Mae: Royale Theatre 1928

Opened 11 January 1927, this is how the Royale Theatre [242 West 45th Street] looked when new. Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp and built by the Chanin brothers, who ran it from 1927 - 1930, this playhouse has about 1100 seats.


In March 1928, when MAE WEST began preparing the space to look like McGurk's Suicide Hall on the Bowery, theatre critics and audience had no idea of the outstanding triumph that was to come.
• • MAE, a gal ahead of her time, marked a new phase of forward momentum in her career when she took a step backwards to recreate the turn-of-the-century "Lillian Russell look" onstage that she would, in fact, preserve throughout her silver screen career. Her father Jack gave his wife Matilda the nickname "Champagne Til" and MAE toyed with the idea of titling her play "Champagne Til" instead of "Diamond Lil."
• • To the end of her day, MAE's image was "Diamond Lil" - - "the finest woman who ever walked the streets" - - as much as her signature song became "Frankie and Johnnie," performed in this drama along with other numbers.
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Mae West
• • Photo • Mae West • in 1928
NYC
Mae West.