Mae West: “The Drag” as Payback

Shocking and controversial in its time, a play by MAE WEST continues to be revived for open-minded audiences. This recent production was on the boards in Cape Cod. This is Part 5 of 9 segments.
• • Theatre Review: Doing the Time Warp in Mae West’s Play “The Drag” • •
• • Howard Karren wrote: Her humor and her own show-business persona were deeply influenced by drag queens of the era.
• • Howard Karren wrote: The Drag can be seen as a form of payback.
• • Howard Karren wrote: She wrote it but didn’t cast herself in it. It was a gift to her queer friends.
• • Howard Karren wrote: In this Provincetown production, the play, at the ripe old age of 95, feels remarkably modern.
• • Howard Karren wrote: David Drake, as dramaturge, has streamlined West’s dialogue and eliminated distracting and dated elements of the plot.
• • “The Drag” by Mae West ― continued • • …  
• • Source: The Provincetown Independent; published on Wednesday, 25 May 2022.
• • On Sunday, 8 July 1928 in the Journal American • •

• • A reporter from the Journal American visited Mae West backstage after a performance of "Diamond Lil."
• • He wrote a lengthy account of Mae West's formula for writing a play: "hire a room in a hotel, lock yourself in and go to work for as many hours as you can stand the pace. Then you grab a little sleep, get up and resuscitate yourself with a few tons of cold water and start all over again. And so on until ...."
• • Source: The Journal American; published on Sunday, 8 July 1928.
• • July 2004: Mae West Blog launches • •
• • What are we up to, writing about the Brooklyn-born bombshell for eighteen years now?
• • We’re here to keep Mae mavens up to date, correct errors, celebrate each revival of a play she wrote, post the latest Westian stage and book reviews. And answer our fan mail!
• • The light’s still on. Come up and see Mae every day.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Robert B. McKenzie, who had a fatal heart attack in Manunuck, Rhode Island on Friday, 8 July 1949, worked with Mae West twice in two motion pictures.  
• • The portly Irishman was seen in a bit part in "I'm No Angel" as "man at rooming house" and in "My Little Chickadee" where he was a townsman.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "The only thing I know about Milwaukee is that they make beer there. It's pretty good beer — but it never was good enough to make me get married and then forget about it."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An Illinois newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "Off to the Theatre" • •
• • Beverly Bryant wrote: Mae West is back again in "Goin' to Town," which comes to the Princess Theatre Sunday for three days. Mae is at her voluptuous best. The plot concerns the story of a cow-town dance hall girl who wins a bunch of oil wells when her fiance dies. . . .
• • Beverly Bryant wrote: No longer swathed in the clothes or the social amenities of the "Gay Nineties," Mae West becomes an up-to-date girl with ultra-modern ideas in modern surroundings. The opening scenes of "Goin' to Town" are laid in the middle west where Mae West acquires a lot of money by the process of getting rid of her wealthy husband. Then she really starts going places.  . . .
• • Source: The Urbana Evening Courier; published on Saturday, 6 July 1935
• • 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 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,033rd 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • onstage in "Sex" in 1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Voluptuous Figure

Shocking and controversial in its time, a play by MAE WEST continues to be revived for open-minded audiences. This recent production was on the boards in Cape Cod. This is Part 3 of 9 segments.
• • Theatre Review: Doing the Time Warp in Mae West’s Play “The Drag” • •
• • Howard Karren wrote: At a young age, Mae rose from burlesque to Broadway, and, finally, in the 1930s, to Hollywood, where she quickly became the highest-paid star on studio contract.
• • Howard Karren wrote: She was not exceptionally pretty, but her figure was voluptuous, and her manner was forthright, clever, and confident in expressing sexual desire.

• • Howard Karren wrote: Her fame was self-made: West wrote most of her own material, and she scoffed at those in power who wished to silence her — she turned attempts to censor her into self-promotion.
• • Howard Karren wrote: This worked with her hit play “Sex,” for which she was temporarily jailed.
• • “The Drag” by Mae West ― continued • • …   
• • Source: The Provincetown Independent; published on Wednesday, 25 May 2022.
• • On Wednesday, 6 July 2022 • •
• • Everything You Need to Know about Elsa Schiaparelli Ahead of the Shocking! Exhibition in Paris.
• • Laird Borrelli-Persson wrote: Elsa Schiaparelli, who was known for her amusing prints, outdid herself in July 1937 with a particularly clever “passion thermometer” motif that depicted mercury rising between the poles of ‘Indifference’ and ‘Passion.’
• • Fashion’s love affair with the Italian designer has never been tepid, and is once again reaching boiling point as “Shocking! The Surreal World of Elsa Schiaparelli” is set to open on July 6th at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
• • “Shocking!” was the name of the perfume Elsa created for Mae West, the Hollywood headliner she costumed in 1937 for her upcoming film “Every Day’s a Holiday” (1938).
• • Source: Vogue; published on Friday, 1 July  2022.
• • July 2004: Mae West Blog launches • •
• • What are we up to, writing about the Brooklyn-born bombshell for eighteen years now?
• • We’re here to keep Mae mavens up to date, correct errors, celebrate each revival of a play she wrote, post the latest Westian stage and book reviews. And answer our fan mail!
• • The light’s still on. Come up and see Mae every day.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West tendered this complaint to Hollywood insider Ellen Grant: "Last year they had me married to Jim Timony, my manager, this year they have me married to several guys named Wallace — — I suppose next year they'll have me arrested for bigamy!'' Which sort of sums up her attitude on the subject.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • About "Myra B." Mae West said: "They didn't use enough of me or my material until the budget had been run up high."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on business mentioned Mae West.
• • "The 'Mae West philosophy' might just bring down your business" • •
• • Earl Bell wrote: Mae West is credited as saying, “Too Much of a Good Thing Can Be Wonderful.”  
• • Earl Bell wrote: While this might have worked in her life, it can spell disaster in the business world. ...
• • Source: Earl Bell’s article for http://www.fromlefttoright.com; published on Wednesday, 6 July 2011
• • 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 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,031st 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1926 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Forgotten?

According to Playbill, MAE WEST’s playwriting has been “forgotten.” Do you agree? We do not.
• • 7 Forgotten Female Playwrights from Eras Past With Lots to Say • •
• • Meet a few of history's playwrights who questioned their place in the world (and the men who were running it.) • •
• • Mae West: “Sex” (1926) • •
• • Protagonist Margy LaMont talking to antagonist and “dirty charity” Clara: “Say, you’ve got a nerve putting yourself on a pedestal above me. The things I’ve done, I had to do for a living. I know it was wrong. I’m not trying to alibi myself. But you’ve done those same things for other reasons.”

• • Playbill’s Leah Putnam wrote: A silver screen icon, Mae West wrote a few plays, including “Sex” which landed her in jail for eight days as religious groups protested the show (sic). The play, which also starred West [as Margy LaMont], follows a cast of prostitutes trying to better their lives.
• • Note: It was Mae’s efforts to launch “The Drag,” her new homosexual play, that brought City Hall’s guillotine down on her.
• • Playbill’s Leah Putnam wrote: It opened April 26, 1926 to a commercially successful Broadway run of 375 performances and played to over 325,000 audience members before it was shut down for obscenity in February 1927.
• • Playbill’s Leah Putnam wrote: Mae West wrote the controversial work under the pen name Jane Mast.
• • Source: Playbill; published on Wednesday, 20 April 2022.
• • On Wednesday, 12 May 1971 • •
• • On Wednesday, 12 May 1971 Mae West, UCLA’s Woman of the Century, spoke to students after a screening of her 1933 classic movie “I’m No Angel.”
• • On Tuesday, 12 May 1998 • •
• • The record album "Mae Day: Masquers Club Salutes Mae West" was released on Tuesday, 12 May 1998 on the label Bacchus. The original recording date was on Saturday, 14 April 1973.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West won't have to worry about getting a job now: she's formed her own movie production company. Mae West Empire Pictures Co., James Timony, Mae's business manager said today, was incorporated at Sacramento, the state capitol, with Louis R. Lurie of Sacramento, as president. Mae is a vice president of the $5,000,000 corporation.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Well, they've sued me for everything else."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The foreign fashion press mentioned Mae West in May.
• • "London Says Mae West Curves Are Fashion's Whims" • •
• • Writing from London, Nell Murray wrote: Just to demonstrate that there must be some truth in the announcement from America that the female form divine for 1934 would weigh at least 12 pounds heavier than it did last year (in order to accommodate the threatened Mae West curves), a London dress designer took note ...
• • Source: Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Queensland); published on Sunday, 6 May 1934
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,900 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,992nd 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • sketch of Mae in "Sex" in 1926 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Twice as Many

Malcolm H. Oettinger profiled MAE WEST for Screenland. Since this interview has rarely been seen, let us enjoy it together. This is part 2 of 13.
• • “Going West” • •   
• • Mae West: Pumping up the attendance • •
• • Malcolm H. Oettinger wrote: She knows her public, which threatens to be universal, and she knows precisely how to feed it what it wants.
• • Malcolm H. Oettinger wrote: In New York she drew twice as many people to see her as Ed Wynn drew to see him, both appearing the same week at different theatres, in conjunction with a picture.  
• • Malcolm H. Oettinger wrote: In Brooklyn she drew exactly twice as many people as the radio star.  
• • Mae West: Smashed attendance records • • …   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Screenland; published in the issue dated for June 1933.
• • On Monday, 26 April 1926 on Broadway • •

• • Written by "Jane Mast" and starring Mae West as Margy LaMont, "Sex" opened in April — — on Monday, 26 April 1926. The Broadway debut occurred a few blocks north of Columbus Circle at Daly’s 63rd Street Theatre, the only playhouse available at the time.
• • "Mae West played a Canadian woman," noted Playbill, "with no time for those Mounties."
• • The N.Y. Daily News sent a reviewer who wrote: "Most of the 'Sex' appeal falls to the talents of Mae West, a vaudeville actress who somewhat resembles Texas Guinan."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • In one of the funniest scenes of all her films, Mae West as Peaches O’Day is being romanced by crooked police chief Lloyd Nolan. But to stave him off she throws a temper tantrum saying the wine he serves her is from "1895! This horrible, horrible vinegar! Don't you know I'm delicate!"
• • Mae West has able support from veterans Lloyd Nolan, Edmund Lowe, and Charles Winninger, among others. She also insisted on getting Louie Armstrong and his band to play a number.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I do things right because I follow what my astrologer says."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in The Orlando Sentinel mentioned Mae West.
• • "In Days Before Dolly, There Was Mae West" • •

• • ''I met her, Mae West, not Catherine the Great, very briefly'' • •
• • Allen Rose of The Sentinel Staff wrote: Mae West was a bit like Cher, too. Outspoken. Only more so. Sultry voice. Her image was that of a lady who liked men. A lot. As in by the dozen.
• • Allen Rose wrote: Her trademark line: "Come up and see me sometime, big boy." …
• • Source: Orlando Sentinel; published on Wednesday, 20 April 1988
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,900 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,980th 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • onscreen in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: “Sex” Verdict

On Wednesday, 6 April 1927, MAE WEST made national headlines.
• • Mae West Cool, Actors Sob at "Sex" Verdict • •
• • The N.Y. Daily News wrote: Theatrical producer C.W. Morgenstern, manager, comforted James Timony while the cast was being fingerprinted preliminary to the renewal of the $500 bail for each performer.
• • The N.Y. Daily News wrote: A titter swept the courtroom when it was announced that Timony's law firm, convicted with the members of the cast, was the Moral Productions corporation.

• • The N.Y. Daily News wrote: In charging the jury, Judge Donnellan practically asked "for a conviction” of Mae West. The defense had contended the play taught a moral lesson: "Thou shalt not do evil that good may come," the judge quoted to the jurors.
• • The N.Y. Daily News wrote: John Cort, owner of the Daly theatre, where "Sex" held forth, was acquitted with his company, the 63d St. Theatre corporation. The jurors held him not responsible for the indecencies of the show.
• • Image: Verdict in the "Sex" trial; Yvonne Sayers as Mae West. From the play "Courting Mae West" produced at The Algonquin Theatre, New York, NY.
• • The N.Y. Daily News wrote: In addition to those mentioned the following were convicted: Edna von Buelow, Pacie Ripple, Gordon Burby, Daniel J. Hamilton, Constance Morgenstern, Ann Reader, Warren Sterling, Thomas V. Morrison, Alfred L. Rigali, John Coleman, Mary Morrissey, Ida Mantel, Florence Dogherty, Peter Segretta, Edward Eisner, Ivan Jordan, and Lyons Wickland.
• • The N.Y. Daily News wrote: Attorneys for the defense said last night they intend to fight it out in the higher courts.
• • The N.Y. Daily News wrote: So it looks as though New York will have a "Sex" appeal, too.  
• • The N.Y. Daily News wrote: Will the "Sex" stars and producers win an appeal and escape their penalty? For developments read tomorrow's Pink and other editions of The N.Y. Daily News.
• • Note: “Courting Mae West” dramatizes Mae West’s trials during the Prohibition Era.
• • Source: The N.Y. Daily News; published on Wednesday, 6 April 1927.
• • On Wednesday, 6 April 1927 • •
• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 at Jefferson Market Court [on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village], the jury returned with a guilty verdict. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, photographers, and a mob of well-wishers, Mae told them, "You've got to fight in this world!" She added, "You've got to fight to get there — — and fight to stay there."
• • On Wednesday, 6 April 1927, articles about Mae were published in Variety, The New York Times, The N.Y. Herald Tribune, and elsewhere.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Bernhard Kaun went to California and spent 37 years in Hollywood. From 1931 — 1958, Kaun helped develop incidental music and themes for the soundtrack of 225 motion pictures including "Night After Night," a dull speakeasy talky which was saved by the snappy presence of newcomer Mae West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art!"
• • Mae West said: "Anybody who needs a dirty play ought to call on Mr. Wallace for suggestions."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Motion Picture Herald mentioned Mae West.
• • "Klondike Annie" ― Mae West, Victor McLaglen • •
• • Motion Picture Herald wrote:  William Randolph Hearst notwithstanding, we still like our "Mae," and our "Mae" does right by us by bringing in extra business.  
• • Motion Picture Herald wrote: While not as good, perhaps, as "Goin' to Town," it pleased all Mae's fans, of which there are many here. And as long as Mae makes 'em, we'll play 'em. — Ted Stump, Elted Theatres, Absarokee, and Columbus, Montana.  
• • Rural patronage. …
• • Source: Motion Picture Herald; published on Saturday, 4 April 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,900 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,966th 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 • • end of Act I, "Courting Mae West," the "Sex" trial • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest