The Lambs, America’s first professional theater club and one of the oldest professional theatrical organizations in the U.S., marked its 90-year association with Sardi’s proclaiming it the Club’s favorite watering hole…outside The Lambs.
The Proclamation may be READ HERE.
Originating in London in 1869, The Lambs, a club for professionals of entertainment and the arts, was founded in New York in 1874. Members over the years have included Fred Astaire, the Barrymores, David Belasco, Douglas Fairbanks, Richard Rodgers and Hal Prince. Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe first met at The Lambs, and Loewe left a share of his rights of Brigadoon to The Lambs Foundation.
From 1905 until 1975 The Lambs’ 44th Street clubhouse, designed by Lamb Stanford White, was located just 1,050 feet east of Sardi’s. The famed theatrical bar and birthplace of the Tony Awards first opened in 1921, and ever since has been a regular meeting spot for members of The Lambs. Among the famed caricatures of theatrical luminaries that line the walls of Sardi’s, dozens have been members of The Lambs, including current Lambs Joyce Randolph and Jim Dale. During The Lambs’ short time without its own clubhouse in the mid-1970’s, members often congregated at Sardi’s Little Bar, and that gathering continues long after The Lambs settled at 3 West 51st Street.
On Wednesday, August 30th, many members of The Lambs gathered at Sardi’s Little Bar presenting a framed certificate, and raised many a glass while proclaiming Sardi’s The Lambs’ favorite watering hole. Among those packing the Little Bar were Joyce Randolph (Trixie of The Honeymooners) and voice-over/actor/producer Joe Sirola….and Sardi’s co-owner, Sean Sardi Ricketts.
Here’s a video of the reading of the proclamation courtesy of Lamb Doug Gerbino