Mae West: Narcotic Existence

Like MAE WEST, Diane Arbus was a native New Yorker. An Australian stage play, inspired by their Los Angeles meeting and photo session, was widely reviewed. To commemorate Arbus’s untimely death, age 48, in summer (July 26, 1971), let’s ponder some of those critiques.
• • Let’s hear from another Australian drama critic now. This is Part 10 of of 10 segments, the finale.
• • In Stephen Sewell’s charming “Arbus and West,” feminism boils to the surface • •
• • living in a dream state but yet trapped • •
• • Sandra D’Urso wrote: Sewell empathises with Mae West’s realisation that being a woman is tantamount to living in a dream state, trapped in a condition of artifice and alienation from the world.
• • Sandra D’Urso wrote: It is to enter a contractual agreement to live as though you were a species of living dead trapped beneath a crust of glamour. A narcotic existence, so seemingly pleasurable and sensual that the terror of it escapes all our notice.

• • Sandra D’Urso wrote: I may be over-reaching here, but in the era of #MeToo in the Australian theatrical context there is something deeply hopeful about our most prominent playwrights developing a feminist politics in their work.
• • The play “Arbus and West” was staged at Arts Centre Melbourne until 30 March 2019.
• • Sandra D’Urso’s review has concluded here with Part 10. So enjoyable to share it with you.
• • Source: The Conversation; published on Wednesday, 6 March 2019.
• • On Tuesday, 5 August 1913 • •
• • On Tuesday, 5 August 1913, The New York Tribune's critic commented that even Mae's low neckline and raunchy bumps and grinds were not enough to sway the hoi polloi at Hammerstein's.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • In the early 1930s, when Mae West was vacationing at La Cinta, a posh resort favored by Paramount executives, she had an amazing experience with Amelia Earhart that she wrote about in her memoir “Mae West on Sex, Health and ESP.”
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Jazz suited me — — I liked the beat and emotions."
• • Mae West said: "I like my sexes stable."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Motion Picture Herald mentioned Mae West.
• • Hearst vs. Mae West • •
• • The William Randolph Hearst newspapers editorially lambasted Mae West's new picture this week and followed through with a refusal to accept advertisements for the key city showings now in progress.
• • "Mae West's 'Klondike Annie' is a disgrace to everyone connected with it," editorialized the Hearst papers, adding: "Paramount and Will Hays' office should be ashamed to allow it to be shown to the public."
• • The Paul Block newspapers in the East acted similarly. And, yes, they often do.  …
• • Source: Motion Picture Herald;  published on Saturday, 29 February 1936
• • 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 4,200 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4271st 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 • • photo by Diane Arbus in 1965 • •
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