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January 6, 2006Some like it regional"Anatomy of a Murder" has Michigan ties; Judge Michael Haley to portray judge in the play
Ed Mulcahy, left, rehearses with Jan Dalton in a scene fro mthe Old Town Playhouse production of "Anatomoy of a Murder." The courtroom drama, set in Marquette, debuts Jan. 13. So Robert Traver's classic "Anatomy of a Murder" seemed a natural choice. Opening Jan. 13, the play is set in Marquette and most of it takes place in a courtroom. "Part of the allure is that it's a true story that happened in the Upper Peninsula," said Kelly, who has directed several plays for the playhouse and in the Detroit area. "Also, a few years ago, we did the Scopes monkey trial," he added. "It drew such a great interest from the community, that I realized every few years we should do a trial." "Anatomy of a Murder" revolves around Army Lt. Fred Manion (played by Ed Mulcahy), who is accused of murdering his wife's rapist. There are several state references in the play and the courtroom set includes a Michigan flag and seal. "When we can do a show that has regional appeal, we can garner a greater audience," said Phil Murphy, executive director of the playhouse. That was the case with the 2005 production of local playwright Anne Marie Oomen's "Wives of an American King" set on Beaver Island, and with an earlier production of Jeff Daniels' "Escanaba in Da Moonlight," he said. Many people are familiar with the story from the 1959 movie starring James Stewart and Lee Remick and with a score written by Duke Ellington. The movie was based on the novel by Traver, which was actually the pen name for John D. Voelker. A U.P. lawyer, he served stints as Marquette County prosecutor and a Michigan Supreme Court justice. The play will mirror the movie in one respect: A real-life judge, Grand Traverse County District Judge Michael Haley, will play the part of Judge Weaver in the play. Joseph N. Welch - most famous as the lawyer during the Army-McCarthy hearings of the 1950s who asked Sen. Joseph McCarthy "Have you left no sense of decency?" - played the part in the movie. Haley said he's never acted before. But he ran into John Dew - who portrays Parnell McCarthy, sidekick to defense lawyer Paul Biegler (played by Jan Dalton) - in a coffee shop and Dew suggested he try out. "He said, 'We need a judge,' and I said, 'You need an actor,'" Haley said. Since he was fond of the story, he decided to give it a whirl. "I just hope I can pull this off with some amount of credibility," Haley said. Kelly said the play is unusual in that it has up to 16 cast members on stage at a time and several of them will spend much of the time as courtroom spectators. "The difficult thing is to instruct the cast to stay in character and listen every night to what's going on in the trial and to act and react physically," he said. "They're all doing really well at that." The people playing the jury will be in the audience. "We wanted to have the audience feel that when the actors are addressing the jury, they're really addressing the audience," he said. There will be eight evening performances Thursdays through Saturdays, Jan. 13 through Jan. 28. All are at 8 p.m. There will also be a matinee on Sunday, Jan. 22, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $16, though students and seniors may get in on Thursdays for $12. They are available at the playhouse box office, by calling 947-2210 or on-line at www.oldtownplayhouse.com
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