It all began when I met a woman named Leslie Martini at the hair salon. Of course I loved her last name, and when I learned that she had written a children’s book about Matilda, the rescue cat that lives at the Algonquin Hotel in NYC, we became fast friends.
When I learned she was signing her book at the legendary Algonquin Hotel in NYC, alongside a cat fashion show, and she invited me, I immediately started packing..
Visions of supermodels wearing cat ears, leopard catsuits, and dragging cheetah print capes down the catwalk danced in my head. I adore fashion shows and I love cats so this was my idea of heaven.
I have always loved the Algonquin Hotel, and it was one of the first places I went to on my first trip to NYC. There are only three literary hotels in the United States: The Monteleone in New Orleans, The Plaza in NYC and the Algonquin. Built in 1902, the hotel has housed many artists, but is especially well-known for being the home of the Algonquin Round Table—a group of witty writers who met weekly, like Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley. The hotel has had a cat in residence since the 1920’s. Back in 1933, John Barrymore was playing in Hamlet across the street from the Algonquin and named the hotel cat after his own character. Since then, all male rescues that live in the hotel are named Hamlet and all female cats are named Matilda. Their job is to “reign over the front desk,” and people come from all over to see the famous “Algonquin cat.”
I packed my kids into the car for the 4-hour road trip from Boston to NYC, and one hour into our trip, our car broke down on the freeway. However, there are some things I can not be swayed from, and attending a cat fashion show is one of them. I had the car towed, rented another one, and we made our way to the city.
We checked into our hotel, and got dressed for the show with Shakespearean dialogue running through my head: “To wear cat ears or to not wear cat ears, that is the question.” Traffic was at a standstill when we left our hotel, so we ended up walking the 20 blocks to the Algonquin in the sweltering heat of New York City in August.
We arrived looking like Salvador Dali’s melted clocks.
The hotel was packed with spectators, including a van outside that was full of cats up for adoption. I got the kids cold drinks, greeted my author friend, and prepared myself for the runway show.
Imagine my surprise when I found that the “runway” was the hotel lobby, and the “supermodels” were actual cats, as in furry creatures with pointed ears, who were dressed as literary characters and notable actors who had stayed at the hotel in the past.
If we had previously looked like Dali’s melted clocks, it now felt like we’d been dropped into one of his surreal paintings.
I watched cats dressed as Dorothy Parker and Harpo Marx, parade by me in the arms of their owners, with people jostling to get photos of them. Try to picture how thrilled the cats were to be dressed up and paraded around.
If daggers could be shot from eyes, the entire audience would now be dead. The cats glared at the delighted spectators as they were carried by. Guess who else glared at me? My kids. They were perplexed by the entire experience, as they expected to attend an actual fashion show with human models, because that’s what I told them. They love cats, but are not as tickled by seeing them in hats and wigs as I am.
I attempted to entertain the kids with historical stories of the hotel: It was famous because of Dorothy Parker and the “Vicious Circle.” (They have yet to understand the genius of Dorothy.)
Legend states that Harold Ross won a poker game with Round Table members and launched The New Yorker with his winnings. (Who is Harold Ross and what is the New Yorker?)
It was also one of the only hotels that allowed unaccompanied women through their doors, and Gertrude Stein, Simone De Beauvoir, and Eudora Welty all stayed here. (The feminist stance piqued their interest for a moment, but they have yet to learn about Gertrude, Simone, and Eudora.)
Lerner and Lowe wrote their cherished Broadway hit, “I Could Have Danced All Night,” right here in the hotel and almost got their piano taken away for their middle-of-the-night piano playing! (We all loved watching “My Fair Lady,” so this one was semi-interesting to them, but more for the guys getting “into trouble.”
Cabaret star Sylvia Syms died literally onstage at the hotel while doing a tribute to her friend Sinatra. (Unexpected deaths are always a favorite with kids.)
Faulkner wrote his acceptance speech for his 1950 Nobel prize inside hotel and Maya Angelou scribbled the beginning of her screenplay “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” on Algonquin stationary. (Whatever, Mom, we are 11!)
I ended my stories by telling them that John F. Kennedy was quoted as saying, “When I was growing up, I had three wishes – I wanted to be a Lindbergh-type hero, learn Chinese, and become a member of the Algonquin Round Table.”
They still weren’t impressed.
Not yet interested in stories of the glittering literati, the kids stared at me, waiting for my stories to get interesting, but then it happened. What finally piqued their interest was when Matilda made an appearance in all her large, fluffy, glory. She slowly stretched and swaggered across the front desk. The kids tiptoed over to her so they wouldn’t scare her, and gently held out their hands to allow Matilda to come to them. I have a theory that cats can teach us many lessons, one of the best being to approach others with a soft voice and a gentle hand, letting them come to you.
Another is to be sure to drape yourself across various pieces of furniture so the world recognizes you are a living work of art.
And most importantly, “reality” can be shaped by the way you walk through the world, so cultivate curiosity, find the wonder, and delight in feathers and all things fluffy.
Dali understood this, cats live by this, and I have learned from both.
I handed my kids some cat ears to put on, but they handed them back to me. I donned mine and we headed out into the night to see what adventures we could find.
