Mae West: Portugal

A benefit in Lagoa last weekend, that raised funds for a local Donkey Sanctuary, staged a splashy tribute to three iconic artists — — MAE WEST, Edith Piaf, and Amy Winehouse — — and we will let The Portugal News tell the tale.
• • According to The Portugal News staff: Last year she swore she would never do another, this year she said the same, but thank goodness every year director Jenny Grainer changes her mind and puts together one of the region’s most fabulous nights of top acts for what has become the Annual Grand Variety Show — — all in the name of charity.
• • This year the Grand Variety Show — — held on Sunday night in Lagoa’s auditorium and hailed by a full house as the best to date — — raised a fantastic total of €3,572.55, made solely from ticket and raffle sales.
• • Of that amount, €730, raised from the raffle ticket sales alone, will be donated to the Donkey Sanctuary animal refuge, the rest benefiting Lagoa’s Santa Casa da Misericórdia.
• • Thirteen different acts took to the stage for Sunday evening’s show, none of whom had rehearsed together before and yet on the night came together beautifully. Never before had so many fantastic (and voluntary) performers shared a stage.
• • Following an introduction to the benefitting charities by Jenny Grainer, and a word from the evening’s ever-amusing host Ian Carfrae, the show kicked off with ‘Tributes to Iconic Artists.’
• • Tributes to Iconic Artists: 3 Divas of the Decade • •
• • Brilliant impersonations of Mae West (Lara Costa), Amy Winehouse (Carrie-Marie Bratley), and an eerily flawless Edith Piaf (Gloria Costa) followed the Stars Dance School’s toe-tapping tribute to the legendary Michael Jackson. Back-stage sources exclusively told The Portugal News that while notorious Amy did enjoy a glass of wine or two, Mae West and Edith Piaf were tea-total when they took to the stage and oddly none of them made diva-like demands — — except Mae West, whose requests were actually quite basic — — salt and vinegar crisps and a bottle of cold water.
• • The three ‘Divas of the Decade’ shared a dressing room and between them managed to put the world to rights as well as putting on one of the best performances of their careers. ...
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: It was all all right on the night
• • Published by: The Portugal News — — www.the-news.net
• • Published on: 28 November 2009
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• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Lee Solters

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: Janet Jackson

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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