Tales from the Catholic Church of Elvis! - an L.A. Weekly "Pick of the Week"
3rd St. Theater (8140 West 3rd St. Los Angeles, CA 90048)
- Full Price:
- $10.00
- Our Price:
- FREE - $5.00*
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for Tales from the Catholic Church of Elvis! have expired.
The last date listed for Tales from the Catholic Church of Elvis! was Sunday October 24, 2004 / 8:00pm.
1 Goldstar Member Review
Gadabout
Hilarious and also very moving. I had a ball and would highly recommend.Written on Oct 04 2004
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More Information About Tales from the Catholic Church of Elvis!
Quotes & Highlights
- Pick of the Week! --L.A. Weekly
- "This show will leave you laughing in the aisles!" --L.A. Weekly
Description
In the interest of truth in advertising, it should be noted that Elvis will not be in the building during the show. In fact, his name never comes up, and unless you count a scrawly cartoon of him on the back of a jacket, the King is totally absent and continues to rest on his well earned laurels. Why his name is in the title is a mystery known only to author Mercy Malick, and she ain't talking.
At least, she's not talking about Elvis, but she does talk about almost everything else as she bounces and hops all around the Third Stage telling her story of growing up in a Catholic school in Las Vegas, and since Vegas was Elvis land once, maybe he had powers over the church - you think?
As cute as the proverbial bug, Mercy's bubbly delivery and imaginative style has the audience howling with every word picture she paints, and she uses words in a masterful way. Her show is divided into six segments, depicting various stages of her evolution, and while not always chronologic, they cover most of her adolescent years through early adulthood.
Among the more zany observations was her description of coming to Los Angeles from Las Vegas and realizing that stores actually close for the night! "What do you mean Target is closed! For good?" was a line that brought the house down.
When she details her sex education class in Catholic school, the crowd roars when she asks innocently - "but how does the sperm get into the ovum?"
Anyone who went to Catholic school will recognize the stern nun who strikes fear in the hearts of mere sophomores, and the ritual checking the skirt lengths on the girls - the ones who eventually became the topless dancers in the Vegas reviews.
Malick also covers her stint in fast-food, her encounter with a 92 year old pervert, her mother's paranoia with cancer and her aunt's death giving each story an edgy twist that teeters between comic genius and utter madness.
There are some sad moments, some poignant moments, one or two thuds, but for the most part it's a breezy ninety minutes or so, with some quick changes, many laughs, fast paced one-liners and great empathy with the crowd. The audience is asked to throw a shoe at the stage after the performance, and it literally rained Pumas, Nikes and a ton of knock-offs which thankfully were retrieved quickly before having to break out the aerosol.
Anthony Meindl claims to have co-directed with the Holy Ghost, but knowing how clever Meindl is, we believe he's trying to ride H. G.'s coat-tails since he's had a much longer career.
And Elvis? Unlike this performance, he was a no show.