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On 15 May 2010, at the Cascades Casino Summit Theatre, MAE WEST, Cher, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Barbra Streisand, and eight other famous females will share the stage — — and the voice and body of the British Columbia based entertainer Bonnie Kilroe.
• • Bonnie's revue "Vegas Meets Vaudeville" has, she said, "the glam and glitz of Vegas and the slapstick comedy/ audience participation of old school vaudeville."
• • The Canadian actress went through a similar situation as Mae West once did: tired of waiting to be cast in someone else's show, she developed her own. Though she began with impressions of the late Patsy Cline, she felt portraying only one individual was too limiting and boring. Increasing her number of characters also forced her to upgrade her wardrobe and wigs. Bookings at local saloons, war veterans gatherings, and social clubs led to fancier engagements at golf resorts, at corporate celebrations, and on cruises.
• • Bonnie, now a polished quick-change artist and seasoned impressionist, has expanded her act. "I do characters that cover every age group... Mae West and Carmen Miranda for the older generations and Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga for the youth," she explained. "And then there are characters for everyone — — Cher, Marilyn Monroe, and Tina Turner."
• • WHERE to see Bonnie Kilroe's "Vegas Meets Vaudeville" — — Cascades Casino Summit Theatre: 20393 Fraser Hwy, Langley, BC Canada V3A 7N2; T. 604-530-2211.
• • Tell them you heard about it on the MAE WEST BLOG.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West.
Word comes that a publicist who worked with MAE WEST has gone to the everlasting "Spin City" in the beyond.
• • Born in Brooklyn like Mae, Lee Solters came into the world on 23 June 1919. A creative person who enjoyed writing, the native New Yorker studied journalism and advertising at New York University. He covered high school basketball for The New York Times before he was drafted. While in the military, he penned pieces for Stars & Stripes. After receiving discharge papers, Solters began his own public relations firm during 1948 with partner James J. O'Rourke: Solters O'Rourke.
• • During the 1940s and 1950s, columnists were regulars at the top nightspots. Solters dropped in at clubs like Toots Shor and learned how to plant items with gossip guru Walter Winchell and finesse favorable mentions with society snitch Hedda Hopper.
• • The New York Times (and others) have made mention of his shrewdness. For example, one trick was devised to aid producer David Merrick to salvage a foundering Broadway show: Lee Solters and Merrick concocted a newspaper advertisement with quotations from men they had found in the phone book with the same names as top theater critics.
• • It has been said that in the late 1970s, Mr. Solters moved to Hollywood, where he helped set the trend for hiring entertainers to sell products and images. Forty years before that, however, Mae West was hired to lend glamour and sex appeal to cigarette brands and even soap in the 1930s.• • Unlike many theatrical press agents of today — — who charge $7,500 + merely to send out a boring press release by fax — — it seems that Lee Solters had the imagination, personal touch, amicable deceitfulness, and discernment that creates buzz.
• • His client roster of entertainment stars included: Mae West, Benny Goodman, Cher, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, the Muppets, Cary Grant, Led Zeppelin, Dolly Parton, and others. He claimed he knew Dolly when she was still flat-chested.
• • He also worked with more than 300 Broadway productions, musicals, and dramas including "Guys and Dolls," "Funny Girl," "The King & I," "My Fair Lady," "Camelot." as well as works by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Neil Simon. In Nevada, he repped Sinatra, Caesars Palace, and (eventually), the City of Las Vegas.
• • Solters' namesake public relations firm says the New York native died at age 89 at his West Hollywood, California home on Monday morning.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West.
"MAE WEST in the fashion pages?" you ask — — and why not?
• • What designers desire most is to enter the high blue door of interpretation. It's merely cut cloth that sewing machines piece together, after all. To give fashion context, there must be retrospectives, muses, icons, and that happy tag-along element: flair. 
• • Last month, British tabloids ran photographs of Kate Moss as she was busy purchasing a £12 T-shirt from the Camden branch of Snappy Snaps. A reporter noted that Kate Moss chose one featuring a print of Mae West — — with the logo "Mae the spirit be with you!" written across the front.
• • Buttocks clenched, the UK Style Desk went into overdrive, shrieking: She's always had an eye for a trend, but even Kate Moss's most devoted fans may be surprised by the supermodel's latest fashion foray. For eschewing her usual haute couture haunts last week, Moss was to be seen shopping at budget camera shop Snappy Snaps, hardly known for its stylish credentials. Dressed down and hiding behind a pair of Prada sunglasses, she was spotted in the store's Camden branch buying a £12 T-shirt from its Demented Divas range, which includes images of Mae West, Cher, Shirley Bassey, and Madonna.
• • About her a-MAE-zing T-selection, designer Al Pillay exclaimed: 'I'm thrilled that Kate Moss has one. They've become very sought-after images. Amy Winehouse has one [from UK's The Daily Mail, 27 April 2009, page 35]." Soon all the capons will be sporting them (once they discover the coke-heads are snapping 'em up)! If you see the shirt being worn in your area, especially by any bow-legged jezebels, do phone in.
• • Al Pillay originally did these amusing sketches for his personal greeting card line. What do you think of his version of Mae West?
• • Also in the United Kingdom, the trendy femme brand Hellz Bellz channelled Mae for their Christmas Holiday catalogue last year — — Hellz 2008 Holiday ‘Born Bad’ Collection. Toasting the Brooklyn bombshell, and what she meant to them, the designers called the line "Born Bad." Their press release explained: “Our Holiday 2008 collection represents for the “Born Bad” femme fatale. With Mae West’s racy quotes which sprang, tough-dame style from the side of her mouth, she’s been firmly stamped as the personification of Hellz through her story of survival, persistence, independence, and unshakable self-esteem. In her life which ended in 1980, at the age of 87, she became both an icon and pioneer for both men and women everywhere.”
• • Two fashion tributes to the Empress of Sex, a durable diva, from King Arthur's country. Right-oh!• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Al Pillay's greeting card • •
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Mae West.
• • According to Hollywood portraitist Michael Childers, MAE WEST knew the exact light in which she wanted to be photographed.
• • Michael Childers remembered meeting both Greta Garbo and Mae West at a party and asking Miss West if he could shoot her while she was filming "Myra Breckinridge."
• • Mae West agreed, said the lensman, as long as it wasn't on the set near Raquel Welch. When Childers entered her trailer, he noticed that Mae had pink spotlights lined up exactly where she wanted them.
• • "Now you can photograph me," the well-prepared actress announced.
• • The Friends of the Rancho Mirage Public Library in July will hold an opening reception for an exhibit featuring celebrity portraits by internationally known photographer Michael Childers.
• • His photographic collection includes Mae West, Clint Eastwood, John Travolta, Bernadette Peters, Bette Midler, and Cher.
• • An enormous influence on Michael Childers's career was his long-term lover John Schlesinger, an Oscar-winning director. For nearly 40 years, they were a gay couple in Hollywood from 1966 until the 77-year-old's death [in July 2003]. Naturally, they were invited everywhere together and this gave the newcomer easy access to Hollywood's best and brightest. He estimated he shot 60,000 Tinseltown photographs of cinema's most indelible icons — — including the most memorable Mae West.
• • On 8 July 2008 a free reception begins 5:30 p.m. at the Rancho Mirage Public Library, 71-100 Highway 111.
• • The exhibit runs through 31 October 2008. Info: 341-7323.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • by Michael Childers • •
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Mae West.
It was on 9 April 1974 that young Janet Damita Jo Jackson [born in Indiana on 16 May 1966] stepped onstage dressed as MAE WEST.
• • The little girl was making her public debut performance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with the better-known members of her singing family. The adorable, chubby-cheeked 8-year-old soon became an audience favorite with her imitations of Mae West, Cher, Marie Osmond, Toni Tennille, etc. And by 1976, the Jackson family's Las Vegas act caught the attention of CBS president Fred Silverman.
• • Next month you could own Janet Jackson's Mae West costume along with other pieces of pop culture history. On May 30-31, 2007, "The Fabulous Jacksons Auction" will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Hundred of items once owned by Janet, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, and their family are being auctioned.
• • Memorabilia up for sale will include handwritten lyrics, a wireless mike used by the gloved one, and - - most importantly - - Janet's MAE WEST costume.
• • Guernsey's auction catalogue [http://www.guernseys.com] described it like this:
• • • • JANET JACKSON'S "MAE WEST" COSTUME • • • •The young (approximately 8-10 years old) Janet Jackson wore this tailored Mae West costume while performing with her family in a Las Vegas stage act. The bodice is fashioned in shades of a pink satin-like material and embellished with sequins and layers of tulle at the hemline. Complete with matching ornate hat. Excellent condition.
• • Hard Rock Hotel: 4475 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89109.
• • The auction catalogue is for sale. For a copy, phone Guernsey in NYC: 212-794-2280.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • to come • •NYC
Mae West.
