VICE SQUAD LETS PLEASURE BUSCH BE
NEW YORK- Rosie ODonnell and girlfriend Kelly Carpenter, Liz Smith, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, Elaine Stritch and drag performers Flotilla deBarge, Sunrize Highway, Traila Trash, Murray Hill and Cashetta, the magician burst into wild applause when notorious drag diva Charles Busch uttered the infamous Mae West line "If you're a man, thank God I'm a female Impersonator!" at the Hourglass Group's first New York City revival performance of Mae West's legendary 1928 play The Pleasure Man in a staged reading to benefit the company's fourth season and the Actors' Fund's Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative.

The original 1928 Broadway production ran for only three performances, two of which were raided by the New York City vice squad. The police arrested the cast of nearly 60 (still in costume) on obscenity charges and Mae West bailed the entire company out of prison both times. The show trial that followed resulted in a split jury of which West was finally acquitted.