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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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Gus Jordan and Diamond Lil

Since MAE WEST had her eye on Tammany Hall perhaps for the entire time she lived in New York, she could spot a fixer.
• • "Big" Tim Sullivan [23 July 1862 — 31 August 1913] was a fixer extraordinaire and a born ward-heeler. This New York politician who controlled Manhattan's Bowery and Lower East Side districts as a prominent figure within Tammany Hall was the model for Mae's character Gus Jordan in "Diamond Lil."
• • Similarly, in "She Done Him Wrong" [1933] the bejewe
led chanteuse and brash entertainer Lady Lou (Mae West) works in the 1890s Bowery saloon of her boss and benefactor Gus Jordan (Noah Beery, Sr.), who has given her many diamonds.
• • Unbeknownst to Lady Lou, slick and sleazy Gus Jordan trafficks in white slavery (prostitution) and runs a counterfeiting ring (to help finance Lou's expensive rock collection). He also sends young women to San Francisco to be pickpockets. Gus works with two other crooked entertainer-assistants, Russian Rita (Rafaela Ottiano) and Rita's lover, the suave Serge Stanieff (Gilbert Roland).
• • Not as handsome as Beery and certainly far heavier, "Big" Tim Sullivan was born to poor Irish parents in the notorious Five Points neighborhood. Determined to be successful,
"Big" Tim Sullivan cultivated careers in business and politics. Over the course of 25 years beginning in 1886, Sullivan assembled a political machine that ruled the districts of lower Manhattan. A legitimate entrepreneur in the world of entertainment, Sullivan forged an effective brand of urban politics by fusing the traditional tactics of the machine with his influence in commercial leisure and organized crime.
• • Staging theatrical entertainments and athletic competitions, handing out food and clothing to constituents, and offering employment and social services to ordinary citizens won him many followers, but Sullivan's protection of key figures in the vice economy of the Lower East Side made him a rather controversial figure. Despite his frequent use of physical intimidation, "Big" Tim nonetheless worked to expand the franchise and give the disadvantaged a voice in municipal politics.
• • Both Mae West's character Gus Jordan and Tim Sullivan were active in a number of illegal activities including prostitution, white slavery, gambling, and extortion.
• • On 31 August 1913, "Big" Tim's body was found on the tracks in the Eastchester area of the Bronx, New York.
• • Sullivan's wake was held at his clubhouse — — located at 203 Bowery.
• • More than 25,000 people turned out for his funeral at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, New York on Mott Street. Perhaps some "mourners" turned up solely to make sure this politico was dead.
• • Tim's clubhouse was down the block from the notorious Bowery "resort" near Houston Street, namely McGurk's Suicide Hall [295 Bowery]. The second chapter of "Diamond Lil" (a 256-page novelization of the play published by Macaulay in 1932) is Suicide Hall.
— — Source for some of this information: — —
• • Article: "Underworlds and Underdogs: Big Tim Sullivan and Metropolitan Politics in New York, 1889 — 1913"
• • Byline: Daniel Czitrom
• • Published in: The Journal of American History, vol. 78, no.2
• • Published on: September 1991
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• • Photo: Mae West
• • "Big" Tim Sullivan • • 1933 lobby card • •

Mae West.

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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Mae West: Sepia

Among several intriguing studies on the American actress MAE WEST there is one written by Marybeth Hamilton, who holds a doctorate in history from Princeton University and teaches American History at Birkbeck College, University of London.
• • In When I'm Bad, I'm Better, Marybeth Hamilton discusses how Mae West's former lover George Raft, who was becoming a matinee idol in Hollywood during 1932, was instrumental in getting Mae a cameo role as Maudie Triplett, his blowsy ex-girlfriend in "Night After Night." Hamilton also explains how Mae was aghast at being cast in such a colorless bit part and then went on to revise her dialogue and win all the applause. "If nothing else," writes Hamilton, "[Mae West] showed Paramount that they were dealing with an expert scene stealer."
• • It is not surprising that Marybeth Hamilton mentions the hatcheck girl's line: "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!" and Maudie Triplett's famous comeback: "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie!" [Mae borrowed the routine from her diamond-draped pal Texas Guinan.]
• • What was left unsaid in this study (and other Mae West books) about that film scene?
• • Curiously, no writer ever mentions that Paramount made the 21-year-old actress Patricia Farley [born 22 August 1911] play the role of the hatcheck girl in blackface.
• • Take a peek. Do you remember the sepia-skinned beauty in the scene or not? How come no one ever mentions the deliberately darkened skin? Why not?
• • Here's another question: which house in the West 50s inspired the plot of "Night After Night" [originally titled "Number 55"]? Which heiress was raised in that stately residence? Which Pulitzer Prize-winner wrote the short story that Hollywood adapted for the screenplay? Which gangster met his death on the marble staircase?
• • Since Mae West was known to champion dark-skinned actors in her Broadway projects, it was probably assumed that the hatcheck girl in this scene was one more sepia beauty out of Harlem.
• • Production on "Night After Night" began in August 1932.
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• • Photo: Mae West
• • Patricia Farley • • 1932 • •

Mae West.

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Monday, August 18, 2008

Coming Up Mae

MAE WEST was born in New York City 115 years ago on 17 August 1893.
• • To celebrate the occasion in style, the Diamond Divas led a group of two dozen Mae-mavens to several locations in Greenwich Village linked to her stage career and the work of individuals she admired such as Lillian Russell, Tony Pastor, Texas Guinan, Eugene O'Neill, and Rae Bourbon.
• • "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side" tour visited the former residence of Judge Amadeo Bertini, who presided over Mae's Pleasure Man trial in 1930; the first speakeasy fined for violating the Volstead Act; infamous drag cabarets along West Third Street; and the building where Washington Square College coeds elected Mae West as their "prom girl" in 1927.
• • The August 17th outdoor event
received the weatherman's blessing. Ideal conditions prevailed and the lively group found it quite pleasant to linger and enjoy the musical interludes.
• • The musical program, sung by soprano Marlena de la Mora and Sharon Weinman, included: "Everything's Coming up Mae West"; "Mon Coeur S' Ouvre a Ta Voix"; "The Prisoner's Song"; "Frankie and Johnny"; "Come Down Ma Evening Star"; "I Could Have Danced All Night"; "Gentleman Jimmy"; and a grand finale taken from the score of "Diamond Lil."
• • Joining the tour group yesterday was the cast of "Courting Mae West" — — Yvonne Sayers, Neal Sims, Gloria Buccino, Mary Murphy, and Steven Viola.
• • This outdoor event — — which is part of the Annual Mae West Birthday Gala — — is scheduled every August in Manhattan and open to the public.
• • For info on Theatre District Tours: Seesaw864@juno.com
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• • Photo: Mae West
tour • • Sunday 17 August 2008 • •

Mae West.

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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Mae West: Her 115th Birthday

Go WEST, young men has been their clarion call for sixteen years now. In Los Angeles, California a group of Mae West celebrants are among the faithful who congregate, annually, on August 17th to remember her unique presence.
• • Usually the festivities are organized by Hollywood resident Ramfis Diaz a 40-ish musician adorned by impressive, a-Mae-zing tattoos inspired by the Brooklyn bombshell herself. A lifelong hoarder of Mae West memorabilia, Mr. Diaz has his walls peppered with spicy images of the movie queen at her most liquorous, frisky, and engaging.
• • The merrymakers usually 40 to 50 guests track back to the "come up and see me sometime" gal via various connections.
• • Los Angeles Times reporter Kevin Thomas, a close comrade of the late icon, always attends along with Chris Basinger (a good buddy of Mae's during the 1970s, who worked at the Ravenswood and lived across the street from her), and Damon Devine, a Mae-West-iana collector since age 11 and, like Mae, born under the zodiac sign of Leo.
• • According to the divine Mr. Devine, "The rest of the revellers are mostly there out of curiosity, or attracted by the food, cake, and booze. Also a red-headed nudist seems to show up each year!"
• • A toast to Mae West [18931980] — and the a-Mae-zing memories she stage-managed for each of her fans.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • On Sunday afternoon 17 August 2008, during the "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side" walking tour, Mae-mavens and walk-abouts will visit several locations in Greenwich Village linked to the stage career of the Empress of Sex. Music associated with Mae will be sung live.
• • Walking Tour: "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side"
• • When: 1:00 PM on Sunday — — 17 August 2008
— — rain or shine
• • Meet: Village Restaurant, 62 West Ninth Street, New York, NY 10011
• • Price: $20
• • Subway: E or F [IND] train to West Fourth Street; PATH to 9th Street station
• • Attire: why not wear a Mae West-inspired hat?
• • Info: Seesaw864@juno.com

• • This event
— — which is part of the Annual Mae West Birthday Gala — — is open to the public.
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• • Photo: Mae West
• • August 17th invitation courtesy of Ramfis Diaz and Damon Devine • •

Mae West.

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Mae West: "Little Flower"

MAE WEST and Fiorello LaGuardia have a curious connection.
• • In his column "A New Yorker at Large," Mark Barron shared insights about the Brooklyn bombshell and the ambitious politician Fiorello LaGuardia [11 December 1882 — 20 September 1947]. This installment of Barron's column was published on 28 January 1934.
• • Mark Barron wrote: New York — Mayor LaGuardia turned on the producers of risque shows, charging them with deliberately inviting police interference for the publicity it would bring.
• • Mark Barron noted: What is interesting in an ironic sort of way is the fact that it was an off-color show which led to the movement that by increase and addition eventually elected LaGuardia to his office. And, for that, some might say he owes thanks to Mae West.
• • Back in 1927, Miss West produced a play that brought a squadron of police censors tumbling about her with the turmoil of a Union Square red riot. As a result, Miss West was invited to spend a short vacation in the Welfare Island calaboose. [Mae's 1927 arrest and trial in Jefferson Market Court are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West," which is based on true events during the Prohibition Era.]
• • Despite the avalanche of publicity, Mae was shocked, thinking that her attorney a Tammany district leader would be able to keep her this side of the steel bars.
• • A girl reporter was sent to interview Mae. In jail [i.e., Jefferson Jail then located on Sixth Avenue], the reporter had a conversation with a girl prisoner who charged she'd been "framed" because she would not pay a bribe to a detective on the vice squad.
• • The resultant story started the inquiry into the women's courts, and it was this inquiry that brought Judge Samuel Seabury into such high esteem in the public mind. And it was Seabury whose master minding helped put LaGuardia in the mayor's office.
• • On Sunday 17 August 2008, during the "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side" walking tour, the group will visit the little flower and a number from "Fiorello!" will be sung live by a vivacious actress, a native New Yorker who has performed in many musicals.
• • On 17 August 2008, the glamorous Diamond Divas invite you to an a-MAE-zing birthday celebration that includes a musical walking tour of historical sights near Washington Square Park. Join Metropolitan Opera singer Marlena De La Mora and tour guide Sharon Weinman and historian LindaAnn Loschiavo for a noteworthy Sunday afternoon in Greenwich Village.
• • Metropolitan Opera singer Marlena De La Mora will sing excerpts from arias associated with Mae West including Delilah's French aria. Sharon Weinman, who has a long background in musical theatre, will punctuate the walking tour with showtunes linked to Mae's career. Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo will provide secret addresses tied to Mae West that have not been disclosed before.
• • Walking Tour: "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side"
• • When: 1:00 PM on Sunday — — 17 August 2008
• • Meet: Village Restaurant, 62 West Ninth Street, New York, NY 10011
• • Price: $20
• • Subway: E or F [IND] train to West Fourth Street; PATH to 9th Street station
• • Attire: why not wear a Mae West-inspired hat?
• • Info: Seesaw864@juno.com

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• • Photo: Mae West
• • February 1927 • •

Mae West.

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Monday, August 11, 2008

Courting Mae West — Act I, Scene 2


• • "Courting Mae West" — — excerpt from Act I, Scene 2
• • MAE WEST — — Yvonne Sayers
• • BEVERLY WEST — — Sarah Kanter
• • EDWARD ELSNER — — Neal Sims
• • male voice — — Steven Viola
• • An arrest after "The Drag" made for arresting headlines. Pole-vaulted out of the ghetto of the clubby entertainment section, MAE WEST suddenly became notoriously noteworthy in the national news 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 [a dramatic 10-minute scene].
• • Arcade Hotel — 1001 Main St, Bridgeport, CT 06604; Tel (203) 333-9376.

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• • Photo: Mae West
• • portrayed by Yvonne Sayers in "Courting Mae West" • •

Mae West.

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Thursday, August 07, 2008

Mae West: America Oggi

MAE WEST shared a sheet (of paper) with Mario Fratti recently, who admired the recent production of "Courting Mae West" that was staged as part of the 6th Annual Fresh Fruit Festival.
• • Teatro — — Broadway & Dintorni
• • New York e tutta un festival
• • di Mario Fratti
• • "D'estate si hanno numerosi festival di nuovo teatro," writes the America Oggi columnist and Tony-Award winning playwright. . . . Partecipazione italo-americana al Festival Algonquin Fresh Fruit [123 East 24th Street, New York, NY 10010] e stata la presentazione di una nuova versione di "Courting Mae West" della poetessa e giornalista LindaAnn Loschiavo. Molte rivelazioni sulla formidabile personalita della West (la convincente Yvonne Sayers). L' audace difesa dei suoi testi a delle sue interpretazioni, la censura, gli arresti, il tribunale. E' aiutata da attori validi . . . ."
• • Here is an English translation of his article:
• • Theatre — — Broadway & Elsewhere
• • New York is full of festivals
• • by Mario Fratti
• • Summer offers numerous festivals of new theatrical productions. . . . Italian-American participation in the Annual Fresh Fruit Festival [Algonquin Theatre, 123 East 24th Street] included the presentation of an all new version of "Courting Mae West" by the poet and journalist LindaAnn Loschiavo. There are many insightful revelations into the formidable character of Miss West (convincingly portrayed by Yvonne Sayers). Mae West mounts her audacious defense and rebuttal to the police witnesses who have interpreted her plays as indecent, and she is shown dealing with censorship, her arrests, and her courtroom trials. Yvonne Sayers is surrounded by an able cast: the journalist Mario (Jason Emanuel); Beverly West (Sarah Kanter Emanuel); news vendor Declan Rourke and his daughter Eliza Rourke (Steven Viola and the very enjoyable Mary Murphy); the elegant Gloria M. Buccino (in multiple roles). Well directed by Louis Lopardi.
• • In the same festival there is also "Sapphire's Kiss" by Maggie Zarillo and . . .
— — Source: — —
• • Column: "Teatro — — Broadway & Dintorni"
• • Byline: Mario Fratti
• • Published by: America Oggi
• • Published: during July 2008
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • MARIO FRATTI, professor emeritus of Italian literature at Hunter College, is an internationally acclaimed playwright and drama critic.
• • Author of such works as Suicide, The Cage, The Return, The Academy, Mafia, Races, and The Bridge, he is best known for his musical Nine (inspired by Fellini's famous film, 8 1/2) which in its original production in 1982 won the O'Neill Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, eight Drama Desk Awards, five Tony Awards, and in 2000 was a recipient of the Otto Award for Political Theater.
• •
In its 2003 revival, Nine won three Outer Critics Circle Awards and two Tony Awards.
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• • Photo: Mae West
• • 1935 • •

Mae West.

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Monday, August 04, 2008

Evelyn Nesbit & Mae in 1913

It was a hot summer attraction on 4 August 1913 and the crowds may (or may not) have recalled that in 1912 and 1913 Hammerstein had booked the vivacious teenager MAE WEST for eleven week-long engagements at his vaudeville playhouse situated in Longacre [later Times] Square. The location was popularly known by New Yorkers as "the corner."
• • On 4 August 1913, however, Mae West was there to open for a world-famous star: Evelyn Nesbit [1884 1967]. Despite a low-cut gown and provocative songs, Mae failed to fire up the audience.
• • The critic from The New York Tribune [whose coverage ran on 5 August 1912] commented that even Mae's low neckline and raunchy bumps and grinds were not enough to sway the hoi polloi.
• • Though most of the reporters ignored the 19-year-old's attempts to woo the crowd and did not even mention her name in their reviews, at least Variety's columnist Joshua Lowe [whose critique was published on 8 August 1913] noticed how hard she was working. "Mae West sang loud enough to be distinctly heard in the rear," wrote Lowe.
• • Clearly, Hammerstein's ticket-holders had come to worship Evelyn, the showgirl who had shied away from the spotlight for several years after the infamous Sanford White trial. "Anything's a good act that will make 'em talk," insisted Willie Hammerstein, who was a magician when it came to commandeering media interest and a big box office.
• • Evelyn's appearance was quite the ticket. Willie Hammerstein was so pleased at his box office bonanza that he had his sign painters create this come-on in four-foot-high letters
"Modern Ballroom Dancing," screamed the marquee,
"Performed by EVELYN NESBIT THAW!"

• • Readers of The New York Times saw these headlines Tuesday morning on 5 August 1913:
• • Evelyn Thaw Appears; Then Thanks Audience that Applauds Dancing at Hammerstein's.
• • According to the Times: Although it was reported at the time that Evelyn Nesbit arrived on the Olympic that she had said she would not dance unless the name of Thaw was eliminated from the signboard in front of Hammerstein's, she did appear yesterday afternoon, and the sign remained unchanged until after the performance, when "Thaw" was thinly covered with white paint.
• • A packed house tested her and applauded so persistently that she was forced forward finally by her dancing, . . . and expressed her thanks briefly for the reception. The sight of her face peeping through the mauve curtains masking the back of the stage started the applause. Then she and Mr. Clifford did three "trotting" turns, with evolutions that have been made familiar in the cabarets and public dancing places. She wore an ecru gown of light fluffy material bound in at the waistline with a broad black sash, and, with her hair loose about her neck and shoulders and a smile lighting her features, created an agreeable impression. Her dancing was of an average qualIty neither remarkably good nor the reverse. . . .
• • In 1899, Oscar Hammerstein built his fifth showplace the Victoria Theatre at the corner of West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue. Stars like MAE WEST, Will Rogers, W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Ethel Barrymore, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Buster Keaton, Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, and Eva Tanguay were among the thousands of performers who made Hammerstein's Victoria the vaudeville "nut house" of Times Square.
• • Mainly, it was Oscar's son Willie Hammerstein who deserves credit for the playhouse's 17-year successful run. Willie had the knack for booking crowd-pleasing stagebills along with a peacock's genius for public relations.
• • In 1906, Evelyn's millionaire husband Harry Thaw shot architect Sanford White. The "trial of the century" was held at Jefferson Market Court the same celebrated Sixth Avenue courthouse where Mae West would wind up in 1927. Mae's censorship trial is dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West."
• • The 19th century Greenwich Village landmark designed by Withers and Vaux is one stop on the annual Mae West walking tour that will take place this year on her birthday, specifically, beginning at 1:00 PM on Sunday 17 August 2008: "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side."
• • August 17th event info: MaeWest.blogspot.com
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• • Photo: Mae West
location • • Hammerstein's, 1901 • •

Mae West.

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