Texas Guinan "HOP O' MY THUMB" DeWolf Hopper 1913 Manhattan Opera House Playbill

Description

This is a rare playbill from the week of December 8th, 1913 for the Original Broadway production of the GEORGE R. SIMS, FRANK DIX and ARTHUR COLLINS fairy tale in two parts "HOP O' MY THUMB" at the Manhattan Opera House in New York City. (The production opened November 26th, 1913 and ran for only 46 performances.) ..... The musical starred DE WOLF HOPPER as the "King of Mnemonica" and the cast included the future New York night club hostess TEXAS GUINAN as "Zaza" in one of her earliest stage appearances. Others in the cast included RALPH AUSTIN, WALTER S. WILLS, the Messrs. SCHRODE and HARRIS, NEAL McNEAL, ALBERT HART, CHARLES M. HINTON, VIOLA GILLETTE, EVA FALLON, MARIE CLIFFORD, ROSS SNOW, IRIS HAWKINS, MARTHA EHRICH, WINNIE RITCHIE, LEAH de PIEAN, LILLIAN BARRY, CAROLINE DUFFY, RUNIE FARRINGTON, FLAVIA ACARO, BERTHA DELMONTE, EDITH GORDON and EDNA FENTON ..... 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 0,000 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: Book by
GEORGE R. SIMS, FRANK DIX and ARTHUR COLLINS
; Music by MANUEL KLEIN; Ballet Music by J. M. GLOVER; Ballets by MAUDE CROMPTON; Dances Staged by ERNEST D' AUBAN; Directed by
ERNEST D' AUBAN
; Produced by THE DRURY LANE COMPANY OF AMERICA, Inc. by arrangement with ARTHUR COLLINS ..... DETAILS: The twenty page playbill measures 5 1/4" X 7 3/4" inches and includes full production credits, cast list, synopsis of scenes, list of musical numbers and wonderful vintage advertising, but no cast photos or bios ..... CONDITION: With the exception of a heavy vertical fold, light soiling and a surface abrasion and minor edge chipping to the back cover (last scanned image), this rare playbill is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.
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