Mae West: Ink Blot Arbus

Starring Australian actress Melita Jurisic as the American icon MAE WEST, a new play “Arbus and West” was onstage in Melbourne until March 30th. Naturally, Mae would have stipulated that her name was placed first in the title. Let’s enjoy a spirited review by drama critic Robert Reid. This is Part 7.
• • “Arbus and West” — — A one-way gladiatorial battle • •
• • Wit is another cage to confine Mae West in • •
• • Robert Reid wrote: Sewell never lets an opportunity go by to give West a good line, a funny put down or smart evasion, so much so that they seem to form the bulk of West’s self-expression. Of course, this is another cage to keep her in, to keep the men in her life, everyone in her life, at a distance. It’s a glamorous distance across which everyone can only see what they want to see, the projection of their own fantasies of what a powerful woman should look like, strong, bold and sexually available.
• • Diane Arbus as ink blot • •
• • Robert Reid wrote: Around this luminous shadow the enigmatic Arbus paces and purrs. On Renee Mulder’s almost all-white set, accented here and there with light beige details and gold trim, Arbus exists like an ink blot. Dressed all in beatnik black, skinny jeans, turtle neck and beaten black leather jacket, she’s visually a contrast to the other women: West who is dressed all in white – the perpetual virgin/whore – and Ruby, clad for the most part in neutral browns like the accessories the fill the white room.
• • Mae’s bedroom, where no man has spent the night • •  . . .  
• • To be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Witness, stage review; published on Wednesday, 6 March 2019.
• • On Tuesday, 10 April 1928 in The N.Y. Times • •

• • The New York Times reported on "Diamond Lil" on 10 April 1928 on page 32. The review carried this headline and a sub-title: "'DIAMOND LIL' IS LURID AND OFTEN STIRRING" and "Mae West's Melodrama at the Royale Suffers From a Bad Third Act."
• • Opposite the coverage on page 33 was a small advertisement for the 3-hour melodrama at the Royale Theatre in New York.
• • An 89-minute version by LindaAnn LoSchiavo, "Diamond Lil, Queen of the Bowery," which was on the boards in 2013, managed to work out all the 1928 Third Act misfires. Anyone who wishes to interview Ms. LoSchiavo, a DGA member, can find out more.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Eddie Cantor calls Mae West "the Community Chest" — — but maybe we shouldn’t have mentioned it.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Sex is good for you."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Philadelphia Inquirer mentioned Mae West.
• • Reporter Whitney Bolton wrote an article, a first person remembrance: "Critic Impressed by Mae West Role of Siren at Seance." Bolton had attended one of Mae's backstage seances and his piece was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer in its weekend edition on Sunday, 4 May 1969.
• • Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; published on Sunday, 4 May 1969
• • 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 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,100 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4188th 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 • • "Lil" onstage in 1928 • •
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