Clever 'City of Angels' opens at Chatt State

IF YOU GO

• What: "City of Angels."• When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, and Saturday, Nov. 10; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11.• Where: C.C. Bond Humanities Theatre, Chattanooga State Community College, 4501 Amnicola Highway.• Admission: $10 (free for CSCC students, faculty and staff).• Phone: 697-3113.

You got the playwright, Stine, and his fictional detective, Stone. Stine's got a roving eye, and Stone's not so pure, either. Mix in the egomaniacal movie mogul Buddy Fidler, the real and fictional women and a setting of Hollywood in the 1940s.

Got it?

The theater and music departments of Chattanooga State Community College will put it all together in the clever musical "City of Angels," which runs Friday, Nov. 9, through Sunday, Nov. 11, in the school's C.C. Bond Humanities Theatre.

The production, which features music by Larry Gelbart, book by Cy Coleman and lyrics by David Zippel, won six Tony Awards in 1990 and was nominated for five more.

"There are plenty of musicals with clever lyrics," Sylviane Gold wrote in The New York Times of a 2011 Connecticut production of the show. "Some offer clever books. A handful even manage clever melodies. But 'City of Angels' ... is the rarity that has all three."

The musical weaves together two plots, the "real" world of a writer -- Stine -- trying to turn his book into a screenplay, and the "reel" world -- of Stone -- in which the detective story is being turned into a fictional film.

"City of Angels," at its heart, is an homage to the film-noir genre of motion pictures from the 1940s.

The songs range from big-band swing ("You're Nothing Without Me") to the torchy ballad ("Every Breath I Take") to a scat number ("Ev'rybody's Gotta Be Somewhere") to the provocative ("Lost and Found"). "The Tennis Song," full of double entendres, also is not to be missed.

"City of Angels" is directed by Sherry Landrum, with music direction by Jennifer Arbogast and choreography by Lindsay Fussell.

Contact Clint Cooper at ccooper@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6497. Subscribe to posts online at Facebook.com/ClintCooperCTFP.

Upcoming Events