Grant’s Tomb chronicles one theater, Manhattan’s Upper West Side, in the broader civil war between blue and red armies.

Cast
Alaska, b. 1942, 200 Central Park West, moose totem
Victorious Garcia Doe, b. unknown, transient
William Kemp, b. 1850, 116th Street and Broadway, perennial Columbia student
Joseph Papp, b. 1921, 415 Central Park West, theater impresario
Konstantin von Rumpelskirchen, b. 1960, 180 West End Avenue, playwright

Cameos
Ulysses S. Grant, b. 1822, W. 122nd Street and Riverside Drive, general
Billie Holiday, b. 1915, 9 W. 99th Street, singer
George Kolombatovich, b. 1946, 450 Riverside Drive, fencer
Thomas P. Leonard, b. 1928, 110 Morningside Drive, priest
John Mace, b. 1920, 337 Riverside Drive, voice coach
Donald MacKayle, b 1930, 792 Columbus Avenue, choreographer
Muriel Manings, b. 1923, 309 West 104th Street, dancer
Audrey Munson, b. 1891, 288 West 70th Street, model
Dorothy Parker, b. 1893, 252 W. 76th Street, theater critic
Emery Roth, b. 1871, 210 W. 101st Street, architect
Norman Saunders, b. 1907, 312 W. 104th Street, commercial artist
Isaiah Sheffer, b. 1935, 194 Riverside Drive, cultural entrepreneur

8 am
Red Hotel, d. 8:30 am, 1 Central Park West
Portal: Central Park Casino, b. 1929, d. 1936, near E. 72nd Street
9 am
Portal: Pythian Temple (Decca Records), b. 1927, 135 W. 70th Street
10 am
Blue Hotel, d. 9:30 am, 2109 Broadway
Portal: Famous Dairy, b. 1958, 222 W. 72nd Street

11 am
American Museum of Natural History, b. 1877, d. 10:30 am, 200 Central Park West
Portal: The Beresford, b. 1929, 81st Street and Central Park West
Noon
Belvedere Castle, d. 11:01 am, Mid-Park at 79th Street
1 pm
Portal: Equity Library Theater, b. 1961, 310 Riverside Drive
3 pm
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, b. 1892, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue
5 pm
Grant’s Tomb, b. 1897, Riverside Drive and W. 122nd Street
The Hendrik Hudson, b. 1907, 380 Riverside Drive

8 am
ALASKA. Non-combatants, go home for your own safety.
KEMP. The opening salvo of red artillery and musketry, fired from loopholes in 52-story-high «January 6» banners, kills humans below indiscriminately. Uniformed red horsemen, flashing bayonets, trot into position around the base of their glass tower.Survivors split into two camps, red and blue. A cast of thousands clobbers itself. The fuss wakes the dead. Rich and poor, famous and anonymous alike, dislodged from their homes, dodge bullets and shells. Everyone is a target.
PAPP. The audience is restless.
DOE (blows whistle). You want to go there already? Because if you want to go there? (blows whistle)

Within Portal:

HOLIDAY. Negroes are allowed here now.

ROTH. Jews too.

PARKER. We are safe close to a General.

Red Hotel explodes.
ALASKA. The reds have left the building, ass-backward.
KEMP. A flanking maneuver by red volunteers gets them double-quick into the Park. Hoovervilles by the Casino are trampled.

Within Portal:

HOLIDAY. Are the Yanks coming?

GRANT. Take my horse.

HOLIDAY. Without cover, we are sacrificial lambs.

GRANT. According to my map, there are portals here, here and here.

ROTH. Greeks, Romans and New Yorkers placed boundary markers at crossroads to ward off harm.

MACKAYLE. Hermes guided the dead to Hades. Do we want to go there?

HOLIDAY. Throw the dice.

ROTH. Hades or bust.

KEMP. Surging north, the reds pour across Bethesda Terrace, toppling the Angel of the Waters. Stretching from Bow Bridge, a bemedalled superior officer decorates troops in rental boats taken by force. The San Remo, Eldorado and Majestic tremble.
RUMPELSKIRCHEN. They were impassive in a previous draft.

Image Credit
Famous Dairy: Museum of the City of New York
 
Dedicatee
Ruth Hennessy, 180 West End Avenue and 44 Morningside Drive, singer, actress, speech therapist, aunt
 
rev. May 23, 2026