Texas Guinan "PADLOCKS OF 1927" Billy Rose / Lillian Roth 1927 Souvenir Program

Description: This is a rare souvenir program from the Original Broadway production of the PAUL GERARD SMITH, BALLARD MacDONALD and BILLY ROSE satirical revue "PADLOCKS OF 1927" at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre in New York City. (The production opened July 5th, 1927 and ran for 95 performances.) ..... The musical starred the notorious New York nightclub hostess TEXAS GUINAN and featured JAY C. FLIPPEN, A. S. BYRON, BILLY MACKIN, the PHELPS TWINS, HELEN SHIPMAN, MILTON DOUGLAS, WALTER BURKE, DRINA BEACH, BILLY M. GREENE, LAURA WILKINSON, GEORGE THOM, HARRY JANS and HAROLD WHALEN, VIRGINIA SMITH, CLARK BUTLER, ROSEMARY RYDER, HOTSY TOTSY, FLORENCE HEALY, JACKIE CORTEZ, MARY TITUS, VIVIAN CARMODY, FRANK FARNUM, ALLAN CAMPBELL, JANE THOMAS, IRVING SEWITT and the PADLOCK DANCING GIRLS ..... Biographical Background: MARY LOUISE CECILIA "Texas" GUINAN (1884 – 1933) was an American saloon hostess, actress, and entrepreneur. She was one of five siblings born in Waco, Texas where she attended parochial school at the Loretta Convent. When she was 16 years old, her family moved to Denver, Colorado where she was in amateur stage productions and played the organ in church. Guinan married John Moynahan, a cartoonist for the Rocky Mountain News, on December 2nd, 1904. Moynahan's career took them to Chicago, where Guinan studied music before divorcing him and starting her career as a professional singer. She toured regional vaudeville with some success, but became known less for her singing than for her "wild west"-related entertaining. In 1906 she moved to New York City, where she found work as a chorus girl before making a career in New York vaudeville and theatre productions. In 1917, "Texas" Guinan made her film debut in a silent film called The Wildcat. She became the United States' first movie cowgirl, nicknamed "The Queen of the West". Upon the introduction of Prohibition, she opened a speakeasy called the El Fay, the first in a succession of night clubs created by Guinan and padlocked by the police. The El Fay was followed by the 300 Club, the Texas Guinan Club, the Century Club, the Salon Royale, the Club Intime and the Club Argonaut. Each club had a shelf life of two to six months. Though in different locales, each club shared the same elements: pretty, youthful, scantily clad chorus girls; a hot band; wisecracking waiters; exorbitant cover charges; expensive synthetic alcohol and a large crowd of "suckers" waiting to be teased and entertained by Guinan herself. Arrested several times for serving alcohol and providing entertainment, she always claimed that the patrons had brought the liquor in with them, and the clubs were so small that the girls had to dance so close to the customers. Guinan maintained that she had never sold an alcoholic drink in her life. At these hangouts of the wealthy elite, George Gershwin often played impromptu piano for wealthy guests such as Reggie Vanderbilt, Harry Payne Whitney, or Walter Chrysler, and celebrities such as Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Pola Negri, Al Jolson, Jeanne Eagels, Gloria Swanson, John Gilbert, Clara Bow, Hope Hampton, Irving Berlin, John Barrymore, Dolores Costello, Leatrice Joy and Rudolph Valentino, as well as many famous socialites. Mayor Jimmy Walker, Ring Lardner and Damon Runyon were seen frequently. Ruby Keeler and George Raft were discovered as dancers at one of her clubs by Broadway and Hollywood talent scouts. Walter Winchell credited Guinan with opening the insider Broadway scene and cafe society to him when he was starting as a gossip columnist. Guinan has been credited with coining a number of phrases including "Butter and Egg Men" (referring to her well-off patrons) which George S. Kaufman used as the title of one of his Broadway plays. Guinan capitalized on her notoriety, earning $700,000 in ten months in 1926, while her clubs were routinely being raided by the police. When her club was padlocked for six months in 1927, she capitalized on the unfortunate event by turning the scandal into a stage production called "Padlocks of 1927", which played at New York's Shubert Theatre. During the Great Depression (in which Guinan reportedly lost a sizable amount of her personal wealth) she took her show on the road. She made a sally towards Europe, but her reputation preceded her, and she was denied entry at every European sea port. She turned this to her advantage by launching a satirical revue, Too Hot For Paris. While on the road with Too Hot For Paris, she contracted amoebic dysentery in Vancouver, British Columbia and died there on November 5th, 1933 at the age of 49, exactly one month before Prohibition was repealed. 7,500 people attended her funeral. Bandleader Paul Whiteman was a pallbearer as well as two of her former lawyers and writer Heywood Broun. (Reprinted in part from Wikipedia.) ..... CREDITS: Sketches by PAUL GERARD SMITH and BALLARD MacDONALD; Lyrics by BILLY ROSE; Music by LEE DAVID, JESSE GREER and HENRY F. TOBIAS; Sets designed by IRVING EASTMAN; Costumes designed by ROBERT STEVENSON; Choreographed by JOHN BOYLE; Directed by W. J. WILSON; Produced by DUO ART PRODUCTIONS, INC. and ANTON F. SCIBILIA..... DETAILS: The oversized twenty page program measures 9" X 12" inches and includes full production credits, cast list, scenes, list of musical numbers, promotional text, individual photos of each of the leading actors, a reprinted title page from the sheet music for "If I Had a Lover" and several photos of Texas Guinan ..... CONDITION: (Please Note!) There is a small tear in the top edge, the date (July 31, 1927) written at the top of the cover, the start of seam splits at both the top and bottom seam, light creasing and moderate edge wear. Despite these flaws, this rare program will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.

Price: 750 USD

Location: Cannon Beach, Oregon

End Time: 2024-02-29T12:16:50.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.95 USD