triangle productions!

Playwright Stephen Sewell sent us a one-word for yesterday's opening - CHOOKAS!
I had not heard that word before, so I looked it up in the Theatre Haus online website. https://theatrehaus.com/.../chookas-origin-stories-fact.../
It stated, "“Chookas” is the Aussie way of saying “good luck” in the theatre. It’s a term that encapsulates the spirit of the performing arts community down under, offering support and positivity without invoking the direct phrase “good luck,” which is often considered bad luck in superstitious theatre circles.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term “chookas” has been part of the Australian theatre vernacular since at least the 1950s, gaining widespread popularity in the 1990s alongside the rise of the internet. "
Has anybody you know or have you used that term? I like it better than 'good luck' or 'break a leg'.
Arbus & West is open - come up and see us - we're ready to have you at Mae's apartment for an evening.
tickets/info: www.trianglepro.org/arbus+west

For the final show of our 36th season, we present the US Premiere of an Australian play, "Arbus & West".
The famous meeting of two strong women: photographer Diane Arbus and renowned actress Mae West.
The true story of a two-day photoshoot is one for the history books.
We’re excited to again bring you a play that has not been produced anywhere in the US. You are the first to see it here in the States.
The ninety-minute (ish) three-actor show featuring Emily Sahler and Tasha Danner along with Carolina Selva has been in rehearsals for five weeks; now it’s time to bring it to the stage for you all to experience.
The show opens tonight and runs through June 20th - 3 weeks only.
Tickets and info: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west
or by calling our box office at 503-239-5919
Come, share this unique play that you won't see anywhere else!

"Goodness had nothing to do with it!"
And I'll tell you honey, "There's never been a man I didn't like."
This photo (taken by my phone professional ones are forthcoming) is from the rehearsal last night when Mae 'thinks' she is going to meet a man by the name of Arbus. Who walks in the door...the fun begins.
Based up true events and people this show takes you on a two day journey with several suprises along the way.
This Austraian play premiering in the US with Emily Sahler as Mae, Tasha Danner as Diane Arbus and Carolina Selva as Ruby.
We open in tomorrow night, June 4th.
Grab your tickets (and if we had, popcorn) and see what happens when two strong women meet!
Tickets/info at www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west

Putting the pieces together. Adding some wigs, costumes, lights, sound...makeup and other details will be added tonight and tomorrow but the show is coming together, as most shows do in a very magical way.
I cannot thank the cast, Emily Sahler/Mae West, Tasha Danner/Diane Arbus, Carolina Selva/Ruby, who have worked tirelessly to bring these characters to life. Along with Jason Coffey/Stage Manager and Trevor Sargent/Lighting Designer, James Sharinghousen (for - you just have to wait!) Jane Holmes/wigs- this has been a wonderful experience discovering, working, challenging, and making Mae and Diane's life come to life.
Two more days before opening, which is Thursday, June 4th.
Check out: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west for more details

Sometimes it seems odd when something pops up that you are working on - generally it's AI or an algorithm that brings it up, am I right?
Though, today, an online magazine I subscribe to had a headline I had to laugh at:
"In her final film role, Mae West did it for the g**s: Why S*xtette deserves to be a camp classic."
Now some backstory: S*xtette was based on a stage play of the same name by Mae West, which she had written and originally performed in 1961. She expressed that she wanted to make it into a movie, and at the age of 87 - you heard that right, Mae was 87!
The cast - whoa. Ringo Starr (yes, The Beatles), Timothy Dalton, Dom DeLuise, Tony Curtis, Keith Moon, George Hamilton, Alice Cooper, and Walter Pidgeon, and cameos after cameos!
The movie flopped. But here is a gay magazine NOW saying "(it) deserves to be a camp classic." [check out the article: https://www.queerty.com/in-her-final-film-role-mae-west...]
Here's a short video by PBS:
https://www.pbs.org/video/excerpt-7-late-career-fiin0s/

You have to admit - Mae was an original.
Our play Arbus and West opens this week, and there's more under the hood than just s*x when it comes to Mae.
Tickets/Info: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west

American Masters | Mae West Made this "Insane" Film in her 80's | Season 34 The film "S*xtette," which Mae West made at age 87, was actually a "radical power move."

I met this redhead back in 2002 when I was casting a show called "Juicy Tomatoes".
Since then, she has portrayed an array of characters on our stage, from Sordid Lives to the recent The Savannah Sipping Society. She won't retire from the stage, as she is stepping back on our stage in Pen Pals, which will open in November.
But today, Helen is saying goodbye to KATU, where it seems she has been for 'since we don't know how long,' and someone we will miss seeing every morning. Walter/Darcelle and I would watch Helen before we took our daily walks. "She makes my day," is what he'd say.
Thank you, Helen, for entertaining us on the b**b tube, but you aren't going that far away.
Love ya to pieces!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Helen Raptis is signing off at KATU today.

This line isn't in the play, but I think it speaks volumes about who Mae West was:"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."
We open one week from today, and what a ride of discoveries we have had. Come join Emily Sahler, Tasha Danner, Carolina Selva, and we bring the two-night meeting of Diane Arbus and Mae West to the stage.
Here are some rehearsal photos from last night.
Tickets/Info: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west

Another reason I LOVE Mae West...here goes.
Mae built her career around three little letters: S E X. Hmmm, who else in recent times have done that? (Madonna). Mae back in the early '20s made it her mission to make s*x fun.
In a 1974 profile, Mae West herself claimed that her double thyroid was the reason she had a strong s*x drive and a high energy level. She told the interviewer Jacoba Atlas: “I have all this energy because I have a double thyroid. There are only 12 people in the world with this, and it gives me twice the energy other people have.” She also said the condition was harmless and kept her “facade impenetrable”.
Well, in actuality, a 'double thyroid' is not a standard medical term, but it can refer to two separate thyroid glands or to two thyroid lobes. In most people, the thyroid is a single, butterfly shaped gland with two lobes connected by a narrow bridge of tissue called the isthmus. In rare cases, people are born with two separate thyroid glands instead of one, a condition called dual thyroid or dual thyroid glands.
Does a 'double thyroid' give you a stronger appetite for s*x? Well, no. There is no proof. BUT, for Mae it gave her more of mystic and people seemed to believe her.
And, of course as I said yesterday, she did write a play entitled, "S*X" and it ran on Broadway for 10 months (until she was arrested along with her cast).
And as Mae said, "Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere."
The photo of Mae is from 1939.
Our show, Arbus & West is getting close to opening, surprises and Mae's zingers are in store for you to enjoy.
For tickets/info: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west

Over the weekend, I was asked, "Why do you like Mae West?"
Honestly, that is a good question. But here's my answer now.
*Mae was a Broadway star in her own play "S*x" in 1926. If you see the playwright's name, Jane Mast. She said, "I didn't use my name, Mae West, it would sound like I did everything, write, star...you know." Loved that Mae was sentenced to 10 days in jail on obscenity charges when the show was raided and shut down after a wildly successful 10-month run in New York City. In the court’s decision, it stated that Mae “seemed to go to extremes to make the play as obscene and immoral as possible.”
It did not hurt her career; in fact, it backfired on those who wanted to shut her down because in 1932 she was awarded a movie contract, and by 1938 she became one of the richest people in the world alongside newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst.
In the '20s, there were three other female playwrights on Broadway, Sophie Treadwell, Rachel Crothers, Zona Gale - remember of these women?
Something else: A film that Mae wrote (yes, she was a screenwriter) and starred in, “She Done Him Wrong,” is credited with helping to bring Paramount Pictures out of bankruptcy.
Her contributions to stage, film, Broadway, screenwriting, and playwrighting are numerous, but many just remember her as "come up and see me sometime," which is a line she wrote and spoke many times.
I guess you could say that I like Mae because she was a one-tall person, though she only stood approximately 5' tall. Barriers in her world were to be broken, and she had fun doing just that.
Arbus & West starring Tasha Danner as Diane Arbus and Emily Sahler as Mae West has its stateside premiere next Thursday - we can't wait to share the evening with you!
Tickets and info: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west