City of Angels City of Angels opened on Broadway on December 11, 1989 at the Virginia Theatre. It ran for 879 performances, closing on January 19, 1992. At the 1990 Tony Awards, the show was nominated for eleven Tony Awards and won six, including Best Musical (competing in that category against Andrew Lloyd Webber's coma of a piece titled Aspects of Love, Tommy Tune's elegant Grand Hotel, and the dreadful remake of the classic MGM film, Meet Me in St. Louis). While I did not see the original Broadway production, I did see the national tour and completely connected with Cy Coleman's bouncy jazz score, David Zippel's cracking lyrics, and the multi-layered, razor sharp book by Larry Gelbart. What made the show fresh and original was its concept of presenting two different worlds on the same stage. On one side there was the golden age of Hollywood, with screenwriter Stine banging out on his typewriter an adaptation of his hit novel. For this theme, the designers flooded the stage with color on everything: sets, costumes, and lighting. When the creators took us into the actual film, we entered the black and white world of the classic 1940s gangster flicks (think Edward G. Robertson and James Cagney). The designers made everything in those scenes black and white - the sets, costumes, and lighting magically brought the film flicker to life right there on stage. The book is layered with complex plots, plots within plots, a jazz quartet, and even a lung machine. Having a definite separation of both worlds aided in understanding the manifold story. A resounding round of applause is due Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre for their ambition in tackling this difficult piece, but alas, their production has its share of severe problems. The theatre is nestled within a concrete world of cute shops, restaurants and such. Their space is a small, intimate black box theater that probably seats less than 100 patrons. To produce a musical with a large cast, orchestra, and a multitude of scene changes in this intimate is overwhelming. The four-piece orchestra (led with toe-tapping fun by Musical Director Adam Wright) sounds wonderful and breathes energetic pizzazz into the score, but in the small space they overpower the performers. Draping has been added to help muffle the volume and sound, but it's not enough. Many of the performers have belting voices, but in this intimate space, with the band right there on stage with them and not a hint of body mics, there is great difficulty in hearing the voices. Also, when Detective Stone delivers lines and comments like the voiceovers in those 1940s gangster films, the combination of the space, the band and the scene changes makes the voiceovers barely audible. They are muffled and swallowed. Occasionally, when all the noise dies down, you can hear and understand the commentary, but that is rare - and a shame, because Stone has some great comedic zingers in those voiceovers. The final problem is within the design elements, in particular the sets and lighting. This piece requires several major sets: a studio boss's office, run down apartments, a grand mansion, a movie soundstage, a brothel, and so on. While there are pieces here and there to help create a semblance of sets, many are too bare. The major central piece here is a wall unit that has sliding doors for bringing various furniture and other pieces in and out. While functional, they are splattered in awful green and light blue paint, which does not help at all in separating the worlds of reality and the "show within in a show" theme. And the lighting does not try to separate these two worlds whatsoever. Oddly, there are areas on the stage that are not lighted at all, causing actors to perform with shadows over their faces. The use of a red gel and a blue gel is just not enough here. I totally understand and empathize with the smaller theater companies that do not have the budget and space to produce big, glitzy, elaborate productions, but a musical like City of Angels demands a unique blend of lighting, sets and sound for its storytelling. To not have these design elements up to par wounds the production. Normally, such issues can be overlooked (a set does not make a show), but City of Angels requires it. Michael Robinson's costumes outshine the other design elements and thankfully help bring the story's time period to life. Men are costumed in slick, period appropriate pants, ties, tuxes, etc., while the women are in gowns of satins and shimmering chiffons. The direction and staging by Mark Mullino is fantastic, from beginning to end. He does not allow the constraints of the space to hinder his direction and his cast. The pace is faultless. As mentioned, there are a lot of scene changes, but Mullino has his company and crew moving everything with speed to get to the next scene. The staging and blocking is fluid and determined. He also has directed his cast to really create the film noir world of gangsters, detectives, and femme fatales; the performances never ring false. Working with Musical Director Wright, there is solid diction, attention to musical phrasing and lyric interpretation from the company. Mullino's direction here is marvelous. All members of the company deliver swell performances. Gary Floyd and Theo Wischhusen were just seen in Theatre Three's smash hit The Full Monty, and here again they deliver exceptional work as the two male leads. Floyd portrays screenwriter Stine while Wischhusen plays Detective Stone. Floyd provides the right amount of angst, anger and confusion in Stine's battle with the studio head over his script. He delivers one of the best solos of the night with the belting ballad, "Funny." Floyd's radiant tenor voice requires no body mic as he allows his voice to belt and soar, sustaining the long note with a perfect balance of vocal control and vibrato. His chemistry with his two leading ladies is solid as well. His scene work with Jennifer Green (Stine's wife) and with Patty Breckenridge (Stine's mistress/secretary) is strong and honest, and helps us grasp Stine's plight and confusion easily. Wischhusen pays homage to film actor Robert Alda as the ex-cop turned gumshoe Detective Stone, but within the comedy I detected a hint of Steve Martin from Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. This highly talented actor shows his range in both the comedic and dramatic scenes (such as his confrontation with his ex-fiancée). Wischhusen's comedic timing and delivery produces loud laughs from the audience as the ex-cop who still has morals buried deep within his iron exterior. With his slick hair, black clothes and dark eyes, he really looks the part. Floyd and Wischhusen have one of the best duets of the evening with the song "You're Nothing Without Me." They intertwine their vocals and blend with impeccable musicianship. The leading ladies within the cast also deliver the goods. Jennifer Green shines brightly as both the wife to Stine and then the sexy chanteuse who was once Stone's gal. She smolders, slithers and sings with a breathy, erotic soprano voice on the torch song "With Every Breath I Take." However, the god awful red wig she has to wear as Stine's wife looks way too artificial and almost swallows her face. Patty Breckenridge has the show-stopping number of the night with "You Can Always Count On Me." Here, both the talents of this actress and the wickedly hysterical lyrics are in immaculate unison. She is hilarious as Oolie, Stone's secretary who loves him though he doesn't know it. Her look (costumes, make-up, wig) and her delicious comedic timing and delivery make her reminiscent of another wise-cracking gal who got all the laughs, but not the guy - Eve Arden. Ms. Breckenridge broke my heart in Aida earlier this season, and she had me in tears of laughter in this show. Green and Breckenridge also match the guys with the fantastic duet, "What You Don't Know About Women," a fast patter song that is matched with some very creative staging - a winning number. Lindsey Holloway is the ideal femme fatale Alaura, the fiery wife of a rich old man. The gown she wears in her first entrance, cut close to "there," looks gorgeous on her, and later she dresses in a blood red, satin gown that frames her body like a second skin. Holloway is a raven-haired Veronica Lake, ready to kiss, but also ready to use the knife hidden in her bosom. This seductress shows off some lovely gams, causing Stone to reply, "She had a pair of legs that would go on forever if not for the floor." Holloway sure does! Stephanie Hall portrays the trampy Mallory, the daughter of a rich man who wants daddy's money at any cost. For her solo, "Lost and Found," Hall uses the bed sheet in such a smoldering, sensual manner, I thought the fire alarm would go off at any moment. Like Green, though, she is stuck with a very fake looking wig. Nonetheless, Hall is smashing in the role. She may have the face of an angel, but there is a femme fatale in training under there! Two other performers that get the bulk of the laughs are Tony Martin and K. Doug Miller. Martin portrays the bullheaded, egotistical studio honcho Buddy. He has iniquitous fun with his number "The Buddy System." His energy is high and he's a riot in the show. Miller portrays Jimmy Powers, a singer who would be much better if his back-up singers were in another room, or better yet, in another state. Miller has the audience in constant laughter with his facial expressions and comedic skills as the crooner who is trying to break into the movies. One of the funniest parts of the evening is Miller's reaction to and performance of the number "Stay With Me." Those back-up singers happen to be four sublime singer/actors who work up a vocal sweat as this dazzling quartet. The Angel City 4 consists of Philip Bentham, Jeff Kinman, Sara Shelby-Martin, and Stephanie Riggs. They are greatly aided by some swell choreography provided by Paula Morelan. They zip, bop, doo-wee, doo-wop and glide through vocal riffs like The Manhattan Transfer. Special kudos go to Chris Robinson who portrays an array of characters, each with its own distinct dialect. He goes from a flaming queen of a composer to a Chinese therapist to a coroner who sounds like Mayor Quimby on "The Simpsons." Robinson turns each opportunity into a scene-stealing cameo. The entire cast is smashing - talent this exciting should be given better scenery, lighting and sound. Talent this good deserves that. City of Angels runs through September 24, 2006. Performances are at the theatre's facility at 830 Parker Square, Flower Mound, Texas 75028. Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. ($25), Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. ($35), and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. ($30). To purchase tickets call 972-724-2147 or visit www.fmpat.org. City of Angels. Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre.
Book by Larry Gelbart, Music by Cy Coleman, Lyrics by David Zippel CAST: Stine......................Gary Floyd |
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