The darling buds of Mae

This story of three people in love with Mae West - two contemporary New Yorkers and Mae herself - went down a storm on Broadway, but I doubt its blend of sass and schmaltz will work so well in London.

Dirty Blonde is charming enough and perfectly well crafted. It hits all the major bullet points of West's life, deftly weaves her history with an unconventional modern romance, and is as camp as an arched eyebrow.

But its writer and star Claudia Shear, like West, first wowed crowds with a play based broadly on her own personality, and this follow-up comes across as her homage to a trailblazing heroine. It is a show by, about, and probably for Mae maniacs.

Shear plays West from the naughty Vaudeville days to the self-parodying, septuagenarian Vegas appearances, when Mae's mascara made her look as if two blackbirds had crashed into her face.

Shear's impersonation of West°s accent and attitude is spot-on, although physically she is more likely to have a life-raft named after her than a life-jacket.

All the familiar stories are pleasingly rehashed: West's seduction of Cary Grant, her battles with the censors, the old age she refused to grow into. All of West's aperçus are, naturally, quoted in full.

Alongside this sits the story of unsuccessful actress Jo (Shear again) and uncertain, overweight Charlie (Kevin Chamberlain), whose teenage meeting with Mae shaped his sexuality. After bumping into each other at Mae°s grave, Charlie and Jo fumble towards an understanding.

Shear and her director, James Lapine, cleverly intertwine these two narratives. Scenes overlap neatly, so that Shear can change into Mae's film costume for Diamond Lil in two different time zones and as two different characters.

As well as playing Charlie, Chamberlain fills in as WC Fields or as a judge prosecuting West for indecency. More often than not, he and the pianist and third cast-member, Bob Stillman, play West's gay friends, co-stars and helpmeets. Like a good gambler, Mae always had a couple of queens up her sleeve.

The whole thing is proficient and entertaining, but most people interested enough to attend will already know everything it has to say about Mae West.