Mae West Returns 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 this August 17th event

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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.
• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West • • 1927, on trial with Barry O'Neill • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Mae West: Back with Texas

MAE WEST will be celebrated in her former court room during August 2015.
• • 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
• • 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!"  
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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 • • 1930, awaiting the verdict with Texas Guinan • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Mae West: 425 Sixth Avenue

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

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West • • 1921, The Golden Swan Saloon (6th Avenue) • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

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.

Sin and Sex on Nov. 22nd

Mae West’s “Diamond Lil” to Have a Free Performance at Jefferson Market Library in Manhattan to Honor the Brooklyn Bombshell on Her Anniversary
Underworld Meets Underwear in this Bold, Bawdy Drama Set on the Bowery in 1895

Photo by Wayne Takenaka

• • New York, NY -- Written in 1928 by Mae West [17 August 1893 – 22 November 1980], the stage play “Diamond Lil” has laced itself into a position of public awareness once again thanks to a frisky adaptation by playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo. The original script, a voluptuous 3-hour affair stuffed with villains and sub-plots, has been tightened and trimmed to 85 minutes.  The cast size has been whittled down, from 34 players in 1928, to eight.
• • “Diamond Lil” is set in 1895 on the Bowery in Chinatown. Diamond-loving Lil, a chanteuse starring at Gus Jordan’s dance hall, becomes fixated on Captain Cummings, who seems to be the leader of a Bowery rescue mission and a clean-living decent man.  Diamond Lil falls in love with this handsome missionary, unaware that he is an undercover detective who is about to arrest her and her lover Gus Jordan, ending the criminal enterprise that has brought her to prominence and filled her jewelry box with diamonds.
• • People often ask:   If I’ve seen “She Done Him Wrong,” why should I see “Diamond Lil” onstage?
• • In 1932, under the watchful gaze of the censors, Paramount Pictures took a 3-hour play about the criminal underworld and sanitized it beyond recognition. The movie studio boiled it down to 66 minutes, turning the white slavery traffickers into counterfeiters, eliminating the sex and seduction scenes, and refining the “Lady Lou” character. On stage, Mae’s character Lil sashayed in corsets and revealing garments; in the movie, Lady Lou’s costumes carefully concealed her cleavage.  In her stage version, Mae offered vivid encounters between men and women with kissing, touching, man-handling, and an attempted rape. Fortunately, the adapted script by LindaAnn Loschiavo has all of the sex and none of the censorship.  And the actresses wear beautiful bustiers.
• • The public is invited (suitable for age 18 and over). Join us as we turn the iconic Greenwich Village library into Gus Jordan's lawless "Suicide Hall"!
• • The Cast: Starring Darlene Violette as Diamond Lil, Queen of the Bowery and also featuring Sidney Myer, Anthony DiCarlo, Joanna Bonaro, Juan Sebastian Cortes, Kimmy Foskett, Jim Gallagher, and others.
• • Watch a Video of "Diamond Lil" • •
• • http://youtu.be/xfbJHhw47OQ
• • Read a Review of "Diamond Lil"
• • L'Idea Magazine's editors had lots to say. Link: http://www.lideamagazine.com/usa-still-entertaining-mae-wests-diamond-lil-makes-new-fans-in-new-york-city/ The public is invited (suitable for age 18 and over). Join us as we turn the iconic NYC nightspot Don't Tell Mama into Gus Jordan's "Suicide Hall"!

• • Who, What, When, Where • •
• • Who: Actress Darlene Violette, Anthony DiCarlo, Joanna Bonaro, Juan Sebastian Cortes, Kimmy Foskett, Jim Gallagher, and TBA along with dramatist-journalist LindaAnn Loschiavo
• • What:  Mae West’s "Diamond Lil" — – an adaptation by LindaAnn Loschiavo 
• • When: 7:00 pm, Friday, Nov. 22, 2013
• • Where: Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY — – in the same chamber where Mae West [1893--1980] faced off with the magistrate in 1927
• • What Else: the popular Mae West Raffle
• • Fee: Free
• • RSVP: Jefferson Market Library, T 212-243-4334
• • Url: The Mae West Blog
• • Email: maewestdiamondlil@gmail.com
• • Subway: West Fourth St. station via A, C, D, E, F subway
• • Path: West Ninth St. station
— — — — — On-going performances of "Diamond Lil" — — — — —
• • Those who prefer night life will enjoy "Diamond Lil" starring actress Darlene Violette — — and the roisterous cast who brought the Bowery denizens and Suicide Hall’s ne’er-do-wells to life — — now onstage with performances at Don’t Tell Mama [343 W. 46th Street] on certain Sunday evenings from October 27 until November 24, 2013.
• • Reserve seats by phone: 212-757-0788; RSVP online: www.donttellmamanyc.com
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Come up sometime. I'm home every evening."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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 1927; the return of "Diamond Lil" in 2013 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Mae West: 6th Avenue Rendezvous

It seems MAE WEST can't stay away from 425 Sixth Avenue.
• • Legendary Actress Returns to the Scene of the Crime at Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village in New York City
• • "Courting Mae West" revives an arresting drama of 1927 and invites the public to be the jury at Mae West's censorship trial in Judge Donnellan's original courtroom
• • NEW YORK, NY — —  Join us on Saturday afternoon, November 23, 2013 when a house of history lifts its petticoats, permitting Mae West to face her fans and accusers during an extraordinary reenactment.
• • Jefferson Market Library is proud to present scenes from "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship and Secrets" -- --unlocking the same chamber where Mae West [1893-- 1980] faced off with the magistrate in 1927 when the space was used as Jefferson Market Police Court. (The structure that escaped the wrecking ball is now Jefferson Market Library.)  
• •  Gripping trial scenes will be performed by a cast of professional actors led by Darlene Violette who portrays Mae West. Along with the staged drama, there will be a discussion "Mae West: Sex, Censorship, Prison, and Politics" by LindaAnn Loschiavo, a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, who was commissioned to write the cover story for the summer issue of The Dramatist.
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" by LindaAnn Loschiavo -- -- Based on true events, the stage play "Courting Mae West" explores how a vaudevillian with a dozen years of bad reviews and highly placed enemies in the media and the Mayor's Office climbed the ladder of success, wrong by wrong. This serious minded comedy has been seen in New York City at the Fresh Fruit Festival and, most recently, in Australia as part of Midsumma's Playing-in-the-Raw.

• •  Who, What, When, Where • •
• • WHO: Actress Darlene Violette and actors TBA with dramatist-journalist LindaAnn Loschiavo
• • WHAT:     Scenes from "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship and Secrets" and discussion of the era's homophobia and the political powers that lined up against Mae West and why.
• • WHEN:       2:00 pm, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013
• • WHERE:     Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY -- --in the same chamber where Mae West [1893-- 1980] faced off with the magistrate in 1927
• • WHAT ELSE:     the popular Mae West Raffle
• • FEE:                FREE
• • RSVP:    Jefferson Market Library, T 212-243-4334
• • URL:   http://MaeWest.blogspot.com
• • Email:   maewestdiamondlil@gmail.com
• • SUBWAY: West Fourth St. station via A, C, D, E, F subway
• • PATH: West Ninth St. station

Audience Response to "Diamond Lil" onstage at 343 W. 46th St.

— — — — — On-going performances of "Diamond Lil" — — — — —
• • Those who prefer night life will enjoy "Diamond Lil" starring actress Darlene Violette — — and the roisterous cast who brought the Bowery denizens and Suicide Hall’s ne’er-do-wells to life — — now onstage with performances at Don’t Tell Mama [343 W. 46th Street] on certain Sunday evenings from October 27 until November 24, 2013.
• • Reserve seats by phone: 212-757-0788; RSVP online: www.donttellmamanyc.com
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "You gotta fight in this world, my father told me, and keep on fightingI"
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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 1927; the return of "Diamond Lil" in 2013 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Censorship & Mae West

Publishers Weekly offered a capsule review of a new title devoted to Mae West — — which also includes revealing first-person statements about her imprisonment.
• • Speaking about the author Charlotte Chandler's latest release, the critic wrote this: Chandler (Not the Girl Next Door: Joan Crawford) draws on her interviews with the 86-year-old Mae West, known for her “risqué brand of humor,” in this chatty memoir. West carefully constructed and guarded the image of her personality as a woman who enjoyed sex at a time when “skirts had to cover ankles.” She contended she was “never vulgar. The word for me was suggestive.”
• • West (1893–1980) craved the spotlight from a young age and had been a success in vaudeville, where she began to write her own material. Her screen legend perfected her sexually playful alter ego in such films as She Done Him Wrong, which contained her most quoted line: “Come up and see me sometime” [sic].
• • Chandler also includes Mae West's first-person account of her 10 days in jail — — when she was found guilty of producing an immoral Broadway show, her first full-length play, Sex. West remained a box-office draw into her 70s, appearing in the 1970 film Myra Breckinridge. Whether discussing her love life or advising on playwriting or beauty tips, Mae West was always entertaining. Photos. (Feb.)
• • Title reviewed: She Always Knew How: Mae West, a Personal Biography Charlotte Chandler. [NY: Simon & Schuster (336p) ISBN 978-1-4165-7909-0]
— — Source: — —
• • Article: PW's Nonfiction Reviews
• • Printed in: Publishers Weekly — — www.publishersweekly.com
• • Printed on: 12 January 2009
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • "Courting Mae West" features intriguing scenes dramatizing Mae's arrest and trials.
• • Offered onstage July 19th—22nd in New York City during the Annual Fresh Fruit Festival, "Courting Mae West" has been nominated for several awards. The black-tie awards gala will take place during April 2009 in Manhattan.
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• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West • • February 1927 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Mae's back at court Aug. 17

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.
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• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West's raid • • February 1927 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Courting the media 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." Info: MaeWest.blogspot.com
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Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Hammerstein's Victoria • • circa 1901 • •
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Jefferson Market.

Village Raid — 5 February 1923

The play "Courting Mae West" opens in one of the drag cabarets in the Village that MAE WEST used to visit. In Act I, Scene 1, Mae waves to a cigarette girl in drag known as Rosebud. Mae explains to her date, "I just cast Rosebud over there in 'The Drag'. . . ."
• • In 1923, Arthur C. Budd was 21 years old and residing at 25 West 52nd Street. Known as “Rosebud,” Arthur C. Budd worked as a female impersonator in “The Lady in Ermine” at The Century Theater.
• • A New York Times article published on 5 February 1923 — — “Village Raid Nets 4 Women and 9 Men: Detectives Thought They Had Five Females, but Misjudged One Person by Clothing” — — paints a picture of the Greenwich Village circles Rosebud traveled in.
• • The police continue to pay special attention to Greenwich Village, according to The N.Y. Times. Every tearoom and cabaret in the village was visited yesterday morning by Deputy Inspector Joseph A. Howard and Captain Edward J. Dempsey of the Charles Street Station, and a party of ten detectives.
• • Detectives Joseph Massie and Dewey Hughes of the Special Service Squad were at the Black Parrot Tea Shoppe Hobo-Hemia, 46 Charles Street, to witness what they had been informed would be a “circus.” They arrested what they thought were five women and eight men. It developed later, however, that one of the “women” was a man, Harry Bernhammer, 21 years old, living at 36 Hackensack Avenue, West Hoboken, N.J. He is familiarly known in the Village as “Ruby,” according to the police. The charge against him is disorderly conduct for giving what the police termed an indecent dance.
• • The other prisoners, all of whom were bailed out at the station house, were Lucy Smith, 22 years old, of 46 Charles Street, and Patricia Rogers, 24 years old, of 16 Charles Street, alleged proprietors of the establishment, charged with violating the Mullan-Gage law; . . . Arthur C. Budd, 21 years old, of 25 West Fifty-second Street; . . . Paul Warring, 21 years old, of 75 West Seventy-second Street; . . . . The real name of the Smith woman, according to the police, is Vera Black, and the real name of the Rogers woman is Nan Paddock.
• • Arthur C. Budd, according to the police, is known as “Rosebud,” and claimed when arrested that he is a female impersonator in “The Lady in Ermine” at The Century Theater.
• • Paul Warring, the police say, is pianist at the Black Parrot and was formerly employed at a Broadway cabaret. . . . Reilly is accused of doing “a suggestive dance.”
• • The detectives allege that before the raid early yesterday morning they bought eight drinks of whiskey at $1 a drink.
• • The “circus” did not actually take place, the detectives said, for just before the time for it to begin Patricia Rogers stepped out on the floor and announced: “There are two policemen here and I am afraid to put on the circus."
• • The joyful soiree at the Black Parrot Tea Shoppe Hobo-Hemia [46 Charles Street, New York, NY 10014] ended rather abruptly with a paddy wagon conveying the arrested individuals to Jefferson Market Police Court on Sixth Avenue on 5 February 1923.
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Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Jefferson Market Court • • circa 1917 • •
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Jefferson Market.

April is the coolest month

A West Coast feature "This Week in History" — — which mentions MAE WEST — — is glued together by the Santa Barbara Independent's news staff who, obviously, is a wee bit thick. Though this paper has had eighty-one years to get their facts straight, here is their inaccurate backwards glance on the date 19 April 1927.
• • To wit: Actress/ playwright Mae West is sentenced to 10 days in jail for writing Sex, a Broadway show about a gigolo, deemed “scandalous” by the courts. [Source for the incorrect info: Santa Barbara Independent: 122 West Figueroa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101; T. (805) 965-5205. Their excuse for getting details wrong is rich, however. They admit to doing a quick cut-and-paste from The History Channel — — even if that means passing errors along. So if you want a job as a fact-checker, you know where NOT to go. Salaries must be low at the Santa Barbara Independent, where the corn is as high as a pink elephant's eye. Sigh. A more suitable title would be "This Week in Mystery" — — with trinkets given to the first canny readers who can spot the mistakes. This would be an inexpensive way to get the copy proofread as well, eh?]
• • Since when was Mae West's play "Sex" referred to by the wishy-washy, inaccurate, tea-party word "scandalous"? In Jefferson Market Court and in the courtroom transcript, this was called "an obscenity trial." The actors were fined and charged with giving an offensive and indecent performance.
• • Since when was "Sex" about a gigolo? Wrong plot and wrong-headed altogether.
• • Why? Well, since when would Mae West choose to star in a vehicle unless the narrative centered on the leading lady's role? She wouldn't and she didn't.
• • Too bad the Santa Barbara Independent staff did not bring their ink-stained selves off to the Aurora Theatre Company's revival of "Sex" (starring Delia MacDougall in the role of Margy LaMont) onstage in Berkeley, California in November and December of 2007. Nor did they read the reviews.
• • Synopsis of the 1926 play Mae West wrote in order to give herself a starring role: "Sex" is the tale of Margy LaMont, an ambitious young prostitute in Montreal, who is determined to get out of the skin trade and marry well. Margy takes the advice of a British naval officer [played in 1926 by handsome Barry O'Neill] to ''follow the fleet.'' That takes her to Trinidad, where she meets Jimmy Stanton, a naive rich boy from a blue-blooded Connecticut family. Jimmy proposes to Margy and whisks her home to his parents' well-furnished mansion.
• • Well, there's no gigolo in that synopsis! Anyway this blog posting is set forth for all news media outlets who would like to have correct information.
• • On 5 April 1927 at Jefferson Market Court [on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village], the jury returned with a guilty verdict. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, photographers, and a mob of well-wishers, Mae told them, "You've got to fight in this world!" She added, "You've got to fight to get there — — and fight to stay there."
• • On 19 April 1927, actress MAE WEST was sentenced for her performance in "Sex," the Broadway play she wrote, cast, and starred in. She was given ten days in prison and the jail time seems to have done her good — — from a publicity standpoint. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, friends, fans, and gawkers, Mae predicted, "I expect this will be the making of me!"
• • Though Mae West was sentenced to 10 days, she actually only served 8 days. The actress received "time off for good behavior."
• • "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets" — — based on true events when Mae West was tried at the Jefferson Market Police Court on Sixth Avenue — — will be onstage at the Algonquin Theatre [123 East 24th Street, New York, NY 10010] July 19th — 22nd, 2008.
• • Get ready to come up and see Mae onstage in mid-July 2008.
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Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West at her Jefferson Market trial • • 27 March 1927 • •
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Jefferson Market.

A Lock on Mae West

MAE WEST gets her day in court — — when she returns to the Times Square area on Saturday 29 March 2008.
• • COURTING MAE WEST will be featured at The Producer's Club [358 West 44th Street, NYC] on March 29th under the direction of Louis Lopardi, who has selected a number of actors to do a table reading.
• • COURTING MAE WEST opens at 7:00 PM at the Algonquin Theatre (NYC) on 19 July 2008.

• • SYNOPSIS [100 words] • •

• • Based on true events during the Prohibition Era, this 95-minute play follows a vaudeville veteran whose frustrations with the rules of male-dominated Broadway have led her to write her own material and cast her own shows. Is the Gay White Way ready for love stories that feature New York City drag queens instead of card-carrying members of the union? Is the legitimate theatre ripe for racially integrated melodramas set in Harlem? Is the Rialto raring to reward a working-class heroine determined to sin and win?
• • Come up and see Mae West as she challenges bigotry, fights City Hall, and climbs the ladder of success wrong by wrong.

• • How about a date?
• • Plan ahead. Get ready to come up and see Mae onstage in New York City when the Annual Fresh Fruit Festival presents "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship and Secrets" (based on true events 1926 — 1932 when Mae West was arrested and jailed) under the direction of Louis Lopardi at the Algonquin Theatre [123 East 24th Street, NYC 10010] July 19th — 22nd, 2008.
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 7 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 7:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 1:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to COURTING MAE WEST will be about $20 - $25 each.
• • The theatre has 99 seats.
• • SPECIAL: $100 - $150 donation — — donor gets name in the Program — — and 1 free ticket to the play.
• • $151 - $500 donation — — donor gets name in Program and TWO free tickets to the play and invited to all parties.
• • Fresh Fruit Festival: a non-profit group organizes this ambitious annual festival [now in its 7th year]. The colorful two-week arts festival is a money-losing venture sustained by funds from The New York City Council, a culture grant from New York State, a stipend from Senator Tom Duane, and donations from good people.
• • Get ready to come up and see Mae onstage in mid-July 2008.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Jefferson Market Police Court • • 2 February 1927 • •
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Jefferson Market.

William Zorach's Jeff Encounter

The late great sculptor and painter William Zorach [28 February 1887 — 15 November 1966] often sketched Jefferson Market since, for years, he lived on West Tenth Street and Greenwich (next to the Cushman bakery and directly opposite the formidable jail doors). Zorach reveals an interesting Prohibition Era secret in his colorful memoir Art Is My Life.
• • William Zorach writes: There was Frank Harris [14 February 1856 — 27 August 1931] living on Washington Square, whom I enjoyed visiting. I always found him in bed dictating to his secretary, a handsome redhead. He gave me a set of his Life of Oscar Wilde. I never got a chance to read it, it was lifted from our bookcase so quickly. I remember Frank Harris going into Jefferson Market Court and exposing detectives who enticed young girls, often innocent ones, and then arrested them for prostitution.
• • We faced the Jefferson Market Jail door where the wagons brought in the night's haul, and below us would be the bail-bond lawyers waiting to bail them out.
• • We used to see a manhole cover just outside the jail lift up. A man would stick his head out and whistle and a boy would rush a bucket of beer over from the corner saloon. This went on for years — — and then one day a prisoner escaped through the manhole and that stopped the flow of beer.
• • William Zorach's reminiscence inspired an interlude in "Courting Mae West" [Act I, Scene 4] when Mae West is being held in Night Court and her newsman-boyfriend wants to gain access and get a scoop. Suddenly, he observes a manhole cover just outside the jail lift up. . . .
• • Bringing "Courting Mae West" to an audience requires funding. To support A Company Of Players, a non-profit theatre group established in 1979 to present meaningful theatre, please click on this link — — http://www.companyofplayers.com/support.htm
• • A Company Of Players is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 type organization, and donations to the group are considered a charitable, tax-deductible contribution.
• • Contribute through "Pay Pal" or you can mail a check to: A Company Of Players, 545 Eighth Avenue, #401, New York NY 10018-4307.
• • "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets" — — based on true events when Mae West was tried at the Jefferson Market Police Court — — will be onstage at the Algonquin Theatre [123 East 24th Street, New York, NY 10010] on July 19th — 22nd, 2008.
• • Get ready to come up and see Mae onstage in mid-July 2008.
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• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Jefferson Market and elevated train • • early 1930s • •
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Jefferson Market.