Friday, June 29, 2018

Mae West: Complicated Sex

Since MAE WEST’s hit play “Sex” was just produced at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles, and maybe you were not there, let’s read one review of the production, shall we? This is Part 2 of 3.
• • Mae West’s Hit Play “Sex” Reprises at the Hudson Mainstage • •
• • Margie LaMont goes Caribe • • 
• • Marilyn Tower Oliver wrote:  To avoid arrest, Margie leaves with one of her admirers, English naval officer Lt. Gregg (Wayne Wilderson), and the pair ends up in the Caribbean. Always on the lookout to feather her nest, Margie meets a young millionaire, Jimmy Stanton, and agrees to marry him. The story comes to a head when she meets his snooty parents in their New York mansion. It appears that while sex can be alluring it can also come with complications.
• • Marilyn Tower Oliver wrote:  For me the high point of this production was the scene in a Trinidad cabaret, which is filled with lively dancing and music from the ‘20s. I particularly liked “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Ain’t Misbehavin.”
• • Marilyn Tower Oliver wrote:  Singer Kandace Lindsey stops the show mid-song when she plays a flute which magically descends from the ceiling.
• • Corny by today’s standards, “Sex” has its charm • •  . . .
• • This was the second of three parts and will be concluded on the next post, Monday.
• • Source: Review of “Sex” in The Los Feliz Ledger; published on Thursday, 31 May 2018.
• • On Saturday, 29 June 1935 • •
• • Paramount liaison John Hammell wrote diplomatic letters to Will Hays but his skills were sorely tested by the "Klondike Annie" project.  One of Hammell's soothing missives (dated for 29 June 1935) explained:  "The ending of our story will be a romance between Mae West and one of the characters in our picture, and it will indicate for the future a normal life and nothing that will bring condemnation from the most scrupulous."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West okaying a story written by one of her henchmen in which she is quoted as saying something to the effect that she wouldn't advise anyone to act like Mae West or — Abraham Lincoln! Well, they've both been Great Emancipators!
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I consider myself above changing. I haven't time to change.  I'm not looking backward at what I've done or what success has come my way. The minute you do that and stand around on what's already come your way, you're headed back in the other direction.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Singapore paper mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West was doing her part in Singapore to keep an English-speaking audience entertained on.
• • Singapore-based readers of The Straits Times on Tuesday, 29 June 1937, saw this announcement on page 5: "Don’t Come Up and See Me SOMETIME! COME UP AND SEE ME TONIGHT!"
• • Mae West stars in "Go West Young Man" — — with Warren William and Lyle Talbot at the Pavilion Theatre — — 2 showtimes 6:15 pm and 9:15 pm.  Snappy and saucy and crammed with laughs. …
• • Source: Item in The Straits Times; published on Tuesday, 29 June 1937
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • • 
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — — 
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • 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 3,900 blog posts. Wow!  
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started thirteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3991st 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 1935

• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
  Mae West

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Mae West: Longest Run

Since MAE WEST’s hit play “Sex” was just produced at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles, and maybe you were not there, let’s read one review of the production, shall we? This is Part 1 of 3.
• • Mae West’s Hit Play “Sex” Reprises at the Hudson Mainstage • •
• • Marilyn Tower Oliver wrote:  When Mae West’s play Sex appeared on Broadway in 1926, it caused a sensation. Writer, producer, director and star West was busted for obscenity. She served 8 days in jail, but the play broke box office records and had the longest run on Broadway that year.
• • Today when sex scandals appear daily in the news, the play seems more than a tad dated, but it’s still fun to go back in time for a few hours to a more innocent era. A production of Buzzworks and directed by Buzzworks’ founder Sirena Irwin, “Sex” is currently on stage at the Hudson Theatre Mainstage in Hollywood.
• • Margie La Mont, an enterprising prostitute in Montreal, has to leave town when a slutty society matron out for a good time tries to frame her for a crime she didn’t commit. Andrea Hutchman takes the role originally portrayed by Mae West.
• • Margie LaMont goes Caribe • •  . . .
• • This was the first of three parts and will be continued on the next post, Friday.
• • Source: Review of “Sex” in The Los Feliz Ledger; published on Thursday, 31 May 2018.
• • On Friday, 28 June 1946 • •
• • Mae West was starring in "Come On Up" at Cass Theatre in Detroit on Friday, 28 June 1946. The Playgoer's cover featured a beautiful portrait of Mae West perched on a divan wearing a beautiful gown with a floral pattern.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • As a matter of fact, Mae West would get by fine as a football coach. She knows how to get teamwork out of the boys. She plans plays that will romp through opposition. 
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Women can make men do anything they wish them to do, if they're clever." 
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • CNN mentioned Mae West.
• • No joke: 6 times comedy changed the way we live
• • (CNN) Brandon Griggs wrote: There's only one rule in comedy, most comedians will tell you. It must be funny. But those on the listening end don't always agree. Take what happened to comedic screen siren Mae West in 1926 after she dared to write and star in a Broadway play titled "Sex": She was sentenced to 10 days in a woman's workhouse and fined $500 on obscenity charges.  . . .
• • Source: Item from CNN; published on Wednesday, 8 February 2017
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • • 
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — — 
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • 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 3,900 blog posts. Wow!  
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started thirteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3990th 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 • onstage in 1946

• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
  Mae West