Courting Mae West

The play "COURTING MAE WEST: Sex, Censorship & Secrets" is based on true events during the 1920s when actress MAE WEST was arrested and jailed in New York City for trying to stage two gay plays on Broadway. Maybe she broke the law - - but the LAW couldn't break HER!

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Sunday, June 29, 2008

Mae West at rehearsal

Was MAE WEST in the rehearsal room today on West 38th Street?
• • The "Courting Mae West" cast had just run through a complex court scene set in April 1927 — — a trial that concluded when Judge George Donnellan entered and told Mae West that the jury found her guilty, that she is going to jail, and that on April 19th sentencing would be imposed.
• • Based on true events, this is an emotional scene, featuring Mae's mother Matilda West reacting to the verdict by standing up and pleading with the judge not to jail her daughter again.
• • "Why do you make bad laws in this country that punish good people?" yells Matilda West before stumbling and falling. A melee begins as the reporters photograph and crowd around Mae West — — who is trying desperately to reach her mother.
• • The cast had just paused for a food break and director Louis Lopardi was about to announce the time of the next rehearsal (which is tomorrow on Monday).
• • The windows in the rehearsal room are covered with heavy paper and hidden behind heavy black curtains.
• • Suddenly, the thick black curtains moved — — and THREE empty CHAIRS and a TABLE moved in unison about 2 feet into the room.
• • The cast found this occurrence quite strange.
• • Mae West, was that you?
"COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• •
"COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to "COURTING MAE WEST" are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.

• • Get ready to come up and see Mae West, Texas Guinan, and the gang onstage in mid-July 2008.
_____________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Mae West
• • April 1927 • •

Mae West.

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Friday, June 27, 2008

A powerful Peg Rourke

In the first scene of "Courting Mae West" — — set in the speakeasy where MAE WEST became acquainted with drag queens that inspired "The Drag" — — MAE WEST rails against hypocrisy.
• • Hypocrites in City Hall and the "purity police" were, Mae felt, double dealers who overlooked their own sins even as they tried to chase "dirt plays" off the boards.
• • Landlady Peg Rourke (one of the play's fictional characters) runs a boarding house on West Ninth Street where her daughter is an unpaid maid, and where one lodger is the journalist who is "courting" Mae West. Peg has discounted the reporter's rent, which arouses Mae's suspicions. "Discounts start with reasons," says Mae. "Is she taking it out in trade?"
• • News man Mario "Shortie" De Angelis insists Peg Rourke is "a pious prude."
• • Portraying the complex landlady with a dark past is Gloria M. Buccino.
• • Gloria Buccino is a retired police sergeant. Having retired from law enforcement, Gloria decided to pursue her passion — — acting. "I always knew I wanted to act," she said. "It just took me a while to focus on it." Over the years, while "on the job," she studied at Susan Grace Cohen Studio, West Baron Studio, Acting Management. In 2006, now retired, she began studying with Howard Meyer at HM Acting Studio, a division of Axial Theatre [in Westchester, New York]. In 2007 Miss Buccino was seen in these HM Acting Workshop Productions: Girl Talk and Into the Deep. She is a member of The Axial Theatre Company, and was recently accepted into The Actor's Project NYC. Gloria is a member of AFTRA.
• • Slipping into Peg Rourke's Irish brogue was an interesting flashback for Gloria Buccino, who has come in contact with many an Irishman while in uniform.
• • A versatile thespian, Gloria Buccino also takes the role on the Prison Matron and Matilda West, Mae's beloved mother. As Mrs. Matilda West, the actress will deliver the poignant lines that (Marsha Norman predicted) will be talked about during Intermission.
"COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• •
"COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to "COURTING MAE WEST" are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.

• • Get ready to come up and see Mae West, Texas Guinan, and the gang onstage in mid-July 2008.
_____________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Mae West cast
• • actress Gloria M. Buccino • •

Mae West.

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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Hattitude on 11 July 2008

Pole-vaulted out of the ghetto of the clubby entertainment section, MAE WEST suddenly became notoriously noteworthy in national news headlines on 2 February 1927.
• • On Tuesday February 1st at 5:00 AM, the Brooklyn bombshell was arrested along with her sister and the director Edward Elsner in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
• • According to The New York Times, Edwin [sic] Elsner of New York, stage director of "The Drag," which opened here last night, and Miss Beverly West of New York, sister of Mae West, author of the play, were arrested at 5:30 o'clock this morning in Miss West's room at the Arcade Hotel and will be arraigned in the City Court on Wednesday on technical charges of breach of the peace.
• • The police allege misconduct, but both Elsner and Miss West deny there was any wrongdoing, explaining that they were in the room going over the events of the opening night and possible changes in the play.
• • Elsner, known for his work in staging "Within the Law," "Bought and Paid For," "Pygmalion," "Sex," and other plays, was released under bond of $250, as was Miss West, after spending several hours locked up at Police Headquarters following a ride from the hotel in the police patrol wagon. . . .
• • The arrest at the Arcade Hotel is dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West." Beverly's drunken antics and Mae's strategies are featured in Act I, Scene 2.
• • What did director Edward Elsner look like? During July 2008, he will look like Neal Sims, the actor who will portray him wearing a very Gatsby-ish smoking jacket and this mauve and hot pink World War I "trench veteran's" fez. There will be a free performance of the spirited Arcade Hotel scene at the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble 1972 Broadway, New York, NY 10023 at 7:30 PM.
• • The bookshop is three blocks away from Daly's 63rd Street Theatre where Edward Elsner was directing Mae West in "Sex" from 1926 1927.
• • Still in the same place is the old Arcade Hotel 1001 Main St, Bridgeport, CT 06604; Tel 203- 333-9376. Wonder if they remember which room was Elsner's on 1 February 1927 and which room belonged to Mae West.
"COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• •
"COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to "COURTING MAE WEST" are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.

• • Get ready to come up and see Mae West, Texas Guinan, and the gang onstage in mid-July 2008.
_____________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Mae West
• • 1927 news clip • •

Mae West.

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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Steven Viola as Declan Rourke

In Act I, Scene 3 of "Courting Mae West" — — the raid at Daly's 63rd Street Theatre on 9 February 1927 — — MAE WEST meets the rogue news dealer Declan Rourke (one of the play's fictional characters). Before long, Declan Rourke will be stealing Mae West's "Sex" posters, autographing them himself, and doing viral marketing for his newsstand business.
• • Portraying the lovable scoundrel is Steven Viola, who slips into the part without fuss as if he were born to the brogue. With his supple, muscular voice and intriguing gestures, he effortlessly holds the audience's gaze.
• • Director Louis Lopardi, observing intently, says, "I knew he was right for the part."
• • Steven Viola recently portrayed another scoundrel, Iago, in a Village Voice-acclaimed production of "Othello" directed by Elfin Vogel at Theatre 22.
• • Steven Viola studied acting with Gloria Maddox and Carol Prescott at the Terry Schreiber Studio. His theatre credits include: "The Man who Corrupted Hadley Burg" (as Edward); "A Doll's House" (as Dr. Rank); "Our Country's Good" (as Arscott, Sanford Meisner); "Table Manners" (as Norman, The Kraine Theatre); and "Once in a Lifetime" (as George Lewis, Samuel Beckett Theatre); and many others. He also appeared in the film Nuke 'Um High and the TV shows "Steals & Deals" and "Toonces & Fences."
He is also a founding member of The Cranston and Spade WWOW Radio Mystery Theatre Company which performs old-time radio favorites at the Partners & Crime Bookstore in Greenwich Village.
"COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• •
"COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to "COURTING MAE WEST" are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.

• • Get ready to come up and see Mae West, Texas Guinan, and the gang onstage in mid-July 2008.
_____________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Mae West cast
• • Steven Viola • •

Mae West.

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Monday, June 16, 2008

Go Magazine Loves Mae West

MAE WEST was in the spotlight in "The Pride Issue" of Go Magazine: The Cultural Roadmap for the City Girl.
• • July 19 — 22, "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship & Secrets" takes the stage at the Algonquin Theatre. The play is based on true events during the 1920s when actress Mae West was jailed in New York City for trying to stage two gay plays on Broadway. Maybe she broke the law, but the law couldn’t break her! Yvonne Sayers takes on the role of West with plenty of sex appeal and industrial-strength charisma in a performance that’s also part of the Fresh Fruit Festival.
— — Source: — —
• • GOMAG.COM — — THEATRE — — http://www.gomag.com/articleprint.php?id=499
• • The Very Best of NYC Theatre
• • by Juliet Macey
• • Published on 12 June 2008
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Tickets to "COURTING MAE WEST" are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.

• • Get ready to come up and see Mae West, Texas Guinan, and the gang onstage in mid-July 2008.
______________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Mae West
• • 1928 • •

Mae West.

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Sunday, June 15, 2008

Mae West: Friday the 13th

Joe Franklin has always enjoyed MAE WEST. During 1951 1999, when he was the host of television's first talk show "Joe Franklin's Memory Lane," the king of nostalgia invited Mae West to be featured six times on his popular program broadcast from New York City on WABC-TV and on WOR-TV.
• • In 2005, Joe Franklin enjoyed seeing scenes from Courting Mae West — — and this week he had a chance to get acquainted with the current cast when he popped in on a dress rehearsal in Times Square on Friday the 13th [13 June 2008].
• • Here's Joe Franklin posing with Mae West, Texas Guinan, and the gang.
• • An expert on vaudeville and a member of a prestigious sheet music society, Joe Franklin is no stranger to the lawless decade — — the Prohibition Era — — when Courting Mae West takes place.
• • According to Joe Franklin, what he enjoys about this serious-minded comedy is the sense that what happens in Act I and Act II is spontaneous and yet inevitable. And he enjoys the characters: the ambitious women and the complex, lovable scoundrels around them.
• • Joe Franklin also admires the work of director Louis Lopardi, who chose the play Courting Mae West for its sensual appeal that comes from the quickening warmth of real life events dramatized with stirring artistic form.
• • On Friday the 13th, scenes from this play were filmed for European television.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• •
"COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to "COURTING MAE WEST" are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.
• • Get ready to come up and see Mae onstage in mid-July 2008.
______________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Mae West in rehearsal
• • 13 June 2008 • •

Mae West.

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Saturday, June 14, 2008

The Men in Her Life

MAE WEST had a bosom buddy (along with a sometime lover and a devoted manager) in Jim Timony, the man responsible for making a second-string vaudevillian into a box-office sensation. In "Courting Mae West," Neal Sims will portray the Irish-American attorney and star-maker. The versatile Mr. Sims — — a man of a million accents and moods — — will also take the part of Mae's director Edward Elsner, newsdealer Isidore, and other roles. Additionally, he is the Assistant Director for the production.
• • Neal Sims was born and bred in Jay Gatsby country. Trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he took Shakespeare classes with Mrs. Ian Richardson.
• • His credits encompass both acting and directing achievements. Projects he has taken part in include: the New York premiere of "The Chill on Lake St. Clair" at Pulse; "Charles Busch's Sleeping Beauty or Coma"; "Psycho Sorority Girl"; "Bad Dames Go to Hell"; "Poverty Row Horror Show"; and "Jock Jupiter" — — all at the Red Room — — "Damaged Dames" at Under St. Mark's; and "Bad Dames Go to Hell" for Spotlite On's 2004 Halloween Festival (where he won the Frankie Award for best director). Neal Sims also directed and acted in two shows for the New York International Fringe Festival: "The Greatest B-Movie Ever Told" [2005] and "Vice Girl Confidential" [2006]. A classic film buff, he is thrilled to be part of a project about the one and only Mae West.
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• •
"COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to "COURTING MAE WEST" are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.

• • Get ready to come up and see Mae West, Texas Guinan, and the gang onstage in mid-July 2008.
________________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Mae West cast
• • Neal Sims • •

Mae West.

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Monday, June 09, 2008

Eileen Glenn is cast as Texas Guinan

MAE WEST had a good friend (and a bankroll for her shows) in Texas Guinan. In "Courting Mae West," Eileen Glenn will portray "The Queen of the Night Clubs" herself.
• • Born in New Jersey, Eileen Glenn was raised in East Tennessee. A trailblazer since childhood, she produced her first show, Cinderella, on her front porch while still in grammar school. She discovered her passion for Prokofiev’s "Peter & The Wolf" and Herb Albert's Tijuana Brass; soundtracks of "The Sound of Music," "Jesus Christ Superstar," and "Godspell" became bliss-driven engines that transported her soul straight to Broadway.
• • Ms Glenn graduated from the University of Tennessee with a BA in theatre. Three years later she discovered improvisational theatre and — — over the course of 4 days — — she flew to Chicago to audition for The Second City, returned home, packed her bags, and set up digs at The Hotel Lincoln (former home of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd).
• • Ms Glenn’s post-graduate instruction was working. She performed in everything: musicals, improv reviews, Shakespeare, Chekov, Greater Tuna, Caligula, The Mikado. Her experience in Chicago culminated with a summer trip to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Upon returning, she produced and starred in her one-person show, Margaret Atwood’s Good Bones and Simple Murders — — which earned rave reviews and has since been produced in New York City, Texas, and Arkansas.
• • Ms Glenn has performed regionally at Mill Mountain Theatre, VA; Arkansas Repertory; Shadowlawn Theater, NJ; and several seasons with Texas Shakespeare Festival. In New York she was a company member with Jean Cocteau Repertory and Lightning Strikes Theatre Company. She performs frequently with The Phoenix Theatre Ensemble and has appeared on many occasions with Judith Shakespeare Company and Actors Stock Company.
• • Inspired at an early age by the likes of Annie Oakley, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and Amelia Earhart, and strong independent women everywhere, not to mention her mother, she is not surprised her journey has led her here. It seems Ms Glenn was almost destined to play an independent, gun toting, cowgirl with a heart of gold, living life by her rules and running her own empire.
• • In the immortal words of Texas Guinan, "I would rather have a square inch of New York than all the rest of the world.”
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to COURTING MAE WEST are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.

• • Get ready to come up and see Mae West and Texas Guinan and the gang onstage in mid-July 2008.
________________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Texas Guinan
• • Eileen Glenn • •

Mae West.

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Sunday, June 08, 2008

Buy tickets to an a-MAE-zing play!

Mae West
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to COURTING MAE WEST are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.

• • Get ready to come up and see Mae onstage in mid-July 2008.
________________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Mae West
• • 1932 • •

Mae West.

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Thursday, June 05, 2008

Meet Mae West: Yvonne Sayers

When director Louis Lopardi was casting for the role of MAE WEST in "Courting Mae West," he was seeking a powerhouse of an actress with sex appeal and industrial strength charisma. He discovered his leading lady portraying Mae West in Sam Shepard's play "Mad Dog Blues."
• • Born on September 25th, actress Yvonne Sayers was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana.
• • Surrounded by a family of fun-lovers who enjoyed entertaining, her passion for performing flowered at a young age.
• • During high school, Yvonne enrolled in a local acting school while immersing herself in ballroom dancing and modeling
— — which led to several local gigs, one of which was working on the set of the movie “The Firm” filmed locally in Memphis, TN.
• • It was there that she approached Sydney Pollack for his advice as to whether she should move to New York or LA to be an actress, to which he replied, “If you really want to be an actress, you should move to New York.” Kismet! The decision was made.
• • After graduation, she headed to The Big Apple and enrolled in T. Schreiber Studio and studied under the acclaimed Mary Boyer, who later opened her own studio, MTB Studio, where Yvonne continued her studies under Mary.
• • Still pursuing an acting career, she also directed some off-off Broadway plays.
• • Her passion for cinema and acting in film, as well as the art of filmmaking, led her to film school where she wrote, directed, and produced several films and graduated with special recognition for her work as a Cinematographer. She then began working behind the scenes professionally as a Cinematographer as well as in Production on several independent films and TV serials such as “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Ed.” While working on the set of “Law & Order: CI” she was advised by producer John L. Roman to focus solely on her acting career. He said, “While this is all great experience, you have to stop doing this kind of work and just start performing and acting as much as possible.” And that’s exactly what she did.
• •
Currently, the five-foot-five stunner is exclusively focused on an acting career and to being the best actress she can.
• • Yvonne has appeared on TV in: “Chappelle’s Show,” CourtTV’s “Till Death Do Us Part,” “The Maury Show,” and has performed live all over New York at the American Globe Theatre, in the Samuel French Festival, the PIT, Village Playwrights, the Wings Theatre, and in several productions at the 45th Street Theatre as a proud member of the Michael Chekhov Theatre Co.
• • Rehearsals for "Courting Mae West" will begin on June 7th in Manhattan in midtown under the watchful eye of Mr. Lopardi, his stage manager, and the playwright.

"COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• •
"COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to "COURTING MAE WEST" are $18 per adult.
• •
Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.

• • Get ready to come up and see Mae West, Texas Guinan, and the gang onstage in mid-July 2008.

________________________________________________________________
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• • Photo: Mae West actress
• • Yvonne Sayers • •

Mae West.

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