Mae West: A Tale of 2 Januarys

"Diamond Lil" left the Plymouth Theatre on 21 January 1950 and MAE WEST then immediately took the show on the road.
• • The revival enjoyed enormous success at the venerable Plymouth Theatre [236 West 45th Street]. It opened there on 7 September 1949 — — and had 182 performances on Broadway.
• • In his admiring review of her 1949 reinvigorated Bowery queen romp through her popular "naughty nineties" hit, The New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson admitted he was moved to acknowledge what he called — — in an atypically poetic effusion — — ''the sublime fatalism of the entire business,'' and he went on to ask: ''Is she kidding or is she serious?''
• • Final rehearsals for "The Drag" — January 1927 • •
• • Mae West, a world-famous Broadway veteran by January 1950, was in a different situation in January 1927. The early evening was occupied by her starring role in "Sex" — — followed by midnight rehearsals of her homosexual script "The Drag," which was written without a role for her to play.
• • When the play's previews opened in late January 1927 in Bayonne, New Jersey, the police ordered a seated audience out of the theatre. Mae was undeterred. She knew there was an audience who would appreciate her play, a drama that ended in a flashy drag ball "staged with hippodrome elaborations taking up close to twenty minutes of the third act . . . ."
• • During 1926, Jim Timony and Mae had observed the colorful drag cabaret performances going on at Paul and Joe's on West Ninth Street. The restaurant's lay-out was especially suitable. The front room, at ground floor level, had a low ceiling and the dim interior was hidden from view by huge clay pots of bushes. The main room, however, was a substantial salon with a gracious two-story height lit during the day by a magnificent skylight. On three sides of this dining room, a mezzanine skirted along the perimeter; guests could sit at their tables and watch the action below, enjoying the gaudy spectacle without getting too close. Since the mezzanine offered both privacy and access, many celebrities felt comfortable coming here for the "nance" humor including bluebloods, gangsters, reporters, and professional athletes such as Jack Dempsey. New York's Mayor Jimmy Walker was often seen here, too.
• • After meeting a number of these "showgirls," and discussing her project with Timony, Mae West worked on this gay drama-comedy during the latter part of 1926. This is the first time the line "Come up and see me sometime" was used in one of Mae's plays. That line was given to a drag queen.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Here is a tiny excerpt from "The Drag" — — by MAE WEST
• • • • Taxi-Driver: Do you boys want me to wait?
• • • • Clem: You better wait, you great, big, beautiful baby.
• • • • Taxi-Driver: I don't get you guys.
• • • • Clem: If you don't, you're the first taxi-driver that didn't.
• • • • Taxi-Driver: What do you want me to do?
• • • • Clem: Ride me around a while, dearie, and then come back for her, if you're so inclined.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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: Plymouth Rocks

An upcoming Midwest excursion that will dazzle tour-goers with the diamond sparklers once owned by MAE WEST brings to mind the bejeweled star of "Diamond Lil" as she sat in her dressing room on 20 January1950. This was the night before the closing performance when Broadway's box office queen would be returning her gems to Harry Winston for the last time and taking the show on the road again. Imagine her thoughts as she removed those expensive bracelets, brooches, rings, and necklaces, and handed them over to the jeweler's armed courier (the nightly ritual for these borrowed baubles).
• • The "Diamond Lil" revival enjoyed great success at the venerable Plymouth Theatre [236 West 45th Street]. It opened there on 7 September 1949 — — and had four months of performances on Broadway. Specifically, this return engagement enjoyed a 182-performance run.
• • In his admiring review of her 1949 reinvigorated Bowery queen romp through her popular "naughty nineties" hit, The New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson admitted he was moved to acknowledge what he called — — in an atypically poetic effusion — — ''the sublime fatalism of the entire business,'' and he went on to ask: ''Is she kidding or is she serious?''
• • Knowing Mae, the likely answer is both.
• • Built in 1917, the Plymouth Theatre [236 West 45th Street], which seats 1093, was renamed the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in 2005.
• • Nothing stays the same in New York City — — and yet the affection for the Brooklyn bombshell endures.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1949 • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: Harry Warren

During the revival of "Diamond Lil," featured with MAE WEST, was Harry Warren.
• • Born (like Mae) during 1893 in Brooklyn, New York, Harry Warren [1893 — 1981] performed in the Naughty 90s comedy-melodrama in the role of Jerry.
• • Harry Warren — — who died on 22 September 1981 — — was featured in three different productions of Mae's Broadway blockbuster: 14 September 1951 — 10 November 1951 at the Broadway Theatre; 7 September 1949 — 21 January 1950 at the Plymouth Theatre; 5 February 1949 — 26 February 1949 at the Coronet Theatre.
• • Built in 1924, the Broadway Theatre [1681 Broadway at West 53rd Street] was constructed as a 1761-seat house; "Shrek, the Musical" is playing there now.
• • Built in 1917, the Plymouth Theatre [236 West 45th Street], which seats 1093, was renamed the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in 2005.
• • Built in 1925, the Coronet Theatre [230 West 49th Street], which seats 1108, was renamed the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in 1959.
• • Mae West broke her ankle on 26 February 1949, causing the performances to halt and putting Harry Warren back on the unemployed list, temporarily. However, he was rehired for the September 1949 run and rejoined the crew in Gus Jordan's Bowery Saloon — — sixty years ago this month.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1949 at the Coronet • •
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Mae West: Lil Thrills

Calendar girl MAE WEST was noted in Playbill's long-running feature: "Today In Theatre History: September 7."
• • Theatre chronicler David Gewirtzman writes: 7 September 1949 Mae West stars in a hit revival of her own play, Diamond Lil, for a 182-performance run at the Plymouth Theatre.
• • Last month, the annual Mae West walking tour paused at this popular playhouse on August 16th, and vintage Mae-memorabilia was shown to the group.
• • The Diamond Lil revival enjoyed great success at the venerable Plymouth Theatre [236 West 45th Street]. It opened there on 7 September 1949 — — and had four months of performances on Broadway.
• • In his admiring review of her 1949 reinvigorated Bowery queen romp through her popular "naughty nineties" hit, The New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson admitted he was moved to acknowledge what he called — — in an atypically poetic effusion — — ''the sublime fatalism of the entire business,'' and he went on to ask: ''Is she kidding or is she serious?''
• • Knowing Mae, the likely answer is both.
• • Are you a theatre buff? Then you ought to visit Playbill online — — www.playbill.com — — 'cause playgoers are much more fascinating than playboys.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
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Mae West: Gingerly

MAE WEST was inspired by "The Hairy Ape," a popular play written by Eugene O'Neill.
• • She certainly saw it once — — and possibly twice — — before it ended its Broadway run at the Plymouth Theatre [236 West 45th Street, NYC] on the 1st of July 1922.
• • July 28th — 29th, 1922 • •
• • For the out-of-town try-outs of her new show "The Ginger Box Revue" in Connecticut on July 28 and July 29th, 1922, Mae West had polished her parody of O'Neill's tragic hero.
• • According to biographer Emily Wortis Leider, Mae West burlesqued the character: “Yank was the very sort of brutish caveman type Mae West favored as a foil to play against, onstage and off — — in O’Neill’s hands a somber and powerful archetype, and in hers a comic cartoon rendered with broad strokes.”
• • Backed by a dozen chorines (the Stoker Girls) and a black orchestra, Mae sang, “Eugene O’Neill, You’ve Put a Curse on Broadway” and bellowed “Yank-style” lines including, “She don me doit! Lemme up! I’ll show her who’s an ape.”
• • Rehearse your favorite Mae West lines right on Broadway on Sunday afternoon 16 August 2009, when a guided tour will explore Manhattan's WEST-side during the "Gaudy Girls on The Great White Way: Mae West and Texas Guinan in the Theatre District" walking tour. The annual event — — open to the public — — is timed to salute the Brooklyn bombshell on her birthdate: 17 August 1893.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1923 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Mae West.

Mae West: January 1950

"Diamond Lil" left the Plymouth Theatre on 21 January 1950 and MAE WEST then immediately took the show on the road.
• • The revival enjoyed great success at the venerable Plymouth Theatre [236 West 45th Street]. It opened there on 7 September 1949 — — and had 182 performances on Broadway.
• • In his admiring review of her 1949 reinvigorated Bowery queen romp through her popular "naughty nineties" hit, The New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson admitted he was moved to acknowledge what he called — — in an atypically poetic effusion — — ''the sublime fatalism of the entire business,'' and he went on to ask: ''Is she kidding or is she serious?''
• • Knowing Mae, the likely answer is both.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: Hairy

MAE WEST was inspired by "The Hairy Ape," a popular play written by Eugene O'Neill.
• • She certainly saw it once — — and possibly twice — — before it ended its Broadway run at the Plymouth Theatre [236 West 45th Street, NYC] on the 1st of July 1922.
• • For the out-of-town try-outs of her new show "The Ginger Box Revue" in Connecticut on July 28 and July 29th, 1922, Mae West had polished her parody of O'Neill's tragic hero.
• • According to biographer Emily Wortis Leider, Mae West burlesqued the character: “Yank was the very sort of brutish caveman type Mae West favored as a foil to play against, onstage and off — — in O’Neill’s hands a somber and powerful archetype, and in hers a comic cartoon rendered with broad strokes.”
• • Backed by a dozen chorines (the Stoker Girls) and a black orchestra, Mae sang, “Eugene O’Neill, You’ve Put a Curse on Broadway” and bellowed “Yank-style” lines including, “She don me doit! Lemme up! I’ll show her who’s an ape.”
• • Rehearse your favorite Mae West lines right on Broadway on Friday evening 17 August 2007, when a guided tour will explore Manhattan's WEST-side during the "Mae West Side Story" walking tour. The event — — open to the public — — is timed to salute Brooklyn's own sexpot on her birthdate. [See the Annual Mae West Gala posting below.]
• • Only 19 more days until Mae's birthday!
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • April 1923 • •
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Mae West.