triangle productions!

There are sometimes in life you say, okay universe, what will be will be.
Last Friday I flew into JFK and drove to Bay Shore then Saturday grabbed a ferry ticket for Fire Island to see John Waters at the Ice Palace.
It was arranged that I could meet John briefly after his performance, and I will say it was briefly. I thought, "I tried."
I gave him my book, Divine - Living in Cha Cha Heels in hopes that we could also talk about my upcoming off-Broadway show Divine - Beyond the Flamingos!
He smiled, took the bag and basically that was it. I waited for the 11:30 pm ferry and went back to the room I had rented.

BUT...yesterday, getting into the office I was cleaning out emails and there was one that read, "I have the book. I have your phone number." Basically, that was it. Then another email to set up a time to chat. This one signed JW.

You're right - John Waters.
Well, yesterday at 3:30 the phone rang and it was John. Through the conversation he validated what I was hoping for, that the book I had written about Glenn/Divine met his standards. I can say today, I have a broad smile. What we talked about is strictly off the record which I will definitely honor.

What about the play? Well, I have his address and will be mailing the script on Monday.

Kids, you never know. One thing he did tell me, "You should get, you need an agent." Does that say anything?

Back to work.

Arbus & West has closed.
Now we can reveal a secret that was built into the set. It was fun to put the set all together and then James Sharinghousen produced 60...items for the secret room.
It was never revealed until ..." ''Do you know what we did most of the time?'' Diane enthusiastically told her friend Robert. ''She's got a locked room with models in plaster of all the men she's had s*x with — — of their erections.''
Regaling the East Coast guest with tales about her former lovers, Mae West had said: ''Each one is different: the way they sigh, the way they moan, the way they move; even the feel of them, their flesh is just a little different. . . . There's a man for every mood.''
Is this secret room true or false? Knowing Mae, it was true.
Many have asked, "What are you going to do with all 60?" Well, why not have a sale! This could be a fun - d- raiser for the theater.
Would you like one and possibly signed by our Mae West - Emily Sahler? Just email us at [email protected] we'll gladly accomodate you!
Thank you James Sharinghousen, Emily Sahler, Tasha Danner, Carolina Da Valle SelvaTrevor Sargent, Jane Holmes for making the show one for the books.

To all the girls I've known before...

I've truly had a wonderful time doing a season about women from The Cake, It's Not All About Me [the Gert Boyle story], The Savannah Sipping Society, and now, closing Arbus & West.

Thank you all for making this season rewarding on so many levels.
Tonight, we close our final show of the 36th season, Arbus & West.

Tickets are still available at www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west
Thank you, Emily Sahler, Tasha Danner, Carolina Da Valle Selva for coming on board and bringing Mae, Diana, and Ruby to life.

Thank you to Jason Coffey, Trevor Sargent, James Sharinghousen and Jane Holmes for being part of this incredible season.
To the cast and crew of Arbus & West - have a great closing!

Is it true that Mae West had monkeys?
Well....yes, on April 18, 1969 MAE WEST was on the cover of Life Magazine as seen below.
There was a 75-year-old Mae West in her mirrored bed, in satin, and her pet ymonkey the black long-tailed Tricky,who had been with her for two years thus far. [another one of monkey's was named Boogie].
It wasn't only the monkey that caught everyone's eye, it was the large mirror above her bed!
Ah, Mae West, her saying was, ""Marriage is a fine institution, but I’m not ready for an institution." No, she never married, but she had fun in so many other ways.
Arbus & West closes in two days.
Your final chances are:
Tonight @ 7:30
Tomorrow - Saturday, closing at 7:30
Tickets/Info: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west

Final Thursday to see Arbus & West.
Mae had a lot of BON MOT, which are clever remarks or witticisms.
We thought it would be fun to see what BON MOT you would use for this photo.
Nothing is off the table.
Have fun.
This is the final weekend for Arbus & West.
Tonight @ 7:30, Friday, the 19th, and the final show Saturday, the 20th.
Tickets/info: www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west
Photo by David Kinder/Kinderpics
Photo Tasha Danner/Diane Arbus & Emily Sahler/Mae West

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

We are celebrating our final week, our last three shows of ARBUS & WEST.
This US Premiere is by playwright Stephen Sewell/Australia and has been overwhelming received by critics and audiences alike. Many as they leave the theater have commented, "I didn't know!" "This makes me go look up..." It's been a great ride with these historical women and what they have done for our community.

We thought, we'd like to share a mini-video made by David Kinder/Kinderpics on the show.

https://youtu.be/iJ0qjhPZfQU

Our cast Emily Sahler as Mae West, Tasha Danner as Diane Arbus, Carolina Da Valle Selva as Ruby rules the stage and brings these historic women to life.

You only have three performances left:
Thursday, June 18 @ 7:30
Friday, June 19 @ 7:30
Saturday, June 20 @ 7:30 [closing]
You can still get tickets for only $20 if you use the code: s*x
Go to www.trianglepro.org/arbus-west

2026 tripro arbusandwest promo US PREMIERE!Age. Beauty. Do we see what we really look like?Ste...

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

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ypDZVWQoFCw?feature=share

“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...