Mae West Gala: August 17th

Invitation to the Annual Mae West Gala

In her 1935 release "Goin' to Town," MAE WEST's character — — newly rich Cleo Borden — — has an evening soiree and decides to impress the guests by "throwing an opera." Always envisioning herself as a seductress, Mae (hilariously costumed) performs an erotic French aria by Camille Saint-Saëns: "Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix."
• • 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.
• • This year the Annual Mae West Birthday Gala will also commemorate the 80th anniversary of "Diamond Lil," which Mae West wrote and brought to Broadway in 1928.
• • Soprano Marlena de la Mora has sung with both The Met & NYC Opera. A former winner of the New York Liederkranz Foundation's Wagnerian Vocal Competition, Madame de la Mora is a soloist at Fordham United Methodist Church.
• • Sharon Weinman has been leading walking tours for over a decade and performs in community theatre; she is also a Recreation Therapist with the New York State Recreation and Park Society.
• • LindaAnn Loschiavo's latest play "Courting Mae West" was onstage in July as part of the Fresh Fruit Festival; she is at work on a biographical travel guide "Mae West's New York, 1899—1959" and will show some of her rare vintage photos during the tour.
• • 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
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Source:http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • 1935 • •
NYC
Mae West.

Gay Cabaret on W. 9th St

MAE WEST enjoyed Greenwich Village night life. It inspired her.
• • During the early 1920s, she spent time at the most popular gay nightspot — — Paul and Joe's on West Ninth Street — — famous for its drag cabaret. In coded language, Paul and Joe's (run by two Italian family men who lived in New Jersey) was careful to drop hints about being a place for pansies. These skillfully worded pansy ads appeared in The New York Times and elsewhere.
• • Floyd Dell's book Love in Greenwich Village (and many other books) described this former speakeasy on West Ninth Street. In 1920, the regulars filed through a dark-panelled portal three steps down from the pavement. Paul and Joe's was a place where people wanted to be delivered to temptation — — or wanted sin to stay in touch.
• • The Pansy Craze was a period during the Prohibition Era when gay clubs and performers (known as pansy performers) experienced a surge in underground popularity in the USA. Socialites, politicians, and even athletes (such as Jack Dempsey) frequented Paul and Joe's where they liked to sit on the mezzanine level and observe the spectacle from a discreet distance.
• • The gay clientele included Greenwich Villagers who were drag community leaders such as the Duchess and Mother Superior. The Duchess was the expert on drag deportment; it was the Duchess who instructed young drag queens on in-group codes of dress, style, speech, and etiquette.
• • The Duchess and Mother Superior (who were very helpful to Mae when she conceived "THE DRAG") were well-known activists who often wrote in the daily papers to protest gay bias.
• • This was the gay cabaret that inspired MAE to write her controversial play "THE DRAG," a work that kicked New York's legal machinery into gear on 9 February 1927. MAE spent that evening in Jefferson Market Police Court and was forced to stay overnight in Jefferson Market Jail.
• • Act I, Scene 1 of "COURTING MAE WEST" opens in Paul and Joe's on West Ninth Street. In the play the speak is called "Cafe Giovanni" and the wait-staff and the cigarette "girl" are in drag.
• • Come up and see Mae during July in New York City!
• • http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Paul & Joe's • • 1918
NYC
Mae West.