Mae West: Bombastic Allure

Great Britain offered "The Drag" by MAE WEST to audiences twice this year.
• • Arcola Queer Collective staged "The Drag” written by Mae West from 9 – 13 January 2017 in England. Let's enjoy a stage review published on Thursday, 12 January 2017.
• • Mae West’s rare gay classic ‘The Drag’ revived at London’s Arcola Theatre • •
• • Hitting the emotional truth in "The Drag" • •
• • Reviewed by Drama Critic Patrick Cash • •
• • Patrick Cash wrote:  But Peter Darney is also interested in hitting the emotional truth beneath the spectacle. The Drag could easily have just been a straightforward romp, but just as Mae West had an incisive wit beneath her bombastic allure, this play also questions and provokes thought – as befits the Arcola Queer Collective’s ethos. As we watch a character forced to hide himself, one questions whether it’s still easier even now, perhaps, for some men to be ‘straight’ than be true?
• • Patrick Cash wrote:  Where this is most pertinently brought to light is in Rolly’s unrequited love for engineer Allen Grayson, played by the beautifully glacial Mikko Makela. True, I would have personally preferred a touch more weight to this storyline to give a deeper sense of Rolly’s pain. Yet in a play with so much happening — — from Alex Scurr’s (the Gay Men’s Dance Company) vivid choreography to a cast of over seventeen members — — one veers to forgiveness.
• • Rolly's unrequited love for Allen • •  . . .
• • This is Part 4 of 5 parts.
• • Source: Review for "The Drag" by Patrick Cash for attitude.co.uk; posted on Thursday, 12 January 2017.
• • On Wednesday, 9 November 1927 • •

• • Variety discussed "The Wicked Age" in their issue dated for Wednesday, 9 November 1927.  Variety wrote: "Miss West is well fortified with masculine support. None is less than six feet and a couple are above the 6' 3" mark.  No one will believe that Babe is exactly a lily of the valley. She knows too many fly comebacks. ..."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae filed for divorce from Guido Deiro on the grounds of adultery on 14 July 1920. The divorce was granted by the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Tuesday, 9 November 1920.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I am my own original creation.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about luxurious hotels in Mazatlan, Mexico mentioned Mae West.
• • Bob Schulman writes: A lot less preserved (to put it kindly) but in the process of being restored is the nearby Belmar, the grandest of Mazatlan's hotels. Opened in 1920, her then-opulent guest rooms, lush gardens and elegant ballrooms were filled with Hollywood superstars like John Barrymore, Rudolph Valentino, and Mae West and, a little later on, John Wayne, Tyrone Power, Rock Hudson and Gregory Peck. ...
• • Source: Article: "Gold, Booze and Tourists: Mazatlan's Plazuela Machado" written by Bob Schulman for The Huff Post; posted on 8 November 2011
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 13th anniversary • •  
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past thirteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,800 blog posts. Wow!   
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started thirteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3828th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.

• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1927 • •
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