Act 1 Summary

Hot L Baltimore is Lanford Wilson's three-act play about the lives of a motley group of characters, whose lives are about to be altered by the upcoming destruction of a dilapidated hotel in which they reside.

The Hotel Baltimore was built during the heyday of the railroads in the late nineteenth century, and its interior reflects the Art Deco interior design of that period. The hotel's gleaming persona has diminished, along with the waning of the railroad as a means of mass transportation.

Clearly, the hotel has seen better days. The lobby and lounge area is clean, but run down. The lighted sign outside has lost its "e," so that it reads, "Hot L Baltimore."

As the play opens, it is 7 o'clock in the morning on Memorial Day. A young man, named Paul Granger III, sleeps in one of the lounge chairs. Another...