Unknown Flophouse Mistaken for The Chelsea

A play called “The Love Doll” has just finished its run at the Philipstown Depot Theatre in Cold Spring, NY, wherever that is.  The play is set in the “infamous” Chelsea Hotel -- – though I can’t imagine what they mean by that – situated on 23^rd Street between 8^th and 9^th Avenues.  Apparently, in this play, a man who lives with a life size blowup doll attempts to commit suicide by boobytrapping his room.  Now, for the life of me, I can’t image how anyone could suggest that such loathsome perverts would ever be allowed to set foot in our fine hotel. This is not the Chelsea we know and love and Stanley Bard would never allow such behavior.  Most likely, however, since they got the address wrong, they probably got everything else wrong as well.  I can only conclude that they are unfamiliar with the city, and that these events took place in an entirely different building.  They speak of the Chelsea as the scene of “madness, mayhem, and finally joy,” but those of lucky enough to live here of course know only the joy.  (Ed Hamilton)