Come Up & See Mae

New York, NY: January 2005 will be the month of MAE. Move over, Martha Stewart, Danny Pelosi, and Scott Peterson, and make room for a colorful newly resurrected courtroom drama based on bigotry, censorship, social injustice, and City Hall's rabid fear of homosexuality during the mayoralty of Jimmy Walker.

The New York Public Library [Jefferson Market branch: 425 Sixth Avenue at West 9th St.] has invited Long Island artist Michael Di Motta to exhibit sixteen large-format panels drawn from a unique illustrated version of the play "Courting Mae West" by dramatist LindaAnn Loschiavo, a work that depicts the arrest, incarceration, and courtroom woes of actress Mae West, legal actions that took place in Manhattan during the late 1920s.

On February 9, 1927, Mae West and a cast of 54 (actors and musicians) were arrested and taken to Night Court, then located at Jefferson Market Courthouse, now a landmark and in use as a local library for Greenwich Villagers.

Loschiavo's staged version, which will be offered at 8pm on Wednesday February 9, 2005 at CUNY Graduate Center (365 Fifth Avenue, NYC 10016), is distinctly different from the illustrated version, which the native New Yorker conceived as an entertaining American history lesson narrated by a blackbird from Harlem. Set against the imposing backdrop of Jefferson Market Court, with its 19th century interiors and spider web ironwork, the evil-doers Bigotry, Censorship, and Hidden Agenda plot against Mae West. In actuality, the news media rescued Mae West in 1927. In this illustrated version, however, help appears in the guise of a caped Super-hero: the First Amendment, his constitutional capability and muscles materializing from DiMotta's pen.

"Courting Mae West" is Michael Di Motta's first solo show in Manhattan. Viewing will run from January 3rd - 30th, 2005 on the 2nd floor during the building's regular hours. There is no admission fee.

On January 17th, at a Roaring 20s-themed press kick-off in a former speakeasy, Prairie Miller, the hostess of "Arts Magazine" [aired on WBAI-FM Radio] will interview Michael Di Motta as well as playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo and actress Allison Tilsen, who has the starring role of Mae West. Chef Stephen Lyle will serve a 1920s menu and cocktails.

A free copy of the illustrated narrative written by Loschiavo and illustrated by DiMotta will be available on January 17th. Your editorial coverage is invited.

Come up and see Mae - during the month of January at the Jefferson Market branch and also onstage at CUNY Graduate Center [365 Fifth Avenue, NYC] at 8:00 PM on Feb. 9th, 2005. Discovering lost chapters of New York City history from 1927-29 has never been so stimulating.

MEDIA: Phone number: 212-243-4334 [NYPL, Jefferson Mkt branch]


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