Mae West: Marquee Name

Alec Moss was interviewed for a charming piece about how MAE WEST's star was rising at Paramount. This is a short excerpt of the article that was published in The Pittsburgh Press in 1934.
• • Mae West's star rises at Paramount Pictures.• •
• • What about Mae West? You might say that Mae West is The Paramount Star. • •
• • For certainly, Mae West's name on a marquee means more to Paramount at this time than any of its other notables.
• • But aren't Mae West's pictures sexy and inimical to the morals of the community? "Absolutely not," almost shouted Mr. Alec Moss.
• • He added, "Mae West kids the very daylights out of sex. She has her audience laughing at it. She holds it up to ridicule. And, as everyone knows, the best weapon against any person or thing is laughter." . . .
• • "Anyway the screen players' private lives are their own business, to my way of looking at it. Whatever they are in private life has nothing to do with the characters they portray on the screen and vice versa," Alec Moss explained.
• • "Take Mae West, for instance," Alec Moss added. "She is an ardent Catholic [sic], going to Mass regularly. Is there any scandal about her private life? On the silver screen Mae West is not portraying Mae West but merely a character ―  ― a character that, in itself, is essentially wholesome."
• • Source: The Pittsburgh Press; published on Monday, 4 June 1934.
• • On Friday, 5 October 1928 in Cornell Daily Sun • •
• • "Mae West Show Closed by Police; 57 Indicted" • •

• • New York, October 4 — The 56 members of the cast of "Pleasure Man" and Mae West its author, were indicted today by the Grand Jury ... under the penal code relating to indecent theatrical productions and will be arraigned in general sessions tomorrow.
• • The accused were taken to the West Side court after the indictments had been handed down but the hearing was adjourned at the request of District Attorney Banton.
• • Source: Article in Cornell Daily Sun, Issue 11, on Friday, 5 October 1928.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West and her sister, Beverly,have opened a Chinese chow mein factory in Los Angeles.  Of course, Beverly will actually operate the factory, but Mae's money is invested. Mae has purchased ten pure white delivery cars, and sends fine Chinese dinners on order to private homes.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Women like a man with a past — — but they prefer a man with a present.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Macleans Magazine discussed diamonds and Mae West.
• • Can You Tell Which of Her Gems Are Real? • •
• • Mae West Had Words for It • •
• • Margo Fischer wrote: Everyone knows that a diamond is the hardest known substance and the men who are trying to reproduce them agree with “Diamond Lil” Mae West’s quip on the subject.
• • Margo Fischer wrote: Said Mae, “Diamonds are the hardest substance in the world. The hardest to get and the hardest to keep.” ...
• • Source: Macleans Magazine; published on Tuesday, 1 November 1949
• • 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 16th 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 4,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,575th 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  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Mae West in court in 1928 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Dep't of Corrections

It is so fabulous to see MAE WEST featured in New York Magazine — — in a sassy shortie scripted by the venerable Frank Rich, formerly The N.Y. Times's chief drama desk dragon.
• • Rich's fascinating feature is here, in its entirety. It behooves us to clarify the account, however, and correct errors of fact made by Frank Rich directly underneath his text.
• • • Mae West “Sex” Capade! • • •
• • • Plays prostie on the Great White Way, wears silk undies in jail • • •
• • • By Frank Rich, New York Magazine, 1 April 2012 issue • • •
• • • • • • 1927 • • • • • •
• • • Frank Rich writes: In a 1925 — 1926 New York theater season with acclaimed new plays by O’Neill (The Great God Brown), O’Casey (Juno and the Paycock), and Coward (Hay Fever), critics agreed that the rock bottom was Sex, the first Broadway vehicle written by and starring the voluptuous vaudeville trouper Mae West. Sex was “street sweepings,” in the verdict of The New Yorker, and “a crude, inept play, cheaply produced and poorly acted,” according to the Times. The paper’s review did helpfully note that the show’s “one torrid love scene” lived up to its title. An ad warning patrons who “cannot stand excitement” to “see your doctor before visiting Mae West” didn’t hurt either. The play outlasted nearly all the competition. Variety christened its heroine, a Montreal lady of the evening with a fondness for sailors, “the Babe Ruth of stage prosties.”
• • • Frank Rich writes: Politics turned a hit into a Jazz Age phenomenon. When New York’s rakish mayor, Jimmy Walker, took a Havana holiday in February 1927, the acting mayor, Joseph V. (“Holy Joe”) McKee, raided three risqué Broadway shows. West was the prime target: Sex, then in the tenth month of its run, had been seen by 325,000 theatergoers. To the delight of the tabloid press, its twenty actors were hauled off to a police station in Hell’s Kitchen. The star spent the night in the Jefferson Market Women’s Prison.
• • • Frank Rich writes: West bailed out her company. The court had offered to drop charges if she would close the show. But she knew that in showbiz, crime paid. The grand jury’s claim that her “obscene, indecent, immoral, and impure drama” would abet “the corruption of the morals of youth” was better than any rave review. Festooned with white roses, she rode a limo [sic] to incarceration on Welfare Island and boasted of wearing silk underwear throughout her eight-day stay there. When Liberty magazine paid her $1,000 for an exit interview, she used it to start a Mae West Memorial Library for female prisoners.
• • • Frank Rich writes: A later West play — — The Pleasure Man, awash in female impersonators and homosexuality — — would be raided and shut down at its second Broadway performance [sic] in 1928. Undaunted, she eventually revived Sex and toured the Depression-era Midwest without incident, before arriving in Hollywood, where, paired with Cary Grant and W. C. Fields, she hit superstardom as she was reaching 40. The Bushwick-born, self-invented West (1893 — 1980) wrote the Ur-text for Madonna and Lady Gaga, repeatedly breaking gender and sexual barriers over a marathon career as a writer, performer, free-speech provocateur, and showbiz entrepreneur. Her pioneering playbook for turning scandal into profits remains the gold standard in American pop culture to this day. [ Download the Complete History of Scandals ]
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Corrections about Mae's ride to the Workhouse in April 1927 • •
• • A New York City police van drove Mae West along with two Black inmates and two police matrons to the Women's Workhouse. There were no flowers and no limousine mentioned in any news accounts nor in Mae's own article about the experience, printed in Liberty Magazine.
• • On 20 April 1927 several newspaper headlines read: "Mae West Goes to Workhouse to Start Sentence" and the subhead explained further: Actress-Author of "Sex" Taken to Welfare Island With Two Negresses.
• • Here is one front page headline: MAE WEST GOES TO WORKHOUSE IN VAN WITH TWO NEGRESSES. In the middle of the bridge, a huge elevator lowered the vehicle onto the island.
• • Here is another front page headline along with a news item: MAE WEST BEGINS TEN DAYS TERM IN PRISON — — Mae West, the star and the co-author of SEX, and two negresses and two white women as fellow passengers left Jefferson Market Women's Prison today for the workhouse on Welfare Island where she will serve nine days of the ten days sentence imposed yesterday for giving an obscene performance. Clarence W. Morganstern manager of the production and James A. Timony are serving their ten day sentences at the Tombs. ... [Source: Associated Press, printed in Frederick News Post on 20 April 1927 on the front page]
• • Corrections about "The Pleasure Man" police raid October 1928 • •
• • PHOTO: Mae with the cast in court on 3 October 1928
• • Mae West's play "The Pleasure Man" was staged at the Biltmore Theatre. The raid at the Biltmore is dramatized in Act I, Scene 1 of "Courting Mae West." At the Royale Theatre, as Mae puts on her costume and prepares to go onstage as Diamond Lil, Texas Guinan comes backstage to tell her police have already surrounded the playhouse on West 47th Street and are prepared for a raid on opening night, Monday, 1 October 1928.
• • Producer Carl Reed and lawyer James Timony secured an injunction. "The Pleasure Man" was able to give a second performance on Tuesday, 2 October 1928, then the police padlocked the show for good.
• • Headlines in The N.Y. Times on Tuesday, 2 October 1928 (front page) — —
• • • • RAID MAE WEST PLAY, SEIZE 56 at OPENING; Police Arrest Entire Cast of "Pleasure Man" After Last Act at Biltmore Theatre. INDECENCY IS CHARGED Law Hits Actress-Author a 2nd Time — — Playhouse Is Surrounded After Show. No Theatre Attaches Held. Police Guard Exits. RAID MAE WEST PLAY, Order Treated Lightly. Author Freed on Bail. 21 Seized in Raid on "Sex." WEST PLAY A "HODGE-PODGE." "Pleasure Man," With Vaudeville Background, Scrambled in Theme. NY Times. Oct 2, 1928. p. 1 (of 2 pages)
• • Headlines in The N.Y. Times on Wednesday, 3 October 1928 (page 33) — —
• • • • COURT STAYS POLICE on MAE WEST PLAY; Writ Bars Interference Until Friday and 'Pleasure Man' Is Performed to Full House. CASES OF 56 UP TOMORROW Cant Pleads Not Guilty and Bail Is Continued — — Walker Revealed as Instigator of Raid. Seeks Conference With Warren. Arrests May Still Be Made. Author Appears Concerned. NY Times, Oct 3, 1928. p. 33
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2264th 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:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in court, 3 October 1928 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Ed Hearn

MAE WEST wanted to give her gay friends a chance to be seen on Broadway. In 1928, she cast the 40-year-old gay actor Ed Hearn in "Pleasure Man" as Toto, a retired performer who hosts a colorful drag ball in Act 3, which is set in the drawing room of Toto's apartment. On 1 October 1928, Hearn was arrested with the rest of the cast the Biltmore Theatre and, along with Mae West, he had to defend the play in court.
• • The raid at the Biltmore opens Act II of "Courting Mae West," a play based on true events during the Prohibition Era [from December 1926 — December 1932].
• • PHOTO: Texas Guinn (actress Eileen Glenn) tells Mae West (actress Yvonne Sayers) that the NYC police have surrounded the Biltmore on West 47th Street, as Mae is about to go onstage at the Royale Theatre in "Diamond Lil" on 1 October 1928.
• • Born in Dayton, Washington as Guy Edward Hearn in early September — — on 6 September 1888 — — the six-foot-one hopeful set his cap for the screen trade and went to California. He was first used in a short subject "The Fool's Heart" [1915] when he was 27. Married at the time to Tryna Saindon, the couple had a son, born in Los Angeles during the summer of 1916, and they named their only child Edward.
• • Hollywood kept him hopping. Between 1915 — 1955, Hearn appeared in over 350 films and was an assistant director on two of them. Edward Hearn had a chance to work with Mae twice; he was seen onscreen as the croupier in "Belle of the Nineties" [1934].
• • Ed Hearn died in Los Angeles on 15 April 1963 at age 74. It is unclear if he was still with the mother of his son by then, however, Tryna Saindon Hearn kept his name and died in 1971.
• • Irving Bacon [1893 — 1965] • •
• • In "Every Day's a Holiday" (1937), Mae West worked with Irving Bacon. The seasoned six-footer was seen (briefly) as a quartet member. The busy bit parts player was better known for an on-going role in "Blondie," however.
• • Born in the month of September — — on 6 September 1893 — — in St. Joseph, Missouri, Irving Bacon launched his cinema career in 1913 at the Keystone Studios, where his craggy features and athletic ability was most suitable for broad slapstick.
• • There were literally hundreds of casting directors who hired him to portray a flustered foreman, bartender, soda jerk, mailman, clerk, chauffeur, handyman, cabbie, etc. — — especially if the role called for amusing frustration or pop-eyed perplexity. During the 1930s — 1940s Irving Bacon found his calling as Mr. Crumb, the postman whose bundle of mail is pre-destined to collide with late-for-work Dagwood Bumstead in the "Blondie" series.
• • Irving Bacon died in Hollywood, California on 5 February 1965. He was 71.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West wrote this: "When I'm good, I'm very good — — but when I'm bad, I'm better."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A statue, that once stood behind a Chicago mansion, is known as Mae West. Why?
• • Marcia Lane writes: Slip around to the back of the Lightner Museum [in St. Augustine, FL] and you can contemplate a mystery. Situated atop a tall pedestal is the mystery lady that Otto Lightner and his staff referred to as "Mae West."
• • Marcia Lane continues: Mae West was an extremely popular early actress whose dialogue had a way of sending movie censors rushing for a scalpel to use on her scripts. Short and well-endowed, she was an early version of the perennial Hollywood favorite — — a blonde bombshell. The Lightner statue is part of every tour bus operator's spiel ....
• • Mae West arrives
• • Marcia Lane adds: A clipping from The St. Augustine Record in 1949 notes that "'Mae West' arrived yesterday lying down in a truck ... and will be set on a concrete pedestal to dominate the park of the Lightner Museum." ...
• • Source: Article: "'Mae West' stands tall in city — — Statue behind museum was once in Lightner's Chicago mansion" written by Marcia Lane for St. Augustine Record; posted on 5 September 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2045th 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:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • scene from "Courting Mae West" Act II • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Gay Blades

MAE WEST's gay play "Pleasure Man" had a $200,000 box office advance when it premiered at the Biltmore [West 47th Street] on 1 October 1928. The police raided the show, however, and padlocked the production the same night. Gay plays were an easy target — — since homosexuals were considered degenerates during the Roaring 20s and degeneracy was prohibited on the legitimate stage, according to the New York State Penal Code.
• • It was eighty-one years ago — — on 2 October 1928 — — when Mae West appeared in court to answer charges that she had written and produced an "immoral" play. Wire services sent out her photograph, explaining that the entire cast had been arrested after one opening performance. The players were later released on bail. Mae, of course, was becoming a familiar face at Jefferson Market Court [then located on Sixth Avenue and West Ninth Street in Greenwich Village]. This was the same judicial complex in which she had been tried for her play "Sex" — — and had been found guilty.
• • The infamous raid at the Biltmore is dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West." In "Courting Mae West," Texas Guinan visits Mae West backstage at the Royale Theatre to warn her about the raid.
• • Opened in 1925, the Biltmore also launched a number of successes, most notably "Brother Rat" (with Jose Ferrer); "See My Lawyer" (with Milton Berle); and the long-running tribal rock musical of the 1960s "Hair."
• • After years of neglect, the Biltmore was magnificently renovated and became the Tony Award-winning Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway headquarters. It was decided that the playhouse will be renamed the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in recognition of the pioneering Broadway publicist.
• • Friedman represented Mae West along with a long roster of notable names. An impressive bronze plaque, currently affixed to the front wall, bears a flattering likeness of the man along with a short bio.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • October 1928 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: 1 October 1928

When it premiered at the Biltmore Theatre on 1 October 1928, MAE WEST's gay play "Pleasure Man" had a $200,000 box office advance. The police raided the show, however, and shut it down the same night. Perhaps this was an easy target, since the Biltmore Theatre was on the same block as the precinct: 47th Street, west of Broadway.
• • The infamous raid at the Biltmore on 1 October 1928 is dramatized via a backstage visit to Mae's dressing room at the Royale Theatre, as the actress prepares to go onstage as the diamond-draped Bowery queen and consort of mobster Gus Jordan.• • "Courting Mae West" is seeking a co-producer and backers for a for-profit production.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • "Courting Mae West" — — excerpt from ACT II, Scene 1 • •
• • • MAE WEST
That you, Jim?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN (TEXAS, age 44, enters MAE’s room clad in furs and diamonds)
The “butter and egg man” sent me, angel-pie.
• • • MAE WEST
The speakeasy hostess film-star herself! Still shooting in Flatbush? How’s it rolling, Texas?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
It’s top-hat heavy. There’s a comical danse macabre with a District Attorney and a Judge.
• • • MAE WEST
Legal beagles! Don’t spoil my mood. Backers shouldn’t come backstage. It’s unlucky.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Pat from Variety visited the set of Queen of the Night Clubs. I steered her to your show tonight.
• • • MAE WEST
Oy! Variety’s always given me a black eye in print. They get my knickers in a knot.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
This chick is a FAN. Pat admires the up-from-nothing Fellatio Alger characters in your plays.
• • • MAE WEST
My stomach’s full of “opening night” butterflies. Got enough congrats to wallpaper with.
(MAE shows TEXAS telegrams that arrived via Western Union)• • • TEXAS GUINAN (TEXAS examines the telegrams)
• • • MAE WEST (MAE puts on stage jewelry for her role as the star of Diamond Lil)
Bet it warms Pat’s heart — to sit with you, basking in the glow of your investment-grade jewelry.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
We would’ve had yuks. (pause) But you’ll be busy tonight — a little grape told me as it whined.
• • • MAE WEST
The Bowery Queen here is about to go on! Diamonds is my career…. NIX the BAD NEWS!
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
You need to know! Before he left for D.C., our Mayor gave his okay for a raid — at the Biltmore.
• • • MAE WEST (MAE is outraged and jumps out of her seat)
WHAT! It’s our opening night at the Biltmore! Tex, who told you there’ll be a raid tonight?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Walter Winchell doesn’t call me the gatekeeper of gossip for nothing.
• • • MAE WEST
Pleasure Man has a $200,000 advance. Who wants to sink my ship on its maiden voyage?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
It’s pressure from the Prevention of Vice cranks. They’d convict the 12 apostles, if they could.
• • • MAE WEST
Convict! Stop with the unlucky words. My mother suffered when they jailed me last year.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
I’ve learned to see the sunny side. Prison is one place where my diamonds seem safe.
• • • MAE WEST
Sunny! My trial ate my bankbook. I wanted to buy my parents a house. Now another raid!
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Scandal is a career move. This time play the damsel in distress on the witness stand.
• • • MAE WEST
Mae West doesn’t do PATHETIC. (pause) Tex, what can be done to trouble-shoot this?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Honey-child, the problem with trouble-shooting is that, invariably, trouble shoots back.
• • • MAE WEST
Aww! My butterflies just went into battle formation. Diamond Lil goes on in thirty minutes.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Relax. You’ll get fried on the front page and it’ll boost your box office higher than a zeppelin.
• • • MAE WEST
Our Biltmore premier was sold out. An injunction can keep the show on — maybe. (MAE exits, bad posture revealing her agony from stomach cramps)
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Never met a chick who was hurt by a headline. Give the little girl a nice big (pause) handcuff. (TEXAS exits with great style)
• • • • • • [LIGHTS: dim lights in MAE’s dressing room, Royale Theatre]
— — Excerpt: — —
• • • © "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets" by LindaAnn Loschiavo
• • • This play is protected under U.S. copyright law.
• • • NO permission is being given to duplicate this text anywhere else. Thank you.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • 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 • •• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYCMae West.

Mae West: Heart of Texas

The famous speakeasy hostess Texas Guinan backed Broadway shows including "Diamond Lil" starring MAE WEST. As New Yorkers prepare for the "Gaudy Girls on The Great White Way" walking tour on August 16th, here's a small section from the opening of ACT II of "Courting Mae West," a play based on true events during the Prohibition Era.
• • Mae West's gay play "Pleasure Man" had a $200,000 box office advance when it premiered at the Biltmore on 1 October 1928. The police raided the show, however, and shut it down the same night. Perhaps this was an easy target, since the Biltmore Theatre was on the same block as the precinct: 47th Street, west of Broadway.
• • The infamous raid at the Biltmore on 1 October 1928 is dramatized via a backstage visit to Mae's dressing room at the Royale Theatre, as the actress prepares to go onstage as the diamond-draped Bowery queen and consort of mobster Gus Jordan.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • "Courting Mae West" — — excerpt from ACT II, Scene 1 • •
• • • MAE WEST
That you, Jim?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN (TEXAS, age 44, enters MAE’s room clad in furs and diamonds)
The “butter and egg man” sent me, angel-pie.
• • • MAE WEST
The speakeasy hostess film-star herself! Still shooting in Flatbush? How’s it rolling, Texas?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
It’s top-hat heavy. There’s a comical danse macabre with a District Attorney and a Judge.
• • • MAE WEST
Legal beagles! Don’t spoil my mood. Backers shouldn’t come backstage. It’s unlucky.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Pat from Variety visited the set of Queen of the Night Clubs. I steered her to your show tonight.
• • • MAE WEST
Oy! Variety’s always given me a black eye in print. They get my knickers in a knot.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
This chick is a FAN. Pat admires the up-from-nothing Fellatio Alger characters in your plays.
• • • MAE WEST
My stomach’s full of “opening night” butterflies. Got enough congrats to wallpaper with.
(MAE shows TEXAS telegrams that arrived via Western Union)
• • • TEXAS GUINAN (TEXAS examines the telegrams)
• • • MAE WEST (MAE puts on stage jewelry for her role as the star of Diamond Lil)
Bet it warms Pat’s heart — to sit with you, basking in the glow of your investment-grade jewelry.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
We would’ve had yuks. (pause) But you’ll be busy tonight — a little grape told me as it whined.
• • • MAE WEST
The Bowery Queen here is about to go on! Diamonds is my career…. NIX the BAD NEWS!
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
You need to know! Before he left for D.C., our Mayor gave his okay for a raid — at the Biltmore.
• • • MAE WEST (MAE is outraged and jumps out of her seat)
WHAT! It’s our opening night at the Biltmore! Tex, who told you there’ll be a raid tonight?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Walter Winchell doesn’t call me the gatekeeper of gossip for nothing.
• • • MAE WEST
Pleasure Man has a $200,000 advance. Who wants to sink my ship on its maiden voyage?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
It’s pressure from the Prevention of Vice cranks. They’d convict the 12 apostles, if they could.
• • • MAE WEST
Convict! Stop with the unlucky words. My mother suffered when they jailed me last year.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
I’ve learned to see the sunny side. Prison is one place where my diamonds seem safe.
• • • MAE WEST
Sunny! My trial ate my bankbook. I wanted to buy my parents a house. Now another raid!
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Scandal is a career move. This time play the damsel in distress on the witness stand.
• • • MAE WEST
Mae West doesn’t do PATHETIC. (pause) Tex, what can be done to trouble-shoot this?
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Honey-child, the problem with trouble-shooting is that, invariably, trouble shoots back.
• • • MAE WEST
Aww! My butterflies just went into battle formation. Diamond Lil goes on in thirty minutes.
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Relax. You’ll get fried on the front page and it’ll boost your box office higher than a zeppelin.
• • • MAE WEST
Our Biltmore premier was sold out. An injunction can keep the show on — maybe. (MAE exits, bad posture revealing her agony from stomach cramps)
• • • TEXAS GUINAN
Never met a chick who was hurt by a headline. Give the little girl a nice big (pause) handcuff. (TEXAS exits with great style)
• • • • • • [LIGHTS: dim lights in MAE’s dressing room, Royale Theatre]
— — Excerpt: — —
• • • © "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets" by LindaAnn Loschiavo
• • • This play is protected under U.S. copyright law.
• • • NO permission is being given to duplicate this text anywhere else. Thank you.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Walking Tour: "Gaudy Girls on The Gay White Way: Mae West & Texas Guinan in the Theatre District"
• • When: 4:00 PM on Sunday — — 16 August 2008 — — rain or shine
• • Meet: Shubert Alley, 44th Street, West of Broadway, New York, NY 10036
• • Price: $10 [this walking tour lasts about 90 minutes]
• • Previous walking tour photos can be seen on the Mae West Blog — — MaeWest.blogspot.com.
• • For more details, do read previous posts on this blog.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West [centerstage] portrayed by Yvonne Sayers, Texas Guinan [in white hat] played by Eileen Glenn • • 1927 trial scene in Courting Mae West • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.