triangle productions!

As we wind down to the final show of Arbus & West [the meeting of two titans], I'd like to shine a light on how Mae wasn't just, as many people perceived her to be , 'a s*x symbol' she was also a prolific writer. I'd like to highlight just a few of her works.

• BOOKS:
West, Mae (1930). Babe Gordon. (the novel on which the play, The Constant Sinner was based)
• West, Mae (1932). Diamond Lil Man. (novelization of play)
• West, Mae (1970) Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It.
• West, Mae (1975a). Mae West on S*x, Health and ESP.
• West, Mae (1975b). Pleasure Man.

Notable Plays:
Written but not successful as the ones below: Ruby Ring,The H***y, The Wicked Age, Frisco Kate.
•S*x (1926) – A landmark in her career, blending irony, double entendres, and social commentary.
•1927 play The Drag: A Homos*xual Play in Three Acts.
•Diamond Lil (1928) – A biting critique of “companionate marriage” and the commodification of love, featuring multiple male love interests in a single character. “People have said that I must be bad myself because I played bad parts so well. They fail to credit me with intelligence and love for my art … Particularly now, with such things as ‘companionate marriage’ ideas floating around, is Diamond Lil timely. I don’t believe in it. I think it is nothing more than contracted prostitution. Marriage, love, and home should be kept sacred … I believe in the single standard for men and women.”
•The Constant Sinner (1931) – Continued her tradition of witty, morally complex female leads.

Screenwriting:
West adapted her stage work for film, writing or co-writing several successful movies:
•She Done Him Wrong (1933) – Based on Diamond Lil
•I’m No Angel (1933)
•Belle of the Nineties (1934)
•Goin’ to Town (1935)
•Klondike Annie (1936)
•My Little Chickadee (1940)
•S*xtette (1977)

What I love about the photo is that it says, "22-carat diamond ring..."My winter jewelry."
Only three shows left!
Thursday, June 18 @ 7:30
Friday, June 19 @ 7:30
Saturday - closing, June 20 @ 7:30
Tickets: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west

There are only THREE performances left before "Arbus & West" closes. What an incredible time we've had discovering, uncovering the history of both women.

Yesterday I was slipped a note from Joyce Reedbrallier which took me down a rabbit hole.

Here we go:

“I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing” [Mae West] “Camp is the kinda comedy where they imitate me”

In 1933, Gene Malin a well known female impersonator who died tragically at the age of 25 (the same year) appeared in 'Arizona to Broadway' ; in the movie, he portrayed Ray Best, a female impersonator who dressed in the manner of Mae West and sang "Frankie and Johnny". [see the clip]

While on stage in New York where he performed for several years, Broadway columnist Louis Sobol described Malin as "a baby-faced lad who lisped and pressed his fingers into his thighs" during performances while another observer called him "a brilliant entertainer, a very funny guy, but risqué"

Mae said about the gay community, "They're crazy about me 'cause I give 'em a chance to play. My character is s*xy and with humor and they like to imitate me, the things I say, the way I say 'em, the way I move. It's easy for'em to imitate me 'cause the gestures are exaggerated, flamboyant, s*xy, and that's what they want to look like, feel like. And I've stood up for 'em. They're good kids. I don't like the police abusin' 'em, and in New York I told 'em, "When you're hittin' one of those guys, you're hittin' a woman, 'cause a born homos*xual is a female in a male body".

Mae loved the gay community. Mae loved the black community. Mae loved her community. We are much better because of her never giving up on her belief that everyone deserves a chance if they want it.

Arbus & West
June 18 @ 7:30
June 19 @ 7:30
June 20 @ 7:30 - closing
Grab your tickets: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west

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“Queen of the Pansies” Jean Malin sasses mobsters and slays audiences in Arizona to Broadway (1933) “Queen of the Pansies” Jean Malin sasses mobsters and slays audienc...