Manuel D. Dias was born in Lowell on November 18, 1909 the son of Portuguese immigrants from the Azores and was educated in Lowell public schools. Growing up in a Portuguese household, music and performance were a vibrant part of Manny’s community. By the age of fourteen Manny was appearing in leading parts in local plays. Dias furthered his aspirations for the stage after winning in an RKO Keith Theater audition allowing him to appear in one of its vaudeville shows. After completing school, Manny began performing regularly in dance and song numbers. Early on, he found that his splashy steps on stage caught got attention and the number of his engagements grew. One reporter described Dias as “elastic-limbed” while another reported that he “sure had smooth foot work in letting loose… and we hope to see him again.” He was a popular dancer performing at Lowell’s Rialto Theater and at the Commodore Ballroom. He mastered Russian and Spanish dances, tap, and “Stage Jazz” the Charleston. Manny even created a step called the “Corner Cutting Capers.”
Manny’s female impersonation routine led to a notoriety that he welcomed, usually appearing under the name stage-name Diaz rather than Dias. In the 1920s, he performed as Señorita Juanita “the girl from sunny Spain” who always “promises a surprise at the finish” – i.e. the finale of the show in which Manny disrobed to “become” a man. From 1924 until 1932, he was a frequent drag artist at the city’s Crown Theater and was advertised as a rival to the nationally known impersonator Tommy Martelle. The fame of his Juanita character led to joining a tour of the Midwest in the company of his agent Daniel Brennan. For many of his performances Dias would write little humorous sketches, often about love and relationships. In these shows, Dias would occasionally expand the boundaries of defining romance for his patrons. One short play, entitled The Truth Test, ends with the main character realizing that a woman he’s dating is actually a man who removes his wig and ends the skit by declaring, “I’m not the girl you think I am.”
“I Want to Get Married” was Manny’s most memorable chanson. Made famous originally by Gertrude Niesen performing as a stripper in the wartime Broadway hit, “Follow the Girls.” The number was considered to have racy lyrics for the time. Dias made it more suggestive, and to accentuate the song, he would wrap his leg around the microphone stand and rub his leg up and down it. By 1931, Manny had decided to capitalize on his growing name recognition and opened up a dance studio in Lowell’s Mongeau Building across from City Hall. Welcoming both children and adults, the “Studio of Dance Hits” offered lessons in a variety of forms – Acrobatic, Stage, Toe, Adagio, Ballroom, and Soft Shoe. Health-conscious Dias even ran a “reducing class for women.” Within three years he moved to a larger space in the Howe Building which could accommodate over 200 people and by 1938 had moved to the spacious Rex Ballroom.
In 1950, Manny Dias, was barred from performing in Lowell as a result of his previous appearances as a female impersonator. Dias’ case was taken up by Bradford Morse, a local lawyer who would eventually be elected as U.S. House Rep for the Fifth Congressional District. There were multiple hearings before the licensing commission with support coming from local fans who applauded for his volunteer efforts entertaining service members and hospitalized vets during the war. In December of 1950, the Commission relented by removing the language in the rule that had barred performers who had previously been female impersonators. After almost nine months out of work Manny returned to the stage. Although his case did not repeal the commission’s “no female impersonator” rule, he was able to continue to perform. Soon Manny was engaged at the Haufbrau with an “All-Star Revue” offering two shows nightly. His popularity may have been enhanced by citizens sympathetic to his banishment from stage. In 1958, he performed at Happy Helen’s, billed as “Chiquita, the Cuban Bombshell.”
As time and age advanced, Manny closed his dance studio. He took odd jobs including bartender at the Derby Inn and as a dishwasher and “kitchenman” at the Owl Diner. By 1974, Manny was doing side gigs at Tyngsboro’s Banjo Pub where he would sing “your old favorites.” A few years later, he performed a string of shows at "Jan’s by the Lake" through 1977. Musical tastes and his golden days had passed. In his last few years Manny did not do much performing. Once a favorite hometown entertainer, Dias was stricken with cancer even though he had quit smoking decades earlier. Dias died in Lowell on October 22, 1981 at age 71. There are some who believe that Manny must still be dancing "up in the clouds.”
References
