Jackson County
(Mo.) Historical Society
Portals to the
Past by David W. Jackson
How Tower Theater “Adorable” Danced Her Way into Kansas City History Like many youths, seven-year-old
Mary Graham Minor was encouraged to practice the piano. Transitioning quickly
to dance lessons, her mother hoped training at the Kansas City Conservatory
of Music would lead Mary to become a dance teacher. Little did she know what
was in store for her adorable
daughter. During her sophomore year at
East High School, Mary continued practicing at the Flaugh-Lewis School of
Dancing where the curtain was about to rise for Mary’s theater career. Upon high school graduation in
1930, Jack Reid booked Mary to perform with other girls at food and auto
shows in the Midwest, and at theaters and supper clubs in and around
Hollywood, Ca. Her meager pay was consumed by room and board, and Reid’s
agent fees. Fed up,
broke, Mary returned to Kansas City by the end of summer, and enrolled in
Kansas City Junior College. She sold her books within two weeks, though, to
join the act of Don Valerio and the Diaz Sisters. Three years later Mary
joined Paul Cholet in his 25-person Coco-Nut Grove Revue, which included
singers, comedians and a “beauty chorus. Mary’s
parents eventually asked her to come home and find a “legitimate” job. They’d
have to wait a few more numbers. Three days after Mary’s homecoming, friend
Jeanette “Pepper” Buchner, former roommate on the road and a dancer at the
Tower Theater, invited Mary to see the theater after hours. Pepper toured
Mary backstage and discovered an immediate need for a replacement Tower Adorable (akin to the Radio City
Rockettes, only smaller in number, who opened and closed every stage show and
danced at intermission). Pepper nominated Mary for the position and she found
herself fitting for costumes and walking through dance steps. The next day,
Friday, February 22, 1935, Mary performed three numbers. The Tower Theater (formerly the
Pantages since 1921) had opened in 1934, on 12th Street just east
of McGee in Kansas City. The massive building had an 180-foot terra-cotta
tower. Inside were a gilded proscenium, fresco-laden walls, velvet curtains,
and Moorish grillwork on a soaring, vaulted ceiling. Seating 2,300 on plush
seats, theatergoers could enjoy a first-run movie and a stage show for 25
cents (matinee) and 30 cents (evening). The Tower was also the first theater
in town to offer air conditioning, advertising, “Beat the Heat with a Tower
Seat. Over the next five years “Mary
Graham Minor” appeared on the Tower’s marquee. She met and became
acquaintances with many popular traveling acts, including a woman who became
a life-long friend, Sally Rand (Kansas City native aka Helen Gould Beck). The Great Depression of the
mid- to late 1930s coupled with silent motion picture houses hastened the
demise of once thriving live performance theaters. By 1939, the Tower Theater
was the only house offering talkies and vaudeville acts to try to remain
viable. Mary continued at the Tower until it closed for live performances in
December 1940. One-step closer to securing the
“legitimate” life her parents dreamed, Mary married Landon Laird, in 1947
after a lengthy courtship. Landon, a columnist and dramatic editor for the Kansas City Times (and later the The Star), originated and wrote the “About
Town” column for many years. Landon died in 1970, and Mary is enjoying
retirement at Bishop Spencer Place. Want
to know more? Mary donated to the Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society her
and her husband’s collection of scrapbooks, photographs, sheet music, theater
programs, and other items that relate to their careers in the Kansas City entertainment
business during the 1930s and 1940s, including her permanent spot as a Tower Adorable. David W. Jackson is archivist for the nonprofit, membership supported Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society’s Archives and Research Library. For more information, or to donate historical materials visit www.jchs.org, or e-mail info@jchs.org. |
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