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By JON WILSON, Times Staff WriterThe St. Petersburg Little Theatre stages a "down-home" version with Doc's own grandson.
ST. PETERSBURG - He talks a mile a minute, his words raising the phantom outline of old Webb's City.
"I'd replicate the store," says James Earl Webb III.
"I'd probably set it right back on Ninth Street and Second Avenue S.
"Give me $50-million to start. I'd set the store, rebuild it, right now it's an absolute good time to do so. I'm gonna pay cash. Send me 2,000 chickens! I'd start selling them at 39 cents a pound, loss leader. Hey, I'm not cut-rating, I'm competing!"
James Earl "Doc" Webb would have liked his grandson's patter.
Doc Webb, a visionary who combined showmanship and sales, built what he called "the World's Most Unusual Drugstore," a one-stop downtown shopping center before shopping centers were the thing.
Webb's City was a St. Petersburg icon for years.
Its story, and the spirit of the man who created it, is celebrated in Webb's City: The Musical. A professional cast delivered two hot runs at the Mahaffey Theater. Now the St. Petersburg Little Theatre is putting on the play, which continues this week.
When Webb III saw the production, he stood at the end, arms crossed "just like Doc Webb" on stage, said Susan Webb, Webb III's wife.
"He said, "I think I like it,"' Susan Webb said.
Thanks to fate and the initiative of his wife, who read about auditions and called producers, the grandson has two parts in the Little Theatre version.
It's his first dramatic role, although he notes: "I'm always on stage on the street That's how it is when you're in professional sales."
Webb, 51, owns Top of the Line Pest Control, a Largo company whose slogan is "Millions Killed." He also works another business called Market America, a health products enterprise.
His parts in the musical are tinged with irony.
His is the voice of the auctioneer crying, "Sold ... sold ... sold" as pieces of the old store are sold during its final hours.
Webb also plays a Securities and Exchange commissioner who orders Doc Webb to stop a particular practice.
The character says: "Mr. Webb ... you cannot advertise and sell securities like ... sacks of flour. I order you to desist."
Webb practices saying the lines to Quincy, his African gray parrot, who has yet to utter them back.
During the performance, the words carry a punch and Webb isn't immune from the impact.
"I get teary-eyed toward the end," he said. "I'm saying "Sold,' Doc standing there, selling it off - and closing."
As a youth, during the store's later years, Webb worked for $1.75 an hour in Webb City's grocery department.
"It killed me to see that store go," he said.
Doc Webb, who died in 1982, eight years after he sold his interest in the store, is buried in Royal Palm Cemetery. His grave marker is unadorned, his grandson said. He wants to start a project to make it more of a memorial to Doc Webb's spirit, something that would note that the entrepreneur created a huge piece of St. Petersburg lore.
Webb said doing the play and working two jobs causes moments of stress. But he has enjoyed being involved and helping contribute something to his grandfather's legend through the Little Theatre.
"It has a signature on it. It has down-home people doing the thing. The first two (productions) were professional. They were excellent. But Doc was not like that. He was down-home, a man of the people."
If you goToday's matinee is at 2 p.m. Evening performances are Friday and Saturday at 8. Another matinee is at 2 p.m. Sept. 21. Tickets are $16 for all performances; students with identification get in for $8. The Little Theatre is at 4025 31st St. S. For information, call 866-1973.