Mae West: August 13th Event

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."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West • • in 1921 at The Golden Swan Saloon • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.