#1000 Latin Quarter Nightclub Showgirls 1940s
Latin Quarter Nightclub \ Miami Beach Hotelsl South Beach Hotels
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HOME HOTELS THE SCENE CLUBS REAL ESTATE DINING SHOPPIN'
The
Latin Quarter
Nightclub
by Joseph Brown
Driving across Biscayne Bay
on the palm-lined MacArthur
Causeway that runs between
downtown Miami and South
Beach, just past the cruise
ships moored at the Port of
Miami there is a bridge that
leads over to the ritzy area of
Palm Island. As the guard opens the gate and you proceed onto the
island, the first thing you pass is a children's playground full of swing
sets, slides and see-saws. But half a century ago this location was an
altogether different sort of playground, and it was definitely not for
kids. From 1940 through the early '60's this was the location of the
world famous Latin Quarter Nightclub.
The Latin Quarter, Miami Beach - 1940
Owned by Lou Walters, father of ABC
20/20's Barbara Walters, the Latin Quarter
was a mid-century mecca for big-named
entertainers who performed for winter
crowds of tourists and celebrities arriving
in Miami Beach each December.
Entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Dean
Martin & Jerry Lewis, Jack Benny and Tony
Bennett all intermingled with waves of
high-kicking chorus girls to perform three
shows a night at the Latin Quarter.
-Si
~
Latin Quarter Showgirl
Initially created in Boston in 1937, and
later in New York City, Miami Beach's version of the Latin Quarter
opened in 1940 under the direction of Lou Walters and his partner
E.M. Loew, the brilliant theatrical tycoon and owner of the vast
Loew's Theatres empire.
Modeled somewhat after the Moulin Rouge in Paris, the Latin Quarter
prided itself in having the best and most beautiful dancers in the
world. Tryouts were held all across America and Europe-at the
http://www.southbeach-usa.com/way_was/latinquarter.htm
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Latin Quarter Nightclub \ Miami Beach Hotels! South Beach Hotels
Page 2 of3
Palladium in London and Club Lido in Paris-to find that certain
handful of girls that "sparkled and shined." They were billed as "Latin
Quarter Dancers of Today, Hollywood Stars of Tomorrow."
Costume ideas were submitted
directly to Walters by the leading
fashion designers of the day and
manufactured by the Latin
Quarter's own full-time costume
maintenance staff. Costumes were
created for specific dancers to
"enhance their best features," as
the club's PR department proudly
stated. The typical joke between
Latin Quarter dancers as they took
the stage in their semi-nude costumes went something
when I think of the money I wasted on singing lessons..."
Lou Walters with Art Waner
and the Latin Quarter Orchestra
like, "Gee,
The Latin Quarter's success also spilled over to Las Vegas when
Walters booked his Latin Quarter Revue into the Riviera Hotel in
1956, where he once put Zsa Zsa Gabor on stage in a $17,000 gown
-big money in those days. Walters was also instrumental in bringing
Les Folies Bergere to the Tropicana Hotel on New Year's Eve, 1959.
The show went on to become the longest running theatrical
production in the world.
By the early 1960's, the Miami Beach
nightlife scene had migrated to Millionaire's
Row on upper Collins Avenue. Huge new
oceanfront hotels produced dazzling floor
J'
shows and competed against each other
for both the official title of Hotel of the
~ Year, and the unofficial moniker of hottest
spot on the strip. Nightspots like Eden
Roc's Mona Lisa Room and the
Fontainebleau's La Ronde Room booked
the top bands, singers and comedians for
the season and packed in the tourists year
after year. So too, did Lou Walters. After the Latin Quarter, Walters
moved his show to the Carillon, 1959's Hotel of the Year, where his
elaborate productions were considered the best on the beach for
several years.
But, one by one the independent nightclubs closed their doors. Ciro's,
Copa City, the Beachcomber and even the dazzling Latin Quarter all
passed into nightlife history. Some say it was the very same
oceanfront hotels with their cut-throat competition for tourist's dollars
that finally killed off the independent clubs in Miami Beach during the
1960's. Others say it was the evolution of jet-travel to distant and
http://www.southbeach-usa.com/way_was/latinquarter.htm
04/28/2006
Latin Quarter Nightclub \ Miami Beach Hotels! South Beach Hotels
more exotic destinations that did them in. Who knowS for sure. But
the fact remains that, for a brief period fifty years ago, 159 Palm
Island Drive was the hottest address in American nightlife.
~ Send this link to a friend
<9 South Beach Magazine, Miami Beach, Florida
httn:/ /www.southbeach_usa.com/way_was/latinquarter.htm
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04/28/2006