Sumith Prasad
Based on Laura Lippman’s novel of the same name, Apple TV+’s murder mystery series ‘Lady in the Lake’ revolves around the mysterious death of Cleo Johnson, a Black woman who works as a bartender at The Pharaoh, a prominent nightclub in Baltimore. The first two episodes of the show chronicle Cleo’s work in the establishment, which also includes looking after her friend, Dora, a singer who entertains the guests. Through the scenes set in the nightclub, the narrative opens an intimate window into the bartender’s life. Decades after the series’ setting, the viewers will not be able to visit either The Pharaoh or its inspiration!
The Reality Behind The Pharaoh
The Pharoah is a fictional nightclub. In Laura Lippman’s mystery novel ‘Lady in the Lake,’ Cleo’s workplace is a nightclub called the Flamingo. Considering that Cleo is a fictionalized version of Shirley Parker, whose death inspired the author to write the source novel, The Pharoah and the Flamingo can be seen as the counterparts of the Sphinx Club, where the real-life woman worked. Parker was a bookkeeper, bartender, and waitress at the establishment, which was founded by Charles Phillip Tilghman as a jazz club. After Parker’s death in 1969, the Sphinx Club operated until 1992, four more years after the death of Tilghman in 1988.
Located on Pennsylvania Avenue, Baltimore, the Sphinx Club was immensely popular during its existence. “It [the nightclub] was always so pretty, so lit up. It really was a private club. And my impression was that it was for elite blacks. That was where they hung out. And you could always sing when you went in because they kept a house band, Chico Johnson and his organ trio and Earlene Reed, singing in there,” jazz singer Ruby Glover told The Baltimore Sun way back in 2002. The club was a hub of jazz musicians who arrived in Baltimore to perform on any stage. They all showed up at the Sphinx Club, which always hosted singers for a song.
After the Sphinx Club was shut down, it remained vacated for around two decades. Its fate turned around when the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation decided to turn the building and an adjoining property into a museum. While filming ‘Lady in the Lake,’ the production department transformed a part of Park Avenue in Downtown Baltimore into vintage storefronts. The scene in which Slappy Johnson walks to The Pharaoh in the first episode was shot on this avenue. To shoot the interior scenes, the crew must have made use of an empty space to set up the nightclub, especially considering the outdated, vintage appeal of the establishment.
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