A Night With Murder in Its Heart

Eccentric characters populate author John Berendt’s “Midnight In the Garden Of Good and Evil,” an account of events surrounding a 1981 murder that took place in old Savannah, Ga.

These characters--a senior matron who swigs martinis in a graveyard, a party-throwing antiques collector and murderer, an aggressive drag queen, young lovers fixated on sex, and a reclusive inventor who keeps a vial of poison strong enough to wipe out the entire city--are the soul of Berendt’s acclaimed 1994 tome, in which plot plays second fiddle to the personalities.

The stage adaptation, presented Saturday at the Plummer Auditorium, brings many of those characters to life through the magic of Berendt’s words read against music from Savannah’s native son, composer-lyricist Johnny Mercer.

A piano trio, often bolstered by guitarist-vocalist John Pizzarelli, cornetist Warren Vache and saxophonist Joe Temperley, accompanied a mix-and-match session between vocalists Margaret Whiting, Julius LaRosa and Cynthia Scott. Sometimes they simply played Mercer’s music as Berendt, actress Claiborne Cary and others in the cast read directly from the bestseller.

The showstoppers were the real-life characters who came from Savannah to play themselves. Emma Kelly, dubbed “The Lady of 6,000 Songs” by Mercer himself, brought the composer back to life with her brief appearance at an upright piano, a moment that revealed Mercer’s sense of humor as well as his serious side.

And the in-your-Puritan-face drag queen The Lady Chablis (“before I was Chablis I was Frank . . . “) sashayed her way through expletives and come-ons in a way that well suggested all is not as stately as it might appear in historically rich Savannah.

Mercer’s role in the book is secondary. The spot where the murder takes place is Mercer House, the mansion built by the composer’s great-grandfather. (Despite the claims of Savannah tour guides that Mercer was born there, no Mercer ever lived in the house.)

In the stage production, Mercer’s music has a vital role establishing mood and temperament. A connection, more or less, is made between the passages from the book and the music. A section about the Savannah River was followed by pianist Bill Charlap’s reading of “Moon River.” A passage about Mercer House and its inhabitant was followed by “Anywhere I Hang My Hat Is Home.”

While these pairings were sometimes a stretch, they established a feeling for Berendt’s setting and the characters he’s painted.

The instrumental pieces were all first rate, led by Charlap’s impressionistic interludes, Vache’s swinging cornet (especially on “Jeepers, Creepers”) and Temperley’s sometimes rollicking, sometimes ethereal baritone (“Midnight Sun”). Guitarist Pizzarelli’s improvisations were bright and inventive (though short) and his vocals were pure, direct and upbeat.

On their own, the singers were equally wonderful. Cynthia Scott gave expressive readings on her solo numbers and Margaret Whiting, though not as polished, gave a convincing reading of “I’m Old Fashioned.”

The surprise of the show was Julius LaRosa, the pop singer who had a hit in 1953 with the novelty tune “Eh Cumpari.” LaRosa’s direct phrasing, and rich, velvety tones shone on the upbeat “Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive” and during the nostalgic “When the World Was Young.”

The evening’s drama was supplied by Cary, the Broadway veteran who imparted depth and Southern accent with abandonment as she read. The author’s simple readings paled beside Cary’s more theatrical delivery.

Though Berendt’s book cunningly avoids blatant appeals to nostalgia, that feeling was at the center of the performance, generated chiefly by Mercer’s music.

The combination of dramatic reading and song seems unlikely to carry the weight of a full-scale theatrical production, but the stage version of “Midnight In the Garden Of Good and Evil” succeeded in generating the moods and establishing the characters that make the book so enjoyable. This was a very entertaining evening that carried murder in its heart.

The Fullerton performance had special meaning to its sponsor, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. Longtime society board member Jean Tandowsky, who died in October, was a good friend of Mercer’s during the days he lived in Newport Beach. Saturday’s concert was dedicated to her.