Texas Guinan: 1819 Broadway

Oh those days when TEXAS GUINAN offered world-class whoopee onscreen and leased a film office at 1819 Broadway (at the N.W. corner of 59th Street, overlooking Central Park).  She rented Suite # 712.  
• • The silent screen star had made dozens of Westerns for the Frohman Amusement Company, Merit Films (130 West 46th St.), and others. It was time to show the world she could do it better. Here is her announcement in August 1921.
• • Despite an ambitious volley of ads in the trade publications (such as this one below), TGP would only release two titles. These two were "Texas of the Mounted" (in which she played a male and female role) and "The Code of the West" in 1921. These would be her last two silent films.
• • Texas Guinan in Two-Reelers  Produced by Her Own Company • •
• • The Texas Guinan Productions recently organized, announces it will produce a series of twelve two-reel Western dramas of an original nature, starring Miss Guinan, to be released on the state-right market, commencing September 15.  The productions will be adaptations from authors of prominence who have specialized in Western characterization and it is said will portray the true Western character, supported by themes embracing heart interest and pathos. It is understood that a prominent state-right producer will supervise the production, exploitation and distribution. In addition, Miss Guinan will also produce two five-reel or six-reel Western Specials and has already secured an option on a popular Western novel.
• • The Eastern executive offices are located in New York. Production work will be on the West Coast. The first six stories have already been acquired. Two of them call for locations in Montana and Arizona and the producing company will photograph these attractions at the exact locale named by the authors of the stories.

• • An extensive advertising campaign will be inaugurated.
• • Marion Kohn, of the Federated  Film Exchange of California, has already closed California, Arizona,  and Nevada, and three other exchanges have wired in offers on their territories.
• • It is also planned that for a period of eight weeks after the completion of the first series of twelve releases to have Miss Guinan make a personal tour throughout the United States, appearing in an act having been written for her in which she will employ her favorite broncho "Honey Dew," presented to her by the citizens of Waco, Texas, her home town.

• • Miss Guinan is not a  novice in the making of two-reel Western productions, having starred in two other series.
• • Source:   The Moving Picture World (page 610); published on 6 August 1921 
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Texas Guinan is in some scenes, too. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Website for all things Mae West — http://MaeWest.blogspot.com 

• • Exciting Texas Guinan news is on the horizon. More anon.
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan • • Texas Guinan Productions, 1921 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan: Sister Aimee

In 1932, when a Broadway producer read Nancy Barr Mativy's biography, "Sister Aimee," he heard cash register bells ringing — — and realized that no one was better qualified to play the title role than TEXAS GUINAN. 
• • The night club queen, known for her famous comebacks, once said to a huckster: "Listen, sucker, you take them by the sun. I take them by the moon. Now don't let's interfere with each other's business." Though she didn't say this to Aimee, it would have been apt, yes?  
• • The New Yorker writer Joseph Mitchell, speaking to Guinan about this stage play, asked if she was worried Aimee might sue producer Charles Hopkins. "Well, it's no skin off my ass," was her candid reply.
• • "Texas Guinan to Act" • •
• • Charles Hopkins has a plan which should attract a lot of attention. He is arranging to produce a stage version of Nancy Barr Mativy's book, "Sister Aimee," and our old night club friend, Texas Guinan, will be seen as Aimee, the adult.
• • Texas should be ideal, for such a role, although it may cause many a smile to see the radiant Tex playing the part of an evangelist. Naturally, as I have forgotten to state, the play will deal with the life of Aimee Semple McPherson. Helen Rowland will be Aimee, the child; Edith Barrett Aimee, the girl; and then along will come Texas Guinan as the Sister Aimee of the present.
• • Source:  Syndicated show biz column rpt in The Indianapolis Star (Indiana); published on Sunday, 6 March 1932.

• • Aimee Semple McPherson [9 October 1890 –– 27 September 1944], also known as "Sister Aimee" or simply "Sister," was an evangelist and media sensation in the 1920s and 1930s; she was also the founder of the Foursquare Church.
• • Aimee McPherson had founded the Foursquare Gospel church. She supervised the construction of a large, domed church building in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles, and it was completed in June 1923. Named Angelus Temple, it had a seating capacity of over 5,000.
• • When Aimee Semple McPherson, the famous West Coast evangelist (with an expensive marcel-waved hair-do) visited New York in 1927, she insisted on visiting Texas Guinan's speakeasy on West Fifty-fourth Street.
• • Naturally, Texas welcomed McPherson and the two formed somewhat of a mutual admiration society. It was a promotional dream — — two gals of Irish descent in different types of show business. Aimee thanked Texas and invited her to her Glad Tidings Tabernacle the next day. Texas and her chorus girls showed up (before going to work), to the astonishment of everyone.
• • At the time, women in the pulpit ministry were rare — — those who wore makeup and jewelry in the pulpit, nonexistent. McPherson's uniqueness in this respect, her flamboyance and her unashamed use of low-key sex appeal to attract converts, endeared her to her crowd of followers in Los Angeles. She would invariably appear before parishioners in a white gown, carrying a bouquet of flowers.
• • On 27 September 1944 she was found dead of an overdose of prescription barbiturates.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Texas Guinan is in some scenes, too. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Website for all things Mae West — http://MaeWest.blogspot.com 

• • Exciting Texas Guinan news is on the horizon. More anon.
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan • • news clip in 1933 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan: Passing Show of 1912

The live performance of TEXAS GUINAN and the rest of the cast of Broadway's musical "The Passing Show of 1912" was critiqued by various entertainment critics.  California journalist Josephine Hart Phelps wrote this review.
• • "The Passing Show of 1912" • •
• • Here's a short selection of what Josephine Hart Phelps wrote:   There is such an ample and diversified programme in "The Passing Show" and it is so rich with specialists that to select instances of particularly entertaining bits is like trying to pick out the biggest raisins in a plum pudding.
• • Trixie Friganza, of course, stands out preeminently among the women. Next to her comes Adelaide, an exceptionally graceful and spirited pantomimic dancer, who, with her male partner, Hughes, gives a brief play similar in conception and treatment to the pantomimic pieces presented by the Russian dancers, and, like them, is aesthetically beautiful and sensuously poetical. The other girls in the company do not count individually, being bunchable on the ground of looks, and legs, and raucous voices.
• • Perhaps Texas Guinan ought to be excepted • •
• • Perhaps Texas Guinan ought to be excepted, as she captains the fair choral company whenever it parades the runway, and gives a closer view of its charms to devotees in the audience. But Texas Guinan, tall and showy though she is, and standing out like a bright thread in the general glittering weave, has not risen to the dignity of praiseworthy individual achievement.  Her voice is too distressing to cue pleasure either in songs or dialogue, a fault that might be remedied by industry and practice. And when we fall back on her looks and her shape, she is one with the rest.   . . . 

• • Source:  Review written by Josephine Hart Phelps for The Argonaut; published on 12 July 1913.  
• • The Toronto Sunday World printed several images from "The Passing Show" on 15 December 1912. Here's one of cast member Texas Guinan.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Texas Guinan is in some scenes, too. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Website for all things Mae West — http://MaeWest.blogspot.com 

• • Exciting Texas Guinan news is on the horizon. More anon.
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan • • in 1912 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan: Proctor's 5th Avenue

TEXAS GUINAN offered world-class whoopee during her days trouping in variety at Proctor's Fifth Avenue Theatre (27-31 West 28th Street), off Broadway.
• • Variety announced her rather odd specialty number in their section "New Acts of the Week" — —
singing from the basket of an airship. 
• • TEXAS GUINAN  Songs: 16 Mins.; Two  (13);  One (3). Fifth Avenue • •
• • Some one got orders to build an act around a good soprano voice and whoever undertook the task did fairly well. Half the opening song is sung off stage. When the singer appears, it Is in the basket of an airship, suspended about seven feet above the stage.  The balloon swings to and fro, giving rather a good effect. The selection might be of a lighter texture.
• • The second number is sung from an opening in the drop in "one," representing a garden, and furnishes something a little different.
• • a pickaninny appears with a good voice • •
• • As a finish a "moon" number is rendered with the singer in "one."  From the moon on the drop, the face of a pickaninny appears with a good voice back of it, and helps out with the final chorus. It isn't a new idea by any means, but it is so much better than the "plant-in-the- box" that is must be recommended.
• • Miss Guinan has looks and dresses well. Her well-trained soprano does the rest.  The act fared rather well on Wednesday night.   — —  Dash

• • Note:  The Dash reviewer for "Variety" in 1909 is now Charlie Freeman of the R-K-O booking office.
• • Source: "New Acts of the Week" (page 12) Variety; published on 29 May 1909
• • Situated right off Broadway, Proctor's Fifth Avenue on West 28th Street was demolished in 1939.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Texas Guinan is in some scenes, too. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Website for all things Mae West — http://MaeWest.blogspot.com 

• • Exciting Texas Guinan news is on the horizon. More anon.
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan • • interior, Proctor's Fifth Avenue Theatre (razed) • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan: Race Artists

Variety found it unusual when white people such as TEXAS GUINAN or Tommy Guinan worked with so-called "race artists" such as Juan Harrison, et al, making whoopee at Chez Florence, 117 West 48th Street.
• • "Guinan's New People" • •
• • Variety wrote: Some new people are in the colored entertaining list of Tommy Guinan's Club Florence on West 48th Street. Florence [Mills], the former name bearer of the club, has returned to France, it is said, where she will reappear in a nite (sic) club.
• • Variety explained: Remaining are Kid Sneeze with Alberta, the successor as the lone singer, without  billing.  Palmer Jones is also there, along with the Prime Quartet, Nelson Kincaid, Brome Desverney, Hugh Walke, and Juan Harrison.

• • Source:  Variety;  published on Wednesday, 25 April 1928
• • Note: Florence Mills and Juan Harrison (a West Indian singer) were in the Broadway cast of "Dixie to Broadway," an all-black hit musical at the Broadhurst Theatre.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Texas Guinan is in some scenes, too. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Website for all things Mae West — http://MaeWest.blogspot.com 

• • Exciting Texas Guinan news is on the horizon. More anon.
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan • • "Dixie to Broadway," 1924 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan Fans and Mae-Mavens

Many publications announced the Texas Guinan and Mae West walking tour and also saluted the August 17th birthday of Mae.
• • Playbill, marking "this date in theatre history," has managed to get her birth year wrong (again) and also tripped up on the stage plays in which she appeared. No, Mr. Playbill, Mae West wrote The Drag but did not star in this 1927 production since she was still appearing in her play Sex at the time.
• • Other news outlets recognized the writer and comedienne as "an actress from the 1930s," erasing her long career in vaudeville and on Broadway, which preceded her 1932 Paramount debut when Mae was an "overnight sensation" at 39 years old.
• • A more faithful close-up was offered on Sunday in the Brooklyn blonde's hometown when a group of Mae-mavens gathered along Shubert Alley to learn how she forged her dreams of deliverance in Times Square along with her diamond-draped colleague Texas Guinan.
• • Attendees posed for pictures in the same spot where the graceful, well-groomed Bucephala, Texas Guinan's horse, was mounted 82 years ago — — that magnificent creature who carried the queen of the night scene up the center aisle of the Shubert Theatre and deposited her onstage as the red velvet curtain was raised for Padlocks of 1927.
• • Ah, Longacre Square, the legitimate theatres, those expensive playhouses built to look like a palazzo, a Tuscan hillside hideaway, a marble mansion, a Venetian villa, a Georgian fantasy — — where little Mae held her mother's hand as they waited for an usher to seat them, lavishly spending each moment of a matinee, drinking in the illusion of the drama in which the mountain of self might have no top, and each encounter might be a reckoning with fleet-footed fate.
• • On Sunday August 16th, the patient assemblage viewed vintage news clippings that decorated the disappointments of another century — — front page humiliations, the raids, the padlocks, the prison sentences, and the losses of a $200,000 advance for Pleasure Man after the purity police shuttered the show on 1 October 1928. They genuflected and strolled down the aisle of St. Malachy's, the church where Texas Guinan and Mae West examined Rudolph Valentino's coffin in August 1926 and mutually agreed the hardy 31-year-old must have been poisoned.
• • On West 54th Street, thanks to a gracious doorman, the tour takers paused in the same vestibule where Mae West entered and exited in 1927 as she was writing Diamond Lil and getting better acquainted with Owney Madden and others who bulleted the headlines.• • Perhaps West 54th recalls the roll calls of absent names, first kisses, the confetti victory parades in an era when Mae West's latest show was billed as "hotter than the Armistice."• • • • Prizes • • • •• • And the group has something else to remember as well — — a handful of raffle prizes. A number of individuals each won a colorful Mae West magnet, a few screened with film posters, stage plays, or her one-liners. Two lovely ladies — — Denise from Manhattan and Karen from Pittsburgh — — each won a "Gaudy Girls" CD, courtesy of Maggie Worsdale and Anne Marie Finnie, who perform live as Sophie Tucker and Mae West. Everyone received a "Gaudy Girls" flyer announcing their next racy performance at Monticello Raceway and Casino on 21 October 2009. And two lucky lasses won a treasured set of Texas Guinan's silent films — — fashion model Gwen Bucci from Manhattan and art curator Frédérique Joseph-Lowery from Fairlawn, New Jersey — — courtesy of an avid Texas Guinan archivist.
• • Exciting news is on the horizon. More anon.
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan fans • • tour group on 16 August 2009 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan: August 1928

When she was 44 years old, TEXAS GUINAN was still very much in demand.
• • On 15 August 1928 Texas signed a contract in the offices of Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., then located at 321 West 44th Street, New York, NY. True to type, the nightlife hostess was cast in the starring role in "The Queen of the Night Clubs," a Vitaphone talking picture.• • The New York Times reported that one of H.M. Warner's reps confirmed "Miss Guinan would leave New York the last week in September to start work on the film, which will be directed by Bryan Foy" [N.Y. Times, 16 August 1928].• • Planned as a black and white musical and a suspense drama, Texas would be portraying the successful speakeasy proprietoress Texas Malone. For some reason, not too many newspapers reviewed this talkie after its release.
• • Walk in the footsteps of Texas Guinan and Mae West this weekend — — starting on West 44th Street. See below.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Join us for a lively afternoon focused on Mae West & Texas Guinan!
• • On 16 August 2009, come up and enjoy an a-MAE-zing experience — — a walking tour of historical sights in the Times Square area. This year the Annual Mae West Birthday Tour also commemorates speakeasy hostess Texas Guinan, the generous friend who backed all of Mae’s Broadway shows during the 1920s.• • During April 1929, the Feds padlocked the CIub Intime at the Hotel Harding, where Texas Guinan was the principal attraction. On August 16th, attendees will visit this speakeasy, which is doing brisk business these days.
• • Walking Tour: "Gaudy Girls on The Gay White Way: Mae West & Texas Guinan in the Theatre District"
• • When: 4:00 PM on Sunday — — 16 August 2008 — — rain or shine
• • Meet: Shubert Alley, 44th Street, West of Broadway, New York, NY 10036
• • Price: $10 [this walking tour lasts about 90 minutes]
• • Subway: N or R [BMT] train to West 42nd Street; 1 [IRT] train to Times Square
• • Attire: why not wear a Mae West-inspired hat?
• • Info: T. 212-614-9683 — — or post your RSVP or tour question here
• • Online: MaeWest.blogspot.com — — TexasGuinan.blogspot.com
• • Who: Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo makes the tour educational and entertaining.
• • LindaAnn Loschiavo's history play "Courting Mae West" was onstage in July 2008 at the Fresh Fruit Festival. She is working on a biographical travel guide "Mae West's New York, 1899—1959" and will show some of her unusual theatre memorabilia and vintage photos during the tour and reveal secret addresses tied to Mae West that have not been disclosed before. These rare pictures show the area as it looked during the 1920s when Mae West and Texas Guinan had their name on several marquees.
• • Surprises: Prizes and other nice things are part of the fun.
• • Members of the press may attend on August 16th as our guest. RSVP required.
• • • • Mae West Walking Tours You Might Have Enjoyed • • • •
• • 2006 TOUR: Our regular Mae-mavens will recall seeing the historical exhibition "Onstage Outlaws: Mae West and Texas Guinan in a Lawless Era,” which opened to the public after a Gala Roaring-20s theme Press Preview on Mae’s birthday 17 August 2006. And on Sunday afternoon 20 August 2006, more than two dozen beautiful people gathered on West Ninth Street to enjoy a special treat — — "Washington Square Women: Mae West and Texas Guinan in Greenwich Village" — — followed by a Jazz Era brunch served with champagne and the Cos-MAE-Politan cocktail, garnished with two strategically placed plump raspberries.
• • 2007 TOUR: On Friday evening 17 August 2007, a fascinating guided adventure — — "The Mae West Side Story" — — escorted numerous intrepid walk-abouts to three of Mae's former residences along with other sites linked to the Brooklyn bombshell.
• • 2008 TOUR: On Sunday afternoon 17 August 2008, the captivating Diamond Divas led a group of over two dozen Mae-mavens to several locations in Greenwich Village linked to her stage career, gay themes, courtroom woes, and the work of individuals she admired such as Lillian Russell, Tony Pastor, Texas Guinan, Eugene O'Neill, and Rae Bourbon. The 2008 walking tour — — "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side" — — celebrated the 115th birthday of the Empress of Sex with an extravagant musical program, performed live by Met Opera soprano Marlena de la Mora and Sharon Weinman, which included these numbers: "Everything's Coming up Mae West"; "Mon Coeur S' Ouvre a Ta Voix"; "The Prisoner's Song"; "Frankie and Johnny"; "Come Down Ma Evening Star"; "I Could Have Danced All Night"; "Gentleman Jimmy"; and a grand finale taken from the score of "Diamond Lil."
• • Tour photos can be seen on the Mae West Blog.
• • For more details, do read this blog and/ or post your email. [Your info will not be posted nor available so that miscreants and rascals can access it.]_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan • • on a 1928 menu in her night club • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan: Speaking to Souls

When she was 42 years old, Texas Guinan met Rudolph Valentino [6 May 1895 — 23 August 1926] at her brother's nightspot.
• • It was Sunday 25 July 1926 when Texas Guinan met Valentino at Tommy Guinan's speakeasy. Larger than the average ginmill, The Playground was on West 52nd Street (east of Broadway). Its generous square footage made it ideal for events and James R. Quirk, editor-publisher of Photoplay, hosted a Reception in honor of Valentino's new silent movie "Son of the Sheik" there. When Photoplay first began publication, Quirk's staff had included handsome Julian Johnson, Texas's lover.
• • Mae West and Texas Guinan were there to greet the Apulian heartthrob. No doubt Texas fancied Jadaan, a superb Arabian stallion Valentino had ridden in this melodrama. An expert equestrienne herself, the following year Texas would ride an Arabian stallion into the Shubert Theatre at the start of "Padlocks of 1927."
• • Maybe Mae West was charmed more by the Italian stallion himself — — and piqued by the abrupt end to his life that occurred one month later when the actor was only 31. Something about Rudy impressed Mae, encouraging her to think that he could link her to the unquiet dead up and down Times Square.
• • According to Whitney Bolton, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, a week after the Italian-born actor Rudolph Valentino died [1895-1926], Mae West and her friend Texas Guinan arranged for a séance in a Manhattan loft. Suspicious that the 31-year-old heartthrob was secretly poisoned by a rival, Mae summoned an Italian Medium to officiate. At the table sitting opposite Mae were Texas, her brother Tommy Guinan, and the gangster Owney Madden who owned The Cotton Club, a man remembered more for violence than his spiritual side.
• • And the rendezvous with Rudolph in 1926 must have been memorable because two years later Mae was holding séances in the smoking room of the Royale Theatre to communicate again with him. Visiting New York to see “Diamond Lil” on Broadway, the actor Jean Hersholt was invited backstage and yanked into a darkened room where a Medium was channeling Caruso and Valentino. Hersholt recalled that Rudy called upon Mae and said: “Mae, you have a lot of enemies and don’t trust any of them.”
• • During the 1920s, Texas Guinan continued to host séances in her nightspots — — especially in Club Abbey on West 54th Street. It was easy for Mae West to attend these sessions, too, since she lived right upstairs.
• • Walk in the footsteps of Texas Guinan and Mae West next month. See below.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Join us for a lively afternoon focused on Mae West & Texas Guinan!
• • On 16 August 2009, come up and enjoy an a-MAE-zing experience — — a walking tour of historical sights in the Times Square area. This year the Annual Mae West Birthday Tour also commemorates speakeasy hostess Texas Guinan, the generous friend who backed all of Mae’s Broadway shows during the 1920s.
• • During April 1929, the Feds padlocked the CIub Intime at the Hotel Harding, where Texas Guinan was the principal attraction. On August 16th, attendees will visit this speakeasy, which is doing brisk business these days.
• • Walking Tour: "Gaudy Girls on The Gay White Way: Mae West & Texas Guinan in the Theatre District"
• • When: 4:00 PM on Sunday — — 16 August 2008 — — rain or shine
• • Meet: Shubert Alley, 44th Street, West of Broadway, New York, NY 10036
• • Price: $10 [this walking tour lasts about 90 minutes]
• • Subway: N or R [BMT] train to West 42nd Street; 1 [IRT] train to Times Square
• • Attire: why not wear a Mae West-inspired hat?
• • Info: T. 212-614-9683 — — or post your RSVP or tour question here
• • Online: MaeWest.blogspot.com — — TexasGuinan.blogspot.com
• • Who: Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo makes the tour educational and entertaining.
• • LindaAnn Loschiavo's history play "Courting Mae West" was onstage in July 2008 at the Fresh Fruit Festival. She is working on a biographical travel guide "Mae West's New York, 1899—1959" and will show some of her unusual theatre memorabilia and vintage photos during the tour and reveal secret addresses tied to Mae West that have not been disclosed before. These rare pictures show the area as it looked during the 1920s when Mae West and Texas Guinan had their name on several marquees.
• • Surprises: Prizes and other nice things are part of the fun
• • Members of the press may attend on August 16th as our guest. RSVP required.
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan • • images from 1926 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan: NYC Tour

Join us for an a-MAE-zing afternoon focused on Mae West & Texas Guinan!
• • On 16 August 2009, come up and enjoy an a-MAE-zing experience — — a walking tour of historical sights in the Times Square area. This year the Annual Mae West Birthday Tour also commemorates speakeasy hostess Texas Guinan, the generous friend who backed all of Mae’s Broadway shows during the 1920s.
• • During April 1929, the Feds padlocked the CIub Intime at the Hotel Harding, where Texas Guinan was the principal attraction. On August 16th, attendees will visit this speakeasy, which is doing brisk business these days.
• • Walking Tour: "Gaudy Girls on The Gay White Way: Mae West & Texas Guinan in the Theatre District"
• • When: 4:00 PM on Sunday — — 16 August 2008 — — rain or shine
• • Meet: Shubert Alley, 44th Street, West of Broadway, New York, NY 10036
• • Price: $10 [this walking tour lasts about 90 minutes]
• • Subway: N or R [BMT] train to West 42nd Street; 1 [IRT] train to Times Square
• • Attire: why not wear a Mae West-inspired hat?
• • Info: T. 212-614-9683 — — or post your RSVP or tour question here
• • Online: MaeWest.blogspot.com — — TexasGuinan.blogspot.com
• • Who: Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo makes the tour educational and entertaining.
• • LindaAnn Loschiavo's history play "Courting Mae West" was onstage in July 2008 at the Fresh Fruit Festival. She is working on a biographical travel guide "Mae West's New York, 1899—1959" and will show some of her unusual theatre memorabilia and vintage photos during the tour and reveal secret addresses tied to Mae West that have not been disclosed before. These rare pictures show the area as it looked during the 1920s when Mae West and Texas Guinan had their name on several marquees.
• • Surprises: Prizes and other nice things are part of the fun
• • Members of the press may attend on August 16th as our guest. RSVP required.
• • • • Mae West Walking Tours You Might Have Enjoyed • • • •
• • 2006 TOUR: Our regular Mae-mavens will recall seeing the historical exhibition "Onstage Outlaws: Mae West and Texas Guinan in a Lawless Era,” which opened to the public after a Gala Roaring-20s theme Press Preview on Mae’s birthday 17 August 2006. And on Sunday afternoon 20 August 2006, more than two dozen beautiful people gathered on West Ninth Street to enjoy a special treat — — "Washington Square Women: Mae West and Texas Guinan in Greenwich Village" — — followed by a Jazz Era brunch served with champagne and the Cos-MAE-Politan cocktail, garnished with two strategically placed plump raspberries.
• • 2007 TOUR: On Friday evening 17 August 2007, a fascinating guided adventure — — "The Mae West Side Story" — — escorted numerous intrepid walk-abouts to three of Mae's former residences along with other sites linked to the Brooklyn bombshell.
• • 2008 TOUR: On Sunday afternoon 17 August 2008, the captivating Diamond Divas led a group of over two dozen Mae-mavens to several locations in Greenwich Village linked to her stage career, gay themes, courtroom woes, and the work of individuals she admired such as Lillian Russell, Tony Pastor, Texas Guinan, Eugene O'Neill, and Rae Bourbon. The 2008 walking tour — — "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side" — — celebrated the 115th birthday of the Empress of Sex with an extravagant musical program, performed live by Met Opera soprano Marlena de la Mora and Sharon Weinman, which included these numbers: "Everything's Coming up Mae West"; "Mon Coeur S' Ouvre a Ta Voix"; "The Prisoner's Song"; "Frankie and Johnny"; "Come Down Ma Evening Star"; "I Could Have Danced All Night"; "Gentleman Jimmy"; and a grand finale taken from the score of "Diamond Lil."
• • Tour photos can be seen on the Mae West Blog.
• • For more details, do read this blog and/ or post your email. [Your info will not be posted nor available so that miscreants and rascals can access it.]
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan • • 1921 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan: Walking Tour in 2009

"Goodness had nothing to do with it!" was a well-worn comeback Texas Guinan often used in her speakeasy when teasing her high-rollers, whom she always called "Suckers!" Her friend Mae West, who often visited Texas's midtown nightspots, borrowed the quip for the hatcheck scene in "Night After Night" [1932] which took place in a speak.
• • Here's another example of Mae tossing off a famous Texas Guinan echo: In the 1933 motion picture "I'm No Angel," Tira [Mae West] does her hootchy-cootchy act, and two ruffians exclaim, "ELEGANT! Now that's elegant!" Tira teases her hungry-eyed on-lookers: "Am I making myself clear, boys?" But as she exits, Tira mutters: "Suckers!"
• • • • Mae West and Texas Guinan Tour in mid-August • • • •
• • 2009 TOUR: On Sunday afternoon 16 August 2009, the Annual Mae West Walk reunites the two film icons and Broadway roust-abouts. This August the entertaining, informative birthday celebration of the actress-writer, which will begin at Shubert Alley and proceed uptown to Mae's WESTside apartment, is called "Gaudy Girls on The Gay White Way: Mae West and Texas Guinan in the Theatre District." These tours are always accompanied by vintage illustrations, memorabilia, and rare photos that show how the buildings, vaudeville houses, billboards, Playbills, and blockfronts looked when Mae West was there. Surprises are in store.
• • • • Mae West Walking Tours You Might Have Enjoyed • • • •
• • 2006 TOUR: Our regular Mae-mavens will recall seeing the historical exhibition "Onstage Outlaws: Mae West and Texas Guinan in a Lawless Era,” which opened to the public after a Gala Roaring-20s theme Press Preview on Mae’s birthday 17 August 2006. And on Sunday afternoon 20 August 2006, more than two dozen beautiful people gathered on West Ninth Street to enjoy a special treat — — "Washington Square Women: Mae West and Texas Guinan in Greenwich Village" — — followed by a Jazz Era brunch served with champagne and the Cos-MAE-Politan cocktail, garnished with two strategically placed plump raspberries.
• • 2007 TOUR: On Friday evening 17 August 2007, a fascinating guided adventure — — "The Mae West Side Story" — — escorted numerous intrepid walk-abouts to three of Mae's former residences along with other sites linked to the Brooklyn bombshell.
• • 2008 TOUR: On Sunday afternoon 17 August 2008, the captivating Diamond Divas led a group of over two dozen Mae-mavens to several locations in Greenwich Village linked to her stage career, gay themes, courtroom woes, and the work of individuals she admired such as Lillian Russell, Tony Pastor, Texas Guinan, Eugene O'Neill, and Rae Bourbon. The 2008 walking tour — — "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side" — — celebrated the 115th birthday of the Empress of Sex with an extravagant musical program, performed live by Met Opera soprano Marlena de la Mora and Sharon Weinman, which included these numbers: "Everything's Coming up Mae West"; "Mon Coeur S' Ouvre a Ta Voix"; "The Prisoner's Song"; "Frankie and Johnny"; "Come Down Ma Evening Star"; "I Could Have Danced All Night"; "Gentleman Jimmy"; and a grand finale taken from the score of "Diamond Lil."
• • Tour photos can be seen on the Mae West Blog.
• • For more details, do read this blog and/ or post your email. [Your info will not be posted nor available so that miscreants and rascals can access it.]
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan • • 1925 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan: November 5th

New Yorkers were shocked to learn that their Queen of the Night Clubs, vivacious Texas Guinan had died on 5 November 1933.
• • In 1928 — — while chatting with reporter Sidney Skolsky — — Texas Guinan joked, "I want my funeral to be the speediest ever given. A cop on a motorcycle is to lead it."
• • Tommy Guinan went to Vancouver to sign the papers and accompany his sister home.
• • Twelve thousand turned out for a final viewing. Show business buddies filled Frank Campbell's Funeral Chapel — — then located on Broadway and West 66th Street in New York, NY — — with large floral tributes. Movie cameras recorded it all.
• • The New York Herald Tribune noted: "She was a master showman, and accomplished psychologist. . . . She had ability, too — — and would have been successful in any one of a dozen more conventional fields. To New York and the rest of the country Texas was a flaming leader of a period which was a lot of fun while it lasted. . . ."
• • Texas Guinan often said: "I would rather have a square inch of New York than all the rest of the world." Non omnis moriar.
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Photo: Texas Guinan's funeral on Broadway • • 1933 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.

Texas Guinan & the Undead

Since October 31st is All Hallows Eve, it is the season to highlight Texas Guinan's fascination with the occult, the unseen, and the undead. When she was 42 years old, Texas Guinan met Rudolph Valentino [6 May 1895 — 23 August 1926] at her brother's nightspot.

• • It was Sunday 25 July 1926 when Texas Guinan met Valentino at Tommy Guinan's speakeasy. Larger than the average ginmill, The Playground was on West 52nd Street (east of Broadway). Its generous square footage made it ideal for events and James R. Quirk, editor-publisher of Photoplay, hosted a Reception in honor of Valentino's new silent movie "Son of the Sheik" there. When Photoplay first began publication, Quirk's staff had included handsome Julian Johnson, Texas's lover.
• • Mae West and Texas Guinan were there to greet the Apulian heartthrob. No doubt Texas fancied Jadaan, a superb Arabian stallion Valentino had ridden in this melodrama. An expert equestrienne herself, the following year Texas would ride an Arabian stallion into the Shubert Theatre at the start of "Padlocks of 1927."

• • Maybe Mae West was charmed more by the Italian stallion himself — — and piqued by the abrupt end to his life that occurred one month later when the actor was only 31. Something about Rudy impressed Mae, encouraging her to think that he could link her to the unquiet dead up and down Times Square.
• • According to Whitney Bolton, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, a week after the Italian-born actor Rudolph Valentino died [1895-1926], Mae West and her friend Texas Guinan arranged for a séance in a Manhattan loft. Suspicious that the 31-year-old heartthrob was secretly poisoned by a rival, Mae summoned an Italian Medium to officiate. At the table sitting opposite Mae were Texas, her brother Tommy Guinan, and the gangster Owney Madden who owned The Cotton Club, a man remembered more for violence than his spiritual side.
• • And the rendezvous with Rudolph in 1926 must have been memorable because two years later Mae was holding séances in the smoking room of the Royale Theatre to communicate again with him. Visiting New York to see “Diamond Lil” on Broadway, the actor Jean Hersholt was invited backstage and yanked into a darkened room where a Medium was channeling Caruso and Valentino. Hersholt recalled that Rudy called upon Mae and said: “Mae, you have a lot of enemies and don’t trust any of them.”
• • During the 1920s, Texas Guinan continued to host séances in her nightspots — — especially in Club Abbey on West 54th Street. It was easy for Mae West to attend these sessions, too, since she lived right upstairs.
• • To stay in touch with the other side, Texas Guinan also regularly attended St. Joseph's, a Roman Catholic Church on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village.
_________________________________________________________
Source:http://texasguinan.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Texas Guinan
• • Illustration: Valentino and "Son of the Sheik" • • 1926 • •
NYC
Texas Guinan.