Mae West: 2 Lucky Winners

They came up to see MAE WEST on her birthday, on Wednesday, 17 August 2016 in her hometown. Yes, they did indeed!  This popular event was held at a building Mae was actually in, in 1927, when it was the Third Judicial Complex — — currently, the stately landmarked Jefferson Market Library on Sixth Avenue. (No one from Greenwich Village ever calls the thoroughfare anything else except Sixth Avenue.)
• • And two lucky winners went home with Mae.
• • Event organizer LindaAnn Loschiavo picked two raffle tickets; here are the results.
• • Chelsea resident GAIL SIEGEL is holding her prize, Diamond Lil, sketched by Irving Hoffman in 1928 when Mae was onstage with her Bowery drama at the Royale Theatre on Broadway.
• • Village resident CLARE SAVIOLA displays her new keepsake, a reprint of a rare lobby card from "Night After Night" (1932).
• • Congratulations to the lucky winners. Mae West will be in good company.

• • Thank you to Jefferson Market Library and to all of our wonderful attendees who certainly filled the room (and stayed 'til the end).

• • In Her Own Words • • 
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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.
• • Source: http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
___________________________________________
• • Source: http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • Jefferson Market Library, Aug. 17, 2016 • •
NYC
Mae West. 

Mae West: On 17 August 2016

Meet the real Mae West: New Yorker, vaudevillian, upstart, and jailbird
The Annual Mae West Event Revisits the Brooklyn Bombshell’s Struggles and Trial That Made Her Famous

• • New York, NY, July 1, 2016  — Born in Brooklyn, NY on August 17, 1893, MAE WEST began performing at age 6. By 1925, the 32-year-old knew her career had capsized; she was cast only in minor roles, she had numerous negative reviews, and she’d been fired. A trip to Greenwich Village and an appearance at Jefferson Market Court (now Jefferson Market Library) — — along with an overnight stay at Jefferson Jail — — changed her life, making the controversial vaudevillian an overnight sensation.
• • Vintage NYC images punctuate this fascinating but little-known story about the legendary entertainer, some of which played out at 425 Sixth Avenue when it was the Third Judicial Courthouse.
• • Join us at 6:00 on Wednesday evening, August 17, 2016 to celebrate Mae’s birthday with a talk and slide-show by Greenwich Village historian LindaAnn Loschiavo featuring rare photos of the young variety artist, who toured as a “specialty dancer” before becoming a writer and going to Hollywood in 1932 for a small role in Paramount's “Night After Night.” Archival images of NYC vaudeville theatres, Greenwich Village, and Jefferson Market will be screened as you’ll be introduced to the company Mae kept such as Owney Madden, George Raft, Jack Dempsey, West 8th Street resident Texas Guinan, etc.
• • About our speaker: Greenwich Villager LindaAnn Loschiavo, a historian and dramatist, drew inspiration from trials at Jefferson Market Court for her play “Courting Mae West.” Her latest projects are a documentary film, “In the Footsteps of Texas Guinan,” and a new biography on the queen of the night clubs, who lived at 72 Washington Square South and 17 West 8th Street until her death in 1933.
• • Come up and see Mae on her birthday for a festive occasion filled with fun, refreshments, prizes.   

    
— — — — Who, What, When, Where — — — —
• • What: Meet the real Mae West: New Yorker, vaudevillian, upstart, jailbird
• • When: Wednesday, 17 August 2016 — — from 6:00—8:00pm (doors open at 5:30pm)
• • Where: Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue, New York, NY 10011 (at West 10th  St.)
• • Fee: FREE — — but reservations are suggested
• • Phone: 212- 243-4334
• • Who: Our speaker is LindaAnn Loschiavo, dramatist, historian, Greenwich Villager
• • Subway: IND line to West Fourth Street; PATH train to West 9th Street
• • Extra: refreshments and a Mae West raffle
• • Website for all things Mae West:  http://MaeWest.blogspot.com
• • Mae West said: "I enjoyed the court room as any other stage."
• • Mae West (to jail matron): "Whaddya mean strip? I thought this was a respectable place!" 
• • Feel free to share this post.

• • Mae West: New Yorker, Vaudevillian, Upstart, and Jailbird — a Birthday Celebration!
• • NYPL link to August 17th event

— — — — —  — — —  — — — — —  — — —  — — — — — 
— — — — — —  — — —  — — — — —  — — —  — — — — 
• • In Her Own Words • • 
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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.
• • Source: http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
___________________________________________
• • Source: http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • in court, 1927 • •
NYC
Mae West. 

Mae West: On 17 August 2015

Happy Birthday to MAE WEST, the Brooklyn Bombshell, the Queen of Comedy, who maintained a long career on stage and on screen and also sizzled on the nightclub circuit.
• • Delivered by a local mid-wife, this newborn drew her first lusty breaths in Bushwick on Thursday, 17 August 1893 (under the leonine sign of Leo) in her parents' bedroom. Little Mary Jane West always said: "I was born on a cool night in a hot month so I knew I could expect anything."
• • She trumped the income of every film actress of her generation because Mae was paid as a screenwriter as well as a box office draw.
• • Each day at least one publication in the world mentions her name. [We can verify our claim, too, because we've tracked this a-Mae-zing trend daily for the past decade.]
• • Often imitated but never duplicated, the one and only Mae West endures in our hearts and memories.
• • Darling Mae, to your loyal followers, you don't look a day over twenty-sex!
• • Annual Mae West Tribute in NYC • •
• • Honoring NYC Icon Mae West on 17 August 2015 • •
• • Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era • •
• • 3 events commemorated the Brooklyn bombshell’s August birthday in the room where she faced a judge who sent her to jail • •  
• • On Monday, 17 August 2015 • •

• • Here are two pictures taken in New York City at the annual celebration of Mae West's birthday.  
• • Mae-maven extraordinaire Walter Egielski won a coveted 1928 sketch of Mae as Diamond Lil. 
• • Greenwich Villagers Maura Tobias and Sheldon Silberstein won a rare set of Texas Guinan films.
• • Topaz Lennard left the event and went home like royalty — — in a brand new chauffeur-driven limousine, courtesy of Bill's Limo. Standing next to the energetic cabaret singer is the company's CEO, William Dossena.  

• • More August 17th photos will be posted soon.
• • Find out more about this year's event:
• • Here's the NYPL link — http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2015/08/17/onstage-outlaws-mae-west-and-texas-guinan-during-lawless-prohibition-era 
• • Here's a fascinating article on speakeasy queen Texas Guinan written by syndicated columnist Lenore Skenazy — New York's Night Club Queen Was as Big as Texas
• • Here's an interview with Mae-maven LindaAnn Loschiavo — A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo
A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo 
• • The weekly events magazine Time Out New York recommended this event:
Time Out New York recommends "Onstage Outlaws Mae West and Texas Guinan"
• • Details — — Mae West Tribute: Triple Treat in 2015 
• • In Her Own Words • • 
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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.
• • Source: http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
___________________________________________
• • Source: http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • event at Jefferson Market Library, formerly a court • •
NYC
Mae West.    

Mae West: August 2015 Events

MAE WEST will have her annual hometown hoe-down in August.
• • Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era • •
• • 3 events commemorate the Brooklyn bombshell’s August birthday in the room where she faced a judge who sent her to jail • •
• • New York, NY, July 13, 2015 — During the 1920s, when Mae West was trying to build her career, the building all dramatists and actresses tried to avoid——Jefferson Market Court at 425 Sixth Avenue—— was the very site that made a little-known performer world famous. When N.Y. District Attorney Joab Banton had Mae West arrested and paddy wagoned to Jefferson Market Police Court on February 9, 1927, the controversial Brooklyn entertainer made global headlines for the first time. The actress-writer also served time in Jefferson Jail. At her side, covering the trial for the New York Journal American, was Texas Guinan, Mae’s friend and a frequent passenger in the police department’s Black Maria herself.
• •  In the 1920s, though most Broadway headliners avoided negative publicity, these two diamond-draped divas flouted convention, defied police, and became as well known for being handcuffed as for blazing their way onto theatre marquees. They were “onstage outlaws” during the Prohibition Era.
• •  When Mae West [1893-1980] and Texas Guinan [1884-1933] weren’t being chased by the purity police, they found time to enjoy the speakeasies, bookshops, restaurants, night spots, and theatres in Greenwich Village. In 1907, Texas-born Texas Guinan moved to New York, where she resided at 72 Washington Square South, then at 17 West 8th Street. The speakeasy queen owned bracelets set with 567 diamonds each and a fancy armored car that once belonged to the King of Belgium.
• •  To celebrate Mae West's birthday on August 17, 2015, there will be an illustrated talk: "Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era.” Rare vintage images will show you the buildings around Washington Square as these two headline-makers saw them. Sites include the Village speakeasies where Mae socialized and bent elbows with Texas Guinan, Walter Winchell, Jack Dempsey, George Raft, and Barney Gallant; significant theatres; court rooms where Mae and Texas fought City Hall; and off-beat addresses that made an impact. Rare Texas Guinan silent films will be shown and Mae West’s Jefferson Jail poetry will also be read.
• •  The speaker LindaAnn Loschiavo is a Greenwich Village historian and dramatist; her plays include “Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets” and “Diamond Lil, Queen of the Bowery.”

        — — — — Who, What, When, Where — — — —
• • What: Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era
• • When: Monday, 17 August 2015 — — from 6:30 — 8:00pm (doors open at 6:00pm)
• • Where: Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 (at West 10th Street)
• • Extra: to celebrate the birthday of Brooklyn bombshell Mae West, on August 3rd and on August 10th, her films will be shown at 6:00pm. The first one, "Sextette" [1978] will be screened on August 3rd. Then "Go West Young Man" [1936] will be screened on August 10th. The August 17th multi-media presentation will feature light refreshments (courtesy of East Village Cheese) and a raffle. You could win rare films starring Texas Guinan. Or maybe a rare reprint by The New Yorker’s caricaturist Alfred Freuh or by a famous N. Y. Times illustrator.
• • Refreshment sponsor: East Village Cheese
• • Subway: IND line to West Fourth Street; PATH train to West 9th Street
• • Fee: FREE — — no entry fee for the three Mae West events on August 3rd, August 10th, and August 17th, 2015
• • Phone: 212- 243-4334
• • Website for all things Mae West: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com
• • Here's the NYPL link — http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2015/08/17/onstage-outlaws-mae-west-and-texas-guinan-during-lawless-prohibition-era 
• • Here's a fascinating article on speakeasy queen Texas Guinan written by syndicated columnist Lenore Skenazy — New York's Night Club Queen Was as Big as Texas
• • Here's an interview with Mae-maven LindaAnn Loschiavo — A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo
A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo 
• • The weekly events magazine Time Out New York recommended this event:
Time Out New York recommends "Onstage Outlaws Mae West and Texas Guinan"
• • Details — — Mae West Tribute: Triple Treat in 2015
• • Mae West said: "I enjoyed the court room as any other stage." 
• • Mae West told the jail matron: "Whaddya mean strip? I thought this was a respectable place!"   
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art."
• • Mae West said: "I'd rather be looked over than overlooked."
• • Link to August events
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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.
• • Source: http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
___________________________________________
• • Source: http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • with Texas Guinan in court, in 1930 • •
NYC
Mae West.    

Mae West: Author Appears Concerned

You might say that MAE WEST was getting a bath in red ink. Oh, dear. Let's retrace these steps surrounding the police raid of Mae's homosexual stage play "Pleasure Man" at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway in New York City.
• • "POLICE STOP MATINEE of MAE WEST'S NEW PLAY" • •

• • New York, Oct. 3 — [A.P.] — A matinee performance of Mae West's play, "The Pleasure Man," was halted during the first scene of the third act this afternoon by Police Lieutenant James Coy, who walked on the stage and told the audience that he was placing the cast under arrest. 
• • Miss West and her actors had also been arrested after Monday night's opening of the play, charged with staging an indecent performance.
• • Source: News Item rpt in The Cornell Daily Sun; published on Thursday,  4 October 1928.
• • On Wednesday, 3 October 1928 in The N.Y. Times • •
• • COURT STAYS POLICE on MAE WEST PLAY; Writ Bars Interference Until Friday and 'Pleasure Man' Is Performed to Full House. CASES OF 56 UP TOMORROW Cant Pleads Not Guilty and Bail Is Continued — — Walker Revealed as Instigator of Raid. Seeks Conference With Warren. Arrests May Still Be Made. Author Appears Concerned.
• • Coverage in The New York Times on Wednesday, 3 October 1928, page 33.
• • On Wednesday, 3 October 1928 • •
• • It was on Wednesday, 3 October 1928 when Mae West appeared in court to answer charges that she had written and produced another "immoral" play. Wire services sent out her photograph, explaining that the entire cast had been arrested after one opening performance.
• • The infamous raid at the Biltmore Theatre begins Act 2, Scene 1 of the serious-minded comedy "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art."
• • Mae West said: "I was ten years ahead of my time. Some day, I'm going to produce those plays again."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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.
• • Source: http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
___________________________________________
• • Source: http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • with the cast in court in 1928 • •
NYC
Mae West.    

Mae West: A Tribute

The birthday event on August 13th honoring MAE WEST was mentioned in The New York Times today.
• • ARTS: Spare Times for August 8 — 14 • •
• • Tribute to Mae West (Wednesday) • •
• • The anniversary of West’s birthday, which is Aug. 17, 1893, will be celebrated at the Jefferson Market Library. In the 1920s the library as the site of a courthouse and jail, where she was imprisoned for 10 days for performing in the play “Sex,” which was deemed to be morally corrupting. The event features a talk by LindaAnn Loschiavo, a historian and dramatist who has written plays about West. At 6:30 p.m., 425 Avenue of the Americas, at 10th Street, Greenwich Village, tinyurl.com/mbnaklv; free.
• • http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/arts/spare-times-for-aug-8-14.html
• • Save the Date: Wednesday, August 13th • •
• • Wednesday, 13 August 2014 will be the next Mae West Tribute in Manhattan and the event will start at 6:30 pm at 425 Sixth Avenue. The theme will be: "Mae West in Bohemia — — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill."   
• • Details:  August 13th Event
• • The New Yorker announced it to their readers in the "Above and Beyond" section — — 
http://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/above-and-beyond/mae-west-bohemia
• • — • • Who, What, When, Where • • — • •
• • What: Mae West in Bohemia — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill: An Illustrated Talk
• • When: Wednesday, 13 August 2014 — — from 6:30 — 8:00pm
• • Where: Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 (at West 10th Street).
• • Extra: to celebrate the birthday of the Brooklyn bombshell Mae West, this event will conclude with light refreshments and a raffle. You could win a rare reprint by The New Yorker’s caricaturist Alfred Freuh or by a famous N.Y. Times illustrator.
• • Subway: IND line to West Fourth Street; PATH train to West 9th Street
• • Fee: Free 
• • Phone to RSVP: 212- 243-4334
• • Website for all things Mae West: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com
• • Mae West said: "I got my own individual style. You can always tell Eugene O'Neill — — and you can always tell Mae West."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art." 
• • Mae West said: "I'd rather be looked over than overlooked."
• • Link: Wednesday August 13th event
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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.
• • Source: http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
___________________________________________
• • Source: http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • with Eugene O'Neill at the Golden Swan • •
NYC
Mae West.    

Mae West: Free Event on August 13th

On Wednesday, 13 August 2014 MAE WEST returns to 425 Sixth Avenue to the room that she once knew as Jefferson Market Police Court, the chamber she was escorted to in 1927 after the police raid on "Sex." Join us for a fascinating event.
• • As she has done for the past decade, dramatist LindaAnn Loschiavo will commemorate the Brooklyn bombshell’s birthday — — this time in the room where she faced a judge who sent her to jail.

• • "Mae West in Bohemia — Gin, Sin, Censorship, Eugene O'Neill" • •
• • New York, NY — During the 1920s, dramatists monitored the arrests and unrest at 425 Sixth Avenue where new rulings or a decision by the play jury could sidetrack an author’s career. Eugene O'Neill was often a target of New York District Attorney Joab Banton, who stated that "Desire under the Elms" was "too thoroughly bad to be purified by blue pen." The D.A. also tried to stop O’Neill’s plays from being performed in New York City on Sundays. And it was Banton who had Mae West arrested and hauled in to Jefferson Market Police Court in a paddy wagon; the actress-writer also did time in Jefferson Jail.
• • When Eugene O’Neill and Mae West weren’t being chastened by the purity police, they found time to enjoy the speakeasies, bookshops, restaurants, and theatres in Greenwich Village. Though the Brooklyn bombshell felt O’Neill’s plays were depressing, she attended performances with Texas Guinan. In 1922, “The Hairy Ape” inspired Mae to write a song: "Eugene O'Neill, You've Put a Curse on Broadway." As she rehearsed the number for “The Ginger Box Revue,” Mae's character was bellowing, Yank Smith-style, "She don me doit! Lemme up! I'll show her who's an ape!"
• • To celebrate Mae West's birthday in mid-August, there will be an illustrated talk: "Mae West in Bohemia — — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill." Rare vintage images will show you the buildings and blocks around Washington Square as these two theatre people saw them. Sites will include the Village speakeasies where Eugene drank himself into oblivion and met the characters he would put in his plays; where Mae socialized and bent elbows with Texas Guinan, Walter Winchell, Jack Dempsey, and Barney Gallant; significant theatres; the court where Eugene and Mae battled against censorship; and off-beat addresses that made an impact.
• • The speaker LindaAnn Loschiavo is a Greenwich Village historian and dramatist; her plays include “Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets” and “Diamond Lil, Queen of the Bowery.”
• • — • • Who, What, When, Where • • — • •
• • What: Mae West in Bohemia — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill: An Illustrated Talk
• • When: Wednesday, 13 August 2014 — — from 6:30 — 8:00pm
• • Where: Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 (at West 10th Street).
• • Extra: to celebrate the birthday of the Brooklyn bombshell Mae West, this event will conclude with light refreshments and a raffle. You could win a rare reprint by The New Yorker’s caricaturist Alfred Freuh or by a famous N.Y. Times illustrator.
• • Subway: IND line to West Fourth Street; PATH train to West 9th Street
• • Fee: Free 
• • Phone to RSVP: 212- 243-4334
• • Website for all things Mae West: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com
• • Mae West said: "I got my own individual style. You can always tell Eugene O'Neill — — and you can always tell Mae West."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art." 
• • Mae West said: "I'd rather be looked over than overlooked."
• • Link: Wednesday August 13th event
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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.
• • Source: http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
___________________________________________
• • Source: http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • with Eugene O'Neill at the Golden Swan • •
NYC
Mae West.