The Drag

[kallipolis]

Some insight on times past in NYC with Mae West performing the role of trouble maker casting gay men. Worth spending ten minutes reading an unpretentious article.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2...-mae-west-gay-pride-the-drag-national-theatre

I quote:

[FONT=&quot]West’s casting of gay men was incendiary at a time when the actors’ union barred them from parts with lines. Likewise the manner in which she auditioned them: open casting calls at a gay bar in Greenwich Village. In her autobiography, she claimed to have “helped a lot of gay boys along” by casting them at a time when “producers never gave speaking parts to homosexuals”.[/FONT]

 

[gsdx]

It's not surprising. Even in my time, gay actors like Rock Hudson were told by producers and agents to pretend they were straight. It must have been unimaginably hard back in the 20s.

 

[LeicsDom]

One wonders if, in spite of her avowed reputation as a man-eater, this was a cover to allow her to avoid sexual congress

 

[kallipolis]

One wonders if, in spite of her avowed reputation as a man-eater, this was a cover to allow her to avoid sexual congress

That is a thought worth considering when reputations perform the role of a mask. The bluffing game is an important element in theatre where make believe characters are the very bread, and butter of an actor's professional life.

 

[LeicsDom]

That is a thought worth considering when reputations perform the role of a mask. The bluffing game is an important element in theatre where make believe characters are the very bread, and butter of an actor's professional life.

In retrospect she does come across as the ultimate drag hag and I have always found that they have a reason for avoiding conventional relationships

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Some insight on times past in NYC with Mae West performing the role of trouble maker casting gay men. Worth spending ten minutes reading an unpretentious article.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2...-mae-west-gay-pride-the-drag-national-theatre

I quote:

What little I´ve personally heard, read and experienced about life on and around the stage already suggests there´s a whole side to this interesting story that this article leaves undiscussed.

 

[eastofeden]

I thought after she died it would be revealed that she is, in fact, a man.

I am still waiting....

As for the gay men and casting....the Pink Mafia is not a myth...to this day...but it is not as powerful as it once was...

The stereotypical cackling old self loathing bitchy queen is alive and well...but now the playing field has so many more players so they are not the majority any longer and openly gay men are cast by both gay and straight directors..