Fort Worth: Casa Mañana & the 1936 Frontier Centennial

In the summer of 1936, an 18-year-old Cindy Walker danced in the chorus line at Casa Mañana in Fort Worth — and while she was there, her song “Casa de Mañana” played on national radio, performed by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra before an audience of thousands. It was her first brush with the kind of exposure that would define the next seven decades. The Casa Mañana Fort Worth site wasn’t just her debut stage. It was where the Texas Songbird first understood what a song could do.

Billy Rose, the Broadway impresario and lyricist, built Casa Mañana as the centerpiece of the Fort Worth Frontier Centennial — a rival spectacular to the official 1936 Texas Centennial happening simultaneously in Dallas. Rose spent $1 million on the production. The theater seated 4,000 on a 162-acre site and featured a revolving stage, a casino, and a cast that at various times included fan dancer Sally Rand. The Paul Whiteman Orchestra played in the house band. Walker, dancing in the chorus, was taking notes.

The Frontier Centennial site no longer exists in its original form — Casa Mañana was a temporary tent structure, and the spectacle closed when summer ended. But Fort Worth’s spirit of big performances and bold ambitions didn’t fade. The tradition Billy Rose started here echoes in every major production the city has mounted since.

Walker took home more than a summer job from Fort Worth. She took a model: a Texas song, played by a national orchestra on national radio, could reach an audience no local stage could touch. She spent the next 60 years proving it. For more of Cindy Walker’s Texas story, visit her Mexia home and the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage.

I’ve been here ♪