Friday, April 4, 2014

A casa by any other name is still Casa Susanna

Source: Casa Susanna

Casa Susanna was a guest house in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York where crossdressers dressed en femme during their visits in the 1960s.

Although not mentioned by name, My Year Among the Girls by Darrel G. Raynor published in 1968 documented one crossdresser's experience at Casa Susanna.

Casa Susanna by Michel Hurst and Robert Swope published in 2005 was a collection of snapshots found at a New York City flea market that depicted various crossdressers during their stay at the guest house.

I have mentioned both of these books here in the past. My Year Among the Girls was an eye-opener for me; reading that book when I was 17, I discovered that I was not alone.

Later this month, Casa Valentina opens on Broadway. It is a play written by Harvey Fierstein and is loosely based on the activities that occurred at Casa Susanna 50 years ago.

I hope I have an opportunity to see the play, preferably en femme.

 

femulator-new

 

 

Source: The Idols

Harvey Fierstein, circa 1970.

 

femulate-her-new

 

 

Source: Madeleine

Wearing Madeleine.

4 comments:

  1. Wish I was in NY, Stana. Would love to see what they do with the Casa Susanna theme.Casa Susanna was one of my first blog posts and the girls might like to read a little more here
    http://www.fashionabletgwoman.com/casa-susanna/
    Hugs....Tasi

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  2. I read about Casa Valentina a few days ago and remembered that I first heard about Casa Susanna on your site.

    Casa Valentina has an great cast, including the wonderful TV and Broadway veteran John Cullum. I hope the show is excellent and that you're able to attend (and provide a full review, of course).

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  3. I am waiting for my wife to learn about the show and hope that I can convince her to go with me while dressed. it would be wonderful if when they start promoting the show that Harvey suggests that as many people as possible, men, women, CDs TG, etc come to the show dressed in character of the times. It would be wonderful if the promotion for the show made it seem like an event for people to attend while dressed.
    Just my two cents.

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  4. I give these ladies all the credit in the world; I do hope the play is a success. From the previews and from knowing of the people involved, it appears it will be done in an honest manner.

    Laurette

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