Mae West: MidSumma Memories

There was nonstop applause when actress Marie-Therese Byrne gave a diamond dazzling performance in the role of MAE WEST in "Courting Mae West," a serious-minded comedy written by LindaAnn Loschiavo. For this presentation Down Under, the play had a rehearsed reading under the direction of Cameron Menzies during the Midsumma Festival, now in its 24th year.
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• • MAE WEST: Sweetie, because of you I got BIGGER this week.
• • SHORTIE: Dio mio. Making miracles on my pauper’s paycheck? What magic did I do?
• • MAE WEST: I liked your review, took your advice, made my finale kickier. I just took ten curtain calls. TEN — oooh — ten big ones! Wait till MY MOTHER hears how they LOVED ME tonight.
• • SHORTIE: Bravissimo! Soon they’ll be slapping a gold star on your (pause) savings account.
• • MAE WEST: Daly’s hung a banner — “Our 300th Night of Sex!” MY show — 300 sold-out performances on Broadway. (long pause) That’s 11 months of LUCK. Hmmm. Will I STAY lucky?
• • SHORTIE: I’m the one with problems. You’ve arrived! Enjoy the red carpet.
• • MAE WEST: I love being onstage more than Napoleon loved war. But theatre owners want to book pictures — NOT LIVE SHOWS. (pause) I’m wondering — will there be anything better than Sex?
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• • Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship & Secrets [Act I, Scene 1, a drag cabaret in Greenwich Village, New York in December 1926]
• • Playwright: LindaAnn Loschiavo
• • This text has been copyrighted. It is used here with permission.
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• • Artistic Director of Fly-on-the Wall Robert Chuter said: The director did the reading in the style of an old 1930s-style radio broadcast. It was stunning and the audience loved it. Full house.

We will look at Courting Mae West for possible programming in 2012.

• • In character as the pre-Hollywood Mae West, Ms. Byrne looks every inch the star as she shows her determination to climb the ladder of success wrong by wrong.
• • Australia's trendy L.O.T.L. Magazine said: "Those in the mood for some titillating theatre should consider 'Courting Mae West,' part of Midsumma's Playing in the Raw season."
• • Special thanks to Robert Chuter for selecting "Courting Mae West" for Midsumma Playing-In-The-Raw's series.
• • WHEN: Saturday, 28 January 2012 — — from 2.00pm — 4:30pm
• • WHERE: Midsumma Playing-In-The-Raw at The Chapel [Melbourne, Australia]
• • Tell them you heard about Midsumma on The Courting Mae West Blog.
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• • 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.
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Source:http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • Marie-Therese Byrne on 28 January 2012 • •
NYC
Mae West.