• • The revival enjoyed enormous success at the venerable Plymouth Theatre [236 West 45th Street]. It opened there on 7 September 1949 — — and had 182 performances on Broadway.
• • In his admiring review of her 1949 reinvigorated Bowery queen romp through her popular "naughty nineties" hit, The New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson admitted he was moved to acknowledge what he called — — in an atypically poetic effusion — — ''the sublime fatalism of the entire business,'' and he went on to ask: ''Is she kidding or is she serious?''
• • Final rehearsals for "The Drag" — January 1927 • •
• • Mae West, a world-famous Broadway veteran by January 1950, was in a different situation in January 1927. The early evening was occupied by her starring role in "Sex" — — followed by midnight rehearsals of her homosexual script "The Drag," which was written without a role for her to play.
• • When the play's previews opened in late January 1927 in Bayonne, New Jersey, the police ordered a seated audience out of the theatre. Mae was undeterred. She knew there was an audience who would appreciate her play, a drama that ended in a flashy drag ball "staged with hippodrome elaborations taking up close to twenty minutes of the third act . . . ."
• • During 1926, Jim Timony and Mae had observed the colorful drag cabaret performances going on at Paul and Joe's on West Ninth Street. The restaurant's lay-out was especially suitable. The front room, at ground floor level, had a low ceiling and the dim interior was hidden from view by huge clay pots of bushes. The main room, however, was a substantial salon with a gracious two-story height lit during the day by a magnificent skylight. On three sides of this dining room, a mezzanine skirted along the perimeter; guests could sit at their tables and watch the action below, enjoying the gaudy spectacle without getting too close. Since the mezzanine offered both privacy and access, many celebrities felt comfortable coming here for the "nance" humor including bluebloods, gangsters, reporters, and professional athletes such as Jack Dempsey. New York's Mayor Jimmy Walker was often seen here, too.
• • After meeting a number of these "showgirls," and discussing her project with Timony, Mae West worked on this gay drama-comedy during the latter part of 1926. This is the first time the line "Come up and see me sometime" was used in one of Mae's plays. That line was given to a drag queen.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Here is a tiny excerpt from "The Drag" — — by MAE WEST
• • • • Taxi-Driver: Do you boys want me to wait?
• • • • Clem: You better wait, you great, big, beautiful baby.
• • • • Taxi-Driver: I don't get you guys.
• • • • Clem: If you don't, you're the first taxi-driver that didn't.
• • • • Taxi-Driver: What do you want me to do?
• • • • Clem: Ride me around a while, dearie, and then come back for her, if you're so inclined.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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