The
City is filled with Angels in North Hollywood. NORTH
HOLLYWOOD, CA - The Chromolume Theatre Company serves up an
entertaining production of City of Angels, a musical that
swept the Tony Awards in 1990 winning top prize in Best Musical,
Best Book, and Best Score. City of
Angels
is a throwback to the private eye movies of the 1940s, where a
fledgling screenwriter named Stine is adapting his detective
novel into a film for an egomaniacal producer. While the author
struggles to transform his words from page to screen, the action
moves back and forth between these two worlds: Stine’s real
world of a post World War II Hollywood populated with
overbearing producers, saucy secretaries, and self-serving
starlets, and the secluded imaginative world of the City of
Angels, a film noir that stars Stine’s alter ego, a sardonic
Private Investigator named Stone. The score
is reason enough to catch a performance. Theater buffs will
recognize the composer Cy Coleman, whose popular Broadway
credits include Sweet Charity and The Life. The
music is jazzy and pleasurable to the ears. With lyrics by David
Zippel and book by Larry Gelbart, one cannot deny the
entertainment due, especially if the performed by a talented
theater group. Thankfully, the fates have presented such a group
with the direction of Steven Benson, who gets an impressed
‘thumbs up’ for taking on this vehicle. Stef Tovar
and Paul Clausen give strong performances as Stine and Stone.
Kendra Munger brings the dual roles of Clara and Alaura beauty
and glamour. Fleur Phillips is wonderful juggling her dual roles
of troubled Bobbi and Gabi making someone who doesn’t receive
a program believe that there are two different actresses
performing on stage. Another strong character actress is Amy
Tolsky, who delights as secretaries Donna and Oolie. The
ensemble work well together and look great, which makes this
production fun to watch. Under the
music direction of Gary Mattison, vocals are on key with this
production. Phillips and Tolsky give a brilliant rendition of
“What You Don’t Know About Women”. Phillips and Tolsky
also toss out audience pleasing performances in “It Needs
Work”, and “You Can Always Count On Me” respectively. The
Angel City quartet, comprised of Alex Camp, Ellen Dostal, Megan
Olson, and Paul Wong, who open the show are an endearing bunch
of singers, especially in Act two during their reactions to an
obnoxious singer. Costume
design by Shon LeBlanc is on target bringing the feel of
the1940s into effect. The scenic design by Matt Scarpino looks
great on paper and translates daring in appearance. However, it
was somewhat distracting seeing stagehands in black run on and
off stage helping with scene changes. Craig Housenick’s
lighting design looks wonderful and well thought out. City of
Angels
is a wonderful production to watch. The actors give an
intelligent interpretation that is faithful and loveable to the
original Broadway production. Go buy a
ticket and catch a performance! Presented
by the Chromolume Theater Company, City of Angels
performs at the Noho Arts Center, located at 11136 Magnolia
Boulevard in North Hollywood, CA. Running through November 6th,
performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and with 2pm
Matinee performances on Saturday and Sundays. General admission
is $25.00, with discounts for seniors, students, and groups. |
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