Overview
Synopsis
When Hollywood offers New York novelist Stine the opportunity to adapt his books into a film for the silver screen, he packs up and moves to the home of perennial sunshine, palm trees, and stars. Tony award-winning City of Angels moves between the beautiful Technicolor world of Hollywood and Stine’s glamorous film noir-in-progress of the same title. While Stine’s movie plays out in black and white, Stine finds the dangerous temptations of the world of Los Angeles – the distraction of women, the lure of fame, and the artistic compromises being made right and left – all too colorful. Witty and glamorous, City of Angels features a sensational jazz score, including popular songs, “You Can Always Count on Me,” “Tennis Song,” and “I’m Nothing Without You.”
Show Information
- Book
- Larry Gelbart
- Music
- Cy Coleman
- Lyrics
- David Zippel
- Category
- Musical
- Age Guidance
- Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
- Number of Acts
- 2
- First Produced
- 1989
- Genres
- Comedy, Parody
- Settings
- Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- hollywood, california, late 1940s - and a film noir fantasy world version of hollywood, california in the late 1940s
- Cast Size
- large
- Orchestra Size
- Large
- Dancing
- Some Dance
- Licensor
- Concord Theatricals
- Ideal For
- Community Theatre, Regional Theatre, Professional Theatre, College/University, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Adult, Mature Adult, Elderly, Late Teen, Young Adult Characters, Large Cast
Context
City of Angels premiered on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre (now the August Wilson Theatre) on December 11, 1989. Starring James Naughton and Gregg Edelman as Stone and Stine respectively, it was directed by Michael Blakemore with choreography by Walter Painter. The production featured a groundbreaking split-stage design by Robin Wagner and lighting by Paul Gallo, with monochromatic "movie world" scenes contrasting with colorful "real world" scenes. The Broadway premiere ran for 879
to read the context for City of Angels and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
Act One
Meet Stone, a hard-nosed private eye from Los Angeles. When we first see him, he's on a hospital gurney with a bullet in his shoulder and a lot to think about. Flashback to a week earlier: his ever-reliable secretary, Oolie, introduces him to Alaura, a stunning, wealthy woman with a peculiar request—she wants Stone to find her missing stepdaughter, Mallory Kingsley. Mallory’s trouble with a capital “T,” but Stone takes the case anyway.
Then, things take a twist: a man at a
to read the plot for City of Angels and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Tenor, Baritone, Bass |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Tenor, Baritone, Bass |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
|
|
|
Ensemble |
Either Gender |
Alto, Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Bass |
|
|
Ensemble |
Either Gender |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Bass |
Songs
Act One
- Prologue: Theme from City of Angels
- Double Talk – Stone and Alaura Kingsley
- Double Talk – Buddy Fidler and Stine
- What You Don't Know About Women – Gabby and Oolie
- Ya Gotta Look Out for Yourself – Jimmy Powers and Angel City 4
- The Buddy System – Buddy Fidler
- With Every Breath I Take – Bobbi
- The Tennis Song – Stone and Alaura Kingsley
- Ev'rybody's Gotta Be Somewhere – Stone and Angel City 4
- Lost and Found – Mallory Kingsley
- All Ya Have to Do is Wait – Munoz, Yamato, Mahoney and Officer Pasco
- You're Nothing Without Me – Stine and Stone
Act Two
- Stay with Me – Jimmy Powers and Angel City 4
- You Can Always Count On Me – Oolie / Donna
- Double Talk – Buddy Fidler and Party Guests
- Stay with Me (Reprise) – Jimmy Powers and Angel City 4
- It Needs Work – Gabby
- With Every Breath I Take – Stone and Bobbi
- Funny – Stine
- I'm Nothing Without You – Stone, Stine and Gabby
- Epilogue: Theme from City of Angels
- Double Talk Walk (Curtain Call)
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
A song that uses short stanzas to tell a story about love.
A style of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace.
A genre of music developed especially from ragtime and blues and characterized by syncopated rhythms, complex chords, elements of improvisation, and distortions of pitch and timbre.
The creative team member who makes the lighting plot and paperwork, calls the focus, and sets cues with the programmer. They answer to the show Director.
A humorous imitation of something, typically a particular genre of film or literature, in which its characteristic features are exaggerated for comic effect.
Videos
Quizzes
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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Guide Written By:
Alexandra Appleton
Writer, editor and theatre researcher