Word: littlechap
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That whiny, petulant exemplar of aching self-pity, Littlechap (Everyman writ exceeding small) is back on Broadway after 16 years of blissful absence. This time the wind-up toy clown is played by Sammy Davis Jr. As thimbleful-deep in wisdom as it is mountain-high in pretentiousness, this musical means to imply that he is life's clown, as aren...
That is the only discernible appeal of Littlechap, who himself wants desperately to participate in the gaudy rituals of fame...
...Littlechap is a pip-squeak who dreams of being a Pooh-Bah. Starting as "a coffee-colored coffee vendor," he manages to marry the boss's daughter (Marian Mercer), and with the quickest of strides reaches the top as a national and international business tycoon. Along the way he accumulates a bevy of English, Russian and German mistresses, all played with great comic zest by the selfsame Mercer. There is less sin than smirk in these accent-prone escapades...
Shedding almost all its English allusions, the show is thoroughly Amer- icanized and pervasively vulgar. Littlechap shoots for the presidency and makes it, the first Black ever to do so. Running for office on a ticket of doublespeak, Davis capitalizes on his command of antic mimicry. Donning shades, he struts his way toward the black vote. He woos the hispanics with hip-swiveling tangomania...
...SHOCK VALUE of the coarseness and profanity in Stop the World has now all but vanished, and Littlechap's abuse of so many people in his search for happiness seems disturbingly familiar nowadays. For by highlighting the baser sides of human nature, the play's authors do no more than point out that they have always existed. It is commendable that the members of the Mather production included a statement of their disagreement with the script's exaggerated stereotypes in the show program. It's too bad, however, that they decided to do a show they must apologize for, although...