Mae West's The Drag

The Desert Rose Playhouse presentation of Mae West Double Feature: Sex and The Drag May 25–June 5, 2022 has been changed to just the performance of The Drag due to internal difficulties. Each guest attending will receive a $20 off coupon to be used for another show at the Desert Rose.   

The Drag opened in out-of-town previews in 1927 in New Jersey and Connecticut, but was later forced to close for its portrayal of homosexuality and cross-dressing. The play never opened on Broadway, as West had planned.  

West claimed that the inspiration behind the play came from the homosexual young men that she knew around that time who, according to her, desperately wanted to be open about their relationships with their male companions. 

West auditioned and cast exclusively gay actors from a Greenwich Village club. Rehearsals for The Drag occurred late at night, after West had finished performing in Sex. These rehearsals were largely improvisational, allowing the cast of 12 principal characters to invent the script themselves. The final scene consists of a giant Drag Ball! 

 Although this open form of performance encouraged a celebration of the liberated gay man in the roaring 20’s, the play also recognizes the drug addiction and violence that riddled gay life in New York City at that time. 

With the West Estate recently falling into defunct status and her materials that had been previously censored for almost a century now available to the public domain, Desert Rose Playhouse is honored to be one of the first production companies to revive these historic and culturally important works.

The Desert Rose offers three types of seating:

• VIP Couches $179 – (seats 2 comfortably – 3 if you’re friendly)
• Table Seating $179 – Seats up to 4
• Individual Seating $39

All seats get cocktail service before and during shows!

• Wednesday and Thursday evenings the curtain is at 7 pm
• Friday and Saturday evenings the curtain is at 8 pm
• Sunday matinees the curtain is at 2:00 pm