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Nov. 11, 2005
Little Mercy is a big success
Superb acting, wonderful singing and great story in stellar play.
BAILA LAZARUS
When Mercy Callahan ("Little Mercy") is found standing
next to the body of her mother in a run-down apartment, the police
come to investigate and, with them, the photographer Arthur Fellig
(better known as Weegee). Little Mercy is distraught, it being her
first murder and all, but the street-savvy Weegee takes it all in
stride, even going so far as to invite Mercy out to dinner, once
he has done his job of taking shots of the bloody corpse.
So begins the hilarious theatre-noir Little Mercy's First Murder,
a musical based loosely on the life of 1940s New York crime photographer
Weegee and some of his best-known photographs.
Born Usher Fellig in Austria, Weegee spent most of his nights covering
the seedier side of Manhattan, snapping humanity in its most vulnerable
and often most ignominious state. The title of the play itself comes
from one of Weegee's better-known images, "Their First Murder,"
taken of a group of onlookers, mostly kids, gawking at the bloody
body of a murdered gangster. And within the play are other elements
suggestive of Weegee's work, including a scene where Little Mercy
confronts a high-society opera-goer, reminiscent of his photo "The
Critic."
The name Weegee is said to have come from the Ouija board because
Fellig seemed to know before everyone else when a crime was going
to take place.
In Little Mercy's First Murder, Weegee (William Macdonald)
befriends the grieving daughter, Mercy (Katey Wright), and, running
from the police through the course of the night, the two form an
odd bond. She's the book-smart but naive, poverty-stricken waif
who only knows life as she has read it through authors like Tolstoy
and Hammett. He's the sarcastic realist, a loner whose line of work
forces him to see life at its worst.
"What do your lady friends call you?" Mercy asks innocently
at one point.
"A bastard, then a cab," Weegee snarls.
After leaving the scene of the first murder, Weegee and Mercy witness
a fire, where Weegee photographs a woman who has to throw her babies
out a window to a fireman below, then they head to the opera to
snap a few shots of the snobby patrons. In one of the funnier scenes
of the night, the patron offers Little Mercy a coin and condescendingly
sings, "Have a pwitty penny," while Weegee urges Mercy
to trip the lady so he can snap a photo.
As Weegee and Mercy run through the streets, they are followed by
a scent sniffing, take-no-guff cop, hilariously played by Donald
Adams, who's given gems of one-liners like, "I spend my day
protecting people like you from people like you."
The cop finally catches up with Weegee and Mercy in Sammy's bar,
where Sammy (Dean Paul Gibson) is in love with transvestite diva
Norma Divine (Michael Scholar Jr.), who gives Mercy the chance to
see a real performer in a real club – perhaps the only time
in her life she'll ever have such an experience.
Dancing in Weegee's arms, Mercy thinks she has managed to find the
softer side to the cynical photographer. She believes he really
does have love to share. But what she has mistaken for love, Weegee
tells her, is only "a measure of compassion."
Combining all the elements of a fantastic performance, Little
Mercy's First Murder marks Touchstone Theatre's 30th anniversary
and they couldn't have done it better. A superb cast (rounded out
by Tara Jean Wilkin), wonderful jazzy numbers by Jay Turvey and
Paul Sportelli, under the musical direction of Wendy Bross Stuart,
hilarious lyrics by Morwyn Brebner and dialogue that actually offers
food for thought make this the best musical to come to Vancouver
in a long time. And if that isn't enough of a draw, at least go
so you don't miss the wonderful antics of Scholar as he prances
around the stage, flaunting the best male legs in showbiz from under
his flouncy finery; or the outstanding acting of Macdonald as he
spouts lines like, "My mother was a Russian Jew so tiny, you
could stuff an egg with her."
Directed by Katrina Dunn, Little Mercy's First Murder shows
at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre until Nov. 12. It's a nice,
compact one hour and 40 minutes, without intermission. Shows are
8 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinée on Saturday. Tickets are $22
and $18. Call 604-280-3311 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca for tickets.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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