Mae West: Dorothy Leeds

In Milwaukee on 11 April 1911, MAE WEST tied the knot with fellow vaudevillian Frank Wallace — — and quickly realized it was a bad idea. In Colorado in mid-April, Dorothy Leeds has got Mae tied up in her one-woman play — — "Good Lessons from Bad Women."
• • Reporter Kirsten Akens talked to the New York actress, who has been touring with this piece for two years. Let's listen in on the interview.
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• • When on the phone with Dorothy Leeds, you quite possibly will talk to more than one person.
• • Mae West, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Emperor Wu Chao are just three of the eight women — — other than herself — — whom Leeds portrays in her one-woman play, Good Lessons from Bad Women. And because the "well-over-21" former Broadway actress slips so seamlessly in and out of the women's personalities, each of the historic females takes a turn during our conversation.
• • On one hand, it's disconcerting to hear Mae West say, "Come up and see me sometime," 28 years after her death. On the other hand, it makes you aware of Leeds' skill with accents and inflection.
• • In her play, the characters each bring different lessons to the stage. They also explore various dimensions of badness.
• • Mae West, a comedienne, actress, and sex symbol, was deemed bad during her time because she didn't allow others to dictate her actions. As a 20th-century political and social icon, Roosevelt was revered by those around her, but she struggled internally with bad thoughts because she believed herself ugly. Wu, a concubine, was considered ruthless in her rise to power in China during the Tang dynasty because she "walked all over these weak men," says Leeds.
• • The play as a whole teaches two lessons. The first: You should accept who you are. Leeds says that's not an easy task because people carry goodness and badness within them, and they must be reconciled.
• • The second: We all tend to see the world in absolutes such as "good" and "bad."
• • "We need to see more of the grays," Leeds says.
• • Leeds, also an author from New York City, has been performing this play for two years and she says she is just getting started. She does express one slight concern: "I hope by playing multiple characters I'm not becoming schizophrenic."
• • "Good Lessons from Bad Women"
• • Pikes Peak Community College's Centennial Campus Theater, 5675 S. Academy Blvd.
• • Performances begin on: Thursday — 10 April 2008 — 7:00 PM
• • Tickets: 520-SHOW (7469).
— — Source: — —
• • Byline: Kirsten Akens
• • Article: Nine women, one body: Meet Dorothy Leeds — — and everyone in her head
• • Published in: The Colorado Springs Independent — — www.csindy.com/
• • Published on: 10 April 2008
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• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
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Mae West.