazette
Gotham Gazette
The Gotham Gazette is an online publication of the Citizens Union Foundation of the City of New York, a government watchdog group focusing on issues confronting New York City...
Friends of New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies
YM-YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood
Incarnation Children's Center
Incarnation Children's Center
Incarnation Children's Center is a nursing facility for children living with HIV in New York City. From 1989 until 2000 the center operated as a foster care boarding home; since then it has concentrated on providing medical care...
Museum of the City of New York
Museum of the City of New York
The Museum of the City of New York is an art gallery and history museum founded in 1923 to present the history of New York City, USA and its people...
Court Appointed Special Advocates
Robert Mindlin Journalism Foundation Inc
Warwick Community Ambulance
Queens College Foundation
St Agnes Annual Fund
Coalition for the Homeless
Coalition for the Homeless
…The National Coalition for the Homeless is a national network of people who are currently experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, activists and advocates, community-based and faith-based service providers, and others committed to a single mission...
K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations Inc.)
Natalie's Way Foundation
Songs of Love Foundation
Search and Care
Goddard-Riverside Community Center
Ballet Hispanico
Ballet Hispanico
Ballet Hispanico is an American dance company based in Manhattan, New York. It was founded by the Venezuelan American dancer and choreographer Tina Ramirez in 1970 and presents dances reflecting the experience of Hispanic and Latino Americans...
Pregnancy Care Center
Crown Heights Youth Collective
SFK - Success for Kids Inc
Sacred Heart Food for the Hungry Program
Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
New York Press Club
New York Press Club
The New York Press Club is a membership organization of and for journalists and media professionals in the New York City metropolitan area. The club is a private, non-profit corporation and is not affiliated with any government office or agency and does not advocate or participate in any political...
Foundation
Columbia College Fund