 CITY OF ANGELS
Book by Larry Gelbart
Music by Cy Coleman Lyrics by David Zippel
Vocal arrangements by Cy Coleman and Yaron Gershovsky
Originally produced on Broadway by Nick Vanoff, Roger Berlind, Jujamcyn
Theaters, Suntory International Corp. and The Shubert Organisation
Virginia Theatre, Broadway - 11 December, 1989 (878 perfs)
Story
Set in the glamorous, seductive Hollywood of the 40s the world of
film studios and filmy negligées, the show chronicles the misadventures
of Stine, a young novelist, attempting a screenplay for movie producer/director,
Buddy Fidler.
While Fidler professes to be a fan of Stine's work, his gargantuan ego
forces Stine to make endless compromises in the script he's writing, the
script being an adaptation of one of Stine's novels which features his
Raymond Chandleresque hero, a private investigator named Stone. Every movie scene that Stine writes is acted out on stage by a group
of characters whose costumes are limited to various shades of black and
white. the same is true of the sets in which they appear and the props
they use.
It all starts when Stone's Girl Friday ushers a striking socialite, Alaura
Kingsley ("Only the floor kept her legs from going on forever'), into
Stone's office. Stone is to be hired to find her step-daughter, Mallory
Kingsley, a beautiful "bad" young woman, who will later turn up in her
birthday suit in Stone's own bed ("For a missing girl, there was not a
whole lot missing'')!
But its not all fun and games for the private eye, who in the course
of the "movie" receives a brutal beating.
In the real life scenes played out in glorious technicolor, Stine has
to fight for the integrity of his original book and earns the disapproval
of hie wife, Gabby, who leaves for New York.
Finally stepping over the line separating fantasy from reality, Stone
challenges hie creator, Stine. resulting in the rousing duet "You're Nothing
Without Me" which closes Act One.
After singing the ironic "Funny", Stine appears at the studio for the
first day of filming of his script It is here, with the surprise appearance
of Stone at his side to encourage him, that he finds the gumption to stand
up to Fidler and reclaim his self respect.
Acquitting himself nobly, Stine is reunited with his wife and, with Stone
solving the Kingsley mystery, is at peace with his alter-ego A rousing
reprise of "You're Nothing Without Me" with a switch to the more positive
lyric, "I'm Nothing Without You" ensures the result in that best of Hollywood
traditions, a happy ending.
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