By Harrison Held
Kandace Lindsey
Photo by Rich Hutchman
Mae West's witty and imaginative play
SEX was a huge hit on Broadway in 1926, and now almost 90 years later the feisty comedy is back for a fun 21st century revival. The play is well directed by Sirena Irwin and presented by Buzzworks at The Hudson Theatre on Santa Monica Boulevard.
In interviews I often heard Mae West talk about the play which cemented her star status, and landed her in jail for 8 days for being indecent. From what I understand, it was very difficult for Buzzworks to acquire the rights for the revival, and as a big Mae West fan, I am glad they did! I found the play enormously entertaining and a fun trip back in time to the exciting and roaring '20s.
Mae West loved to joke about her favorite subject which was sex and was light years ahead of her time. As she used to say she climbed the ladder of success "wrong by wrong," and originally wrote SEX under the name Jane Mast. What shocked audiences 90 years ago is pretty tame by today's standards, but still a lot of saucy fun. Mae West wrote a very good imaginative play full of colorful characters, spicy innuendo, comedy, and drama, and includes a few surprisingly good musical numbers performed by the amazing cast, many playing several roles throughout the production.
Andrea Hutchman (l.), Wayne Wilderson, Susan Edwards Martin
Photo by Rich Hutchman
The adventurous globe trotting tale begins in a shady house of ill repute in Montreal run by sultry lady of the night Margy LaMont (Buzzworks' Andrea Hutchman in the Mae West role). The terrific cast includes Perry Brown, David Errigo, Lowan Eyasu, Davey Johnson, Kandace Lindsay, Susan Edwards Martin, Ryan Phillips, Carla Valentine and Wayne Wilderson in cool period costumes by Michael Mullen.
SEX runs 110 minutes with one intermission and plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 7pm til June 17th at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre - visit
www.buzzworks.org for more information. Mae West's
SEX is produced by Kevin Comartin and Jocelyn O'Keefe.