Spirited Evening with Mae West in NYC

Ghosts and Hosts Reside Side by Side at 57 East 54th Street


New York, NY: Spirits will rise in midtown Manhattan at 7:00 PM on August 17th during the Mae West Birthday Gala at Bill’s Gay Nineties when Joe Franklin, Louise Lasser, and other entertainment industry VIPs gather to pay tribute to Mae West [1893-1980], who performed live in vaudeville and on Broadway as well as in movies.

Earlier, however, spirits of a different sort will be aroused when Dr. Lauren Thibodeau conducts a séance in this haunted mansion on East 54th Street. Built in 1888, and always owner-occupied, there is a full house shared by the living [Barbara Bart and the staff of Bill’s Gay Nineties] – and the undead: two playful girls clad in white dresses along with other noisy entities.

Restaurant manager Aldo Leone, whose work keeps him on the first and second floor, had not known about the ghosts – until recently. But bartender Rich and Elizabeth, a longtime waitress who exercises on the third floor, see and hear these supernatural inhabitants regularly.

Headwaiter Sergio, serving a table of ten last week, turned back towards the kitchen and noticed a light outline of a girl in white, her face so brightly white that her features were indistinguishable. As he tried to beckon a busboy, the girl vanished.

Actress MARTA REIMAN, who plays MAE WEST on August 17th, said she "feels someone" behind her when she's changing her clothes on the third floor.

On August 17th, it will be interesting to see who shows up, said JOE FRANKLIN, who will discuss his friend Mae West after a mini-performance of “Courting Mae West” and a full program of lively Prohibition era entertainment. Since Bill’s Gay Nineties is an original New York speakeasy, strolling Cigarette Girls and other prohibited delights will be on hand.

Tickets to this Benefit are available via PayPal.
Information is online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com

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ACT I, Scene 1 of "Courting Mae West"
by dramatist LindaAnn Loschiavo - -
starring MARTA REIMAN and SHADE VAUGHN
[shown rehearsing in this photograph]
and directed by David Copeland - -
will be onstage at Bill's Gay Nineties
[57 East 54th Street, NYC 10022] on Mae's birthday
Wednesday August 17, 2005.
Information: 212-614-9683
- - from I-Newswire - -
http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
mae west