Dancehall Queen

For other uses, see Dancehall Queen (disambiguation).

Dancehall Queen is a 1997 indie Jamaican film written by Suzanne Fenn, Ed Wallace and Don Letts, starring Audrey Reid, who plays Marcia, a street vendor struggling to raise a bad-tempered daughter, Tanya (Cherine Anderson). Directed by Don Letts and Rick Elgood.

Dancehall Queen
Directed by	Don Letts Rick Elgood
Written by	Suzanne Fenn Ed Wallace Don Letts
Produced by	Carl Bradshaw Carolyn Pfeiffer Chris Blackwell
Starring	Audrey Reid Paul Campbell Beenie Man Cherine Anderson
Cinematography	Louis Mulvey
Edited by	Suzanne Fenn
Music by	Wally Badarou
Release date	10 October 1997 (1997-10-10)
Running time	98 minutes
Languages	English, Jamaican Patois

Plot

Marcia Green (Audrey Reid) is a single mom and street vendor barely scraping by even with a financial assist from the seemingly avuncular Larry (Carl Davis), a gun-toting strongman with a twisted desire for Marcia's teenage daughter Tanya (Cherine Anderson) who he then decides to pursue. Complicating things is Priest (Paul Campbell), a murderous hoodlum who killed Marcia's friend and now is terrorizing the defenseless woman. Facing three big problems (Larry, Priest, and without money), Marcia arrives at an inspired solution: develop an alter ego, a dancing celebrity called the Mystery Lady who can compete in a cash-prize contest and put both of the men against one another.

She does so and Marcia very amusingly carries out her complicated plan, with a little help from sympathetic friends.

Cast

• Audrey Reid as Marcia, a struggling street vendor, who decides to use dancing to better her situation. So, she takes on the persona of the Mystery Lady, to raise money.
• Cherine Anderson as Tanya, Marcia's older daughter. Trying to live a normal life, she has to deal with the advances of Larry, the wealthy man that her mother seeks money from.
• Mark Danvers as Junior, Marcia's younger brother and Tanya's uncle. After witnessing his friend's death, at the hands of Priest, he fears he'll be murdered next.
• Carl Davis as Larry, a well-off man, who has an interest in Tanya, he falls for the Mystery Lady.
• Paul Campbell as Priest, the knife-wielding hoodlum who's pursuing Marcia
• Carl Bradshaw as Police Officer #1
• Beenie Man as himself
• Lady Saw as herself
• Paula Ouch as herself
• Debbie Ouch as herself
• Nicky Ouch as herself

Soundtrack

Dancehall Queen mixed recent hits with songs created for the movie, including the title track by Beenie Man.^[1]