The Players is a clubhouse and theatre located at 3321 East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1985 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1987.

History

The Players Club of Detroit was founded in 1910 by a group of local Detroit businessmen as an institution to encourage amateur theater. From the beginning, it was a strictly male club. For the first 15 years of the club's existence, they were forced to perform in different venues each month, including the Detroit Athletic Club

Detroit Athletic Club

The Detroit Athletic Club , is a private social club and athletic club located in the heart of Detroit's theater, sports, and entertainment district. The clubhouse was designed by Albert Kahn and inspired by Rome's Palazzo Farnese. It maintains reciprocal agreements for their members at other...

, the University Club and the Twentieth Century Club.

A number of the financial elite of early 20th century Detroit were members of the Players, including Henry Joy

Henry Joy

Henry Joy may refer to:* Henry Joy McCracken , Irish republican* Henry Bourne Joy , American entrepreneur & activist* Henry Joy , American educator, activist, & politician* Henry Joy , Irish judge...

, Truman Newberry, James Couzens, and Lawrence Fisher

Fisher Body

Fisher Body is an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan; it is now an operating division of General Motors Company...

. The club continued as a successful and popular gentleman's club ubtil the 1970s, when membership began to drop. However, the club experienced a renaissance in the 1990s, and as of 2005 there were 174 members.

Architecture

In 1925, Players Club member William E. Kapp designed a building to permanently house the club at a cost of $75,000. The building was two stories, elaborately decorated, and constructed of what was, at the time, a novel material: cinder blocks. The exterior of the club is designed in a Florentine Renaissance style. The roof is tile, and the facade boasts a triple round arch bay framed by a wrought iron balcony. Ten sculpted gargoyles were created by Corrado Parducci

Corrado Parducci

Corrado Giuseppe Parducci was an Italian-American architectural sculptor who was a celebrated artist for his numerous early 20th Century works.-Early life and education:...

 for the facade. Below the west entrance pavilion the legend "The Players" is traced in limestone.

The building includes a four-story high stage, as well as a kitchen, dressing rooms, basement storage and prop rooms, and a formal meeting room on the upper floor.

The interior is notable for the Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 murals. Six murals on the auditorium walls, painted by Paul Honoré, depict a traveling troupe of troubadours. Eight smaller banners represent skills and trades needed to stage a theatrical production.

Plays

Members of the Players put on three one-act plays each "Frolic." Frolics take place on the first Saturday evening of the month, October through April, with the following exceptions: November, where a full three act play is presented and January, where the frolic is replaced with an annual fund raising event such as a "Millionaire's Party." All roles, as well as direction, costuming, set construction, and the like, are taken by members. In the Shakespearean tradition, all roles on stage are played by men.

Site

The bed of Parents Creek lies underneath one corner of the building. Near this site on July 31, 1763, the Battle of Bloody Run

Battle of Bloody Run

The Battle of Bloody Run was fought during Pontiac's Rebellion on July 31, 1763. In an attempt to break Pontiac's siege of Fort Detroit, about 250 British troops attempted to make a surprise attack on Pontiac's encampment....

 (so called because the creek ran red with blood) took place between Chief Pontiac

Chief Pontiac

Pontiac or Obwandiyag , was an Ottawa leader who became famous for his role in Pontiac's Rebellion , an American Indian struggle against the British military occupation of the Great Lakes region following the British victory in the French and Indian War. Historians disagree about Pontiac's...

and British forces. A state of Michigan historical marker commemorating this battle sits in front of this building.

External links

• The Players Club Detroit