16 - Friday. May 14, 1999 ~ North Shore News Pezim play @ Easy Money by Mark Leiren-Young, produced by the Arts Club Theatre, at the Stanley Theatre to May 30. Martin Millerchip Curtain Call PSSST. Over here where it’s a bit more shady. OK, listen, do I have a deal for you! The Arts Club Theatre has this show about one of Vancouver’s most flamboyant characters, Murray Pezim. Everyone remembers Murray, right? Lost as many millions as he made on the stock exchange, big philanthropist, liked the babes. Love him or hate him, everyone remem- bers The Pez! Ir’s a musical right. Everyone loves musicals! So, you’ve gor music, Pez and the. Stantey Theatre. Tickets range from $25.50 to $39.50. People expect this. But, and here’s the kicker, there's this $12.50 Tuesday deal. Half price, right! They’re giving the show away! So I’m thinking, why not buy a bunch of these cheap tickets and resell them to unsuspecting punters at the regular price. A guy could make a fortune! Easy money. ‘ Well, maybe. - Depends what people want from a musical at the Stanley, what their expectations are from the Arts Club Theatre. Oh yes, there are choreography and music credits but the former bare- ly gets Debbic Timuss to stretch her long legs and the latter... Well, perhaps it’s unfair to pick on Bruce Kellett. He’s performed yco- man work as musical director on many a Vancouver musical and deserves con- sideration for a “body of work” Jessie Richardson award to add to the wo he has already. The press release at the beginning of March said “John MacLachlan Gray (Billy Bishop Goes to War) :rcates the music,” so Kellett got the gig at the last minute. Kudos for taking it on, but this collection of instandy for- gettable litele tunes won’r have anyone humming in the bar at intermission, never mind the shower at home. Perhaps Kellett might have created more aural interest if the Arts Club budget had run to more than key- board and drums. Mark Leiren-Young is the play- — wright, and while he had more notice than Kellett, he too was creating on short notice after original plans with saother writer fell through. So, again, it may not be fair to expect more than a facile flip through photo Glen Erikson WEST Vancouver's Lelani Marrell (from left) with Alex Willows as Murray Pezim and Debbie Timuss appear in the Arts Club production of Easy Money at the Stanley Theatre. the pages of Pezim’s gaudy, oversized book of life. His butcher shop beginnings are there, but not his father. No mention of what family factors might have helped to shape Pezim’s character. This story reduced to cartoon, this lack of detail, lack of depth or expla- nation would matter less if Leiren- Young stayed within his convention of setting the show, cabaret-style, within the context of a roast for Pezim as Promoter of the Year in 1989. But way (way) on the other side of the Stanley’s wide bur skinny stage is Pezim’s Arizona “palace” where he hides out while awaiting results of an investigation into his insider trading on the Vancouver Stock Exchange. This area of the stage and the plav would be considerably more interest- ing if we cared more about Pezim, if we actually worried about the loss of stock trading privileges he faces. We ver the information, but beeause the contest off the majority of the show is Slick shtick, is hard to tee! for the anflated toy that has been pumped up betore us. It's no fault of actor Alee Willows as Pezim that he can't tind a third dimension tor his character, It isn’t there. Willows is the pertect choice by director Bill Millerd fora stage Pezim. He seems to tind a joy in performance that it would be nice to think that Pezim found in ite. When Pezim meets Bill Vander Zalm (Scott MeNeill who works hard in a series of impressions that include Joan Rivers, Henny Youngman and Frank Sinatra) the crazy ener- gy really crackles and we finally get a sense of where this show could go if it com- mitted to comedy and dropped its musical preten- sions. A toss of a tulip here to Nancy Tait’s outrageous cos- tumes; Pve never seen a set of uglier car salesman/realtor jackets. Leiren-Young is at his best ith ~ smart, quick one-liners like Pezim’s response to Vander Zalm’s request he rescue the B.C. Lions (“1 don’ think I can help, [can’t throw worth shit.”) or ones that work in the knowledge of hindsight (“I'd never sel! Fantasy Gardens.”) Lelani Marrell and Debbie Timuss are the women in Pezim’s life. Timuss gets slightly more to work as the girl- friend who refuses a boob job, other- wise it’s grin and sing along with the rest of the cast. People like what they know and Easy Money certainly delivers on that score. 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