Mae West: Murky Quality

A cunning cartoon showed MAE WEST yanking G.B. Shaw's beard. If only the two controversial writers could chat during Shaw Fest, which had been presenting “Sex” in Canada until Sunday, 13 October 2019.
• • Buffalo Rising sent Grant Golden to review it. This is Part 4 of 7 segments.
• • SEX is a sensational drama by Mae West • •
• • The production has a loose, murky quality • •
• • Grant Golden wrote: Problems abound. With the possible exception of the Stanton residence, there are never enough set pieces to give us a good sense of place.  The production has a loose, murky quality, especially in the first act.  The different characters played by a several cast members are not well differentiated, which leads to confusion.  Diana Donnelly shines as Margy LaMont, the role Mae West wrote for herself, and even gets a chance to show off her vocal chops in a solo:  “Who’s Sorry Now?”  Other musical moments, clearly interpolated, are not nearly as felicitous.  One wonders how much music (if any) was in the 1926 original.  

• • [Editor's note: There were a lot of musical numbers in "Sex" [in its 1926 Broadway production starring Mae West], including music by black composers. You'd think a critic would take a glance at the Internet Broadway Database, wouldn't you?]
• • cross gender casting that could be described as” an interesting failure” • • …
• • This stage review by Grant Golden will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Buffalo Rising; published on Tuesday, 6 August 2019. 
• • On Tuesday, 31 October 1933 in New York World-Telegram • •
• • Mae West told Douglas Gilbert, a vaudeville reporter, "Women much prefer to be feminine, believe me."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Under the expert hand of director Leo McCarey, the original story, by Miss Mae West herself, has been woven into an entrancing, eye-filling, laugh- and-drama packed spectacle, which goes even beyond the blonde charmer's recent smash successes.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "It took a show-wise girl to put this vamp business on a paying basis."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Daily Variety mentioned Mae West.
• • Harry Kalmine recalling that he played Mae West in a seven-person act at the Keith in Orange, N. Y. only five years ago at $250 for the turn.  …
• • Source: Variety; published on Tuesday, 19 September 1933
• • 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 15th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,300 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,335th 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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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • The Evening Graphic in 1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Mae West: Weird Trappings

A cunning cartoon showed MAE WEST yanking G.B. Shaw's beard. If only the two controversial writers could chat during Shaw Fest, which had been presenting “Sex” in Canada until Sunday, 13 October 2019.
• • Buffalo Rising sent Grant Golden to review it. This is Part 3 of 7 segments.
• • SEX is a sensational drama by Mae West • •
• • Symbolism? • •
• • Grant Golden wrote: THE PLAY, THE PLAYERS AND THE PRODUCTION:  Walking into the Jackie Maxwell Theatre, and seeing their small rectangular stage filled by towering piles of old (period) suitcases, my immediate impression was “what the …?” These suitcases return, in differing numbers and configurations, throughout the course of the evening.  My one overwhelming memory now is that of actors carting suitcases on and off stage.
• • Grant Golden wrote: I’ve now had sufficient time to mull it over, and I’ve got to say that I still don’t get it. 
• • Grant Golden wrote: Yes, there are characters in SEX, including the protagonist Margy, who travel from place to place.  But this is hardly the point of the show!  Symbolism?  Maybe, but to my mind, it’s just one of a number of weird trappings that the creative staff have larded onto what is, in fact, a pretty conventional melodrama.
• • The production has a loose, murky quality • • …
• • This stage review by Grant Golden will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Buffalo Rising; published on Tuesday, 6 August 2019. 
• • On Friday, 30 October 1925 • •
• • Vaudeville News wrote:  Mae West is to be seen in a new act by Ted McLean, entitled "Salomy on Broadway," under the booking direction of Alf T. Wilton. A special set is to be carried with the supporting company consisting of eight people. The act opened at Red Bank, New Jersey this week.
• • Source: Vaudeville News; published on Friday, 30 October 1925.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The Mae West characterizations that Ruth Lockwood, of Leavitt and Lockwood, unreels as part of the Mutts — — with some new tricks — — score heavily.
• • In Her Own Words • •

• • Mae West said: "A book author had more freedom of expression than the stage permitted at that time."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on drag artists mentioned Mae West.
• • John Przybys wrote: “I think ‘drag’ is the species and there are all of these subgroups underneath it,” Frank DeCaro says. “Drag is everything from Milton Berle dressed as Cleopatra to Alaska 5000 dressing as Mae West on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race.’ ”  . . .
• • Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal; published on Tuesday, 8 October 2019
• • 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 15th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,300 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,334th 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml   
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • on a train with Boris Petroff and Jim Timony in 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC  Mae West