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Alternating between real life and "reel" life, this musical tells the tale of Stine, a young novelist, attempting a screenplay for movie producer/director, Buddy Fidler.

The setting is Hollywood in the late 1940s, with two stories occurring simultaneously: a Hollywood comedy and a detective drama. The real-life scenes are in color and the movie scenes in black and white. Costumes and setting reflect the reality vs. Film.

Alaura Kingsley, a striking socialite, is ushered into detective Stone's office by Oolie, his loyal Girl Friday. Alaura hires him to find her step-daughter Mallory Kingsley, a beautiful "bad" girl, who will later turn up in Stone's office. Stone receives a brutal beating from two thugs and is framed for a murder. As the plot thickens, Stone's own past comes to haunt him. The relatively simple missing daughter case turns complicated and may end up costing Stone his life. It keeps getting more and more complicated, possibly because the author keeps rewriting it.

The author, Stine, is a novelist adapting his novel, City of Angels into a screenplay for movie mogul Buddy Fidler. Buddy, a charismatic and autocratic producer-director, has an immense ego and, although he claims to be a fan of Stine’s work, he continually demands rewrites from the increasingly reluctant Stine. As Stine struggles to keep both his job and his novel's integrity, his wife Gabby disapproves of his womanizing and leaves for New York on a business trip. Shortly afterwards, he begins an affair with Buddy's secretary Donna. Gabby discovers this and leaves him.

When Stine fulfills Buddy's request to remove a racially-motivated plotline from the screenplay, Stone himself grows frustrated with his author's lack of integrity and berates him for it. Creator and creation have an argument, which Stine wins by typing a scene where the detective is beaten up.

Stine flies to New York in an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile with Gabby, earning Buddy's ire. When he returns, he discovers that Buddy has drastically rewritten the film's ending to his own satisfaction and given himself a prominent co-writing credit. Stine appears on set for the first day of filming to confront the unrepentant Fidler and discovers, to his shock, that a popular crooner has been cast as his hard-boiled detective. With Stone himself at his side, Stine rips up the script and quits. He is about to be beaten by two studio guards, when, in a reversal on their earlier confrontation, Stone aids him by typing a scene allowing Stine to defeat the guards and win back both his wife and his self-respect.

Apart from Stine and Stone, the actors portraying the characters in Stine's movie double as the Hollywood executives and actors Stine encounters.

City of Angels opened on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre on December 11, 1989 and closed on January 19, 1992 after 878 performances and 24 previews. It was directed by Michael Blakemore with sets designed by Robin Wagner and costumes by Florence Klotz.
While the show continued on Broadway, the Los Angeles company opened in June, 1991 at the Shubert Theater in Century City, running 6 months, with Stephen Bogardus as Stine, Lauren Mitchell as the villainess, and Randy Graff and James Naughton recreating their original roles. The production was revamped and embarked on a national tour, during which Barry Williams, of The Brady Bunch fame, took over the role of Stone. Jordan Leeds was chosen from the tour's ensemble to play Stine. The tour played venues from the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa, Florida in February 1992 to the National Theatre, Washington, DC in June 1992 to the Crouse-Hinds Concert Theatre, Syracuse, New York, in November 1992. The national tour closed in November 1992, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The musical opened in London's West End at the Prince of Wales Theatre in March 1993 and ran until November 13, 1993. Blakemore again directed with Roger Allam as Stone and Martin Smith as Stine, with Henry Goodman as Buddy Fidler.
The theatre company Reprise! Broadway's Best production ran in January-February 2006 at Freud Playhouse, UCLA, Los Angeles. The cast featured Burke Moses (Stone), Vicki Lewis (Oolie), Tami Tappan Damiano (Gabby), and Stephen Bogardus (Stine).

Acte I
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 and Donna
With Every Breath I Take – Bobbi
The Niby 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

Acte II
Stay With Me – Jimmy Powers and Angel City
You Can Always Count On Me – Oolie
You Can Always Count On Me – Donna
Alaura's Theme-Orchestra & Chorus
It Needs Work – Gabby
L.A. Blues-Orchestra
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)

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant City of Angel

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant City of Angel