Youth Company Stages Tony Winner City of Angels

SYMT (Sydney Youth Musical Theatre) presents the Tony Award winning 1989 Broadway musical comedy City of Angels (music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel, and book by Larry Gelbart), at Hornsby RSL from July 6 to 14, 2012.

City of Angels interweaves two plots and two musical scores against the backdrop of 1940s Hollywood, with all the glamour and seduction of the era showcased by the jazzy score and witty script.

Stine is a young writer adapting his detective novel ‘City of Angels’ for the silver screen under the interfering direction of producer Buddy Fidler. While Stine struggles to keep a hold of his personal life, his job, and professional integrity, the film noir screenplay evolves and we are given a window into his “reel life”. As Stine writes each scene, the audience experiences it being played out with sets and costumes in black and white as they would be on the big screen.

The original Broadway production played for 878 performances, taking out 6 Tony Awards.

19-year-old Emma Scarlis, who plays Gabby, told Stage Whispers, “Working with SYMT is an absolute pleasure. This is my second show with SYMT (Ensemble in Urinetown, 2009) and I feel very privileged to be cast as a lead in such an incredible show. 

“Working in a youth society is always refreshing and it is so wonderful to see how outstanding the new and upcoming talent is. This cast in particular boasts the ultimate triple threats with supremely talented singers, phenomenal actors and fantastic dancers.

“City of Angels has always been one of my favourite shows. The jazz score is absolutely stunning but I do admit it is the script that appeals to me most. The show is so beautifully written, both in terms of dialogue and lyric. 

“The concept of the show is quite unusual and makes for a very interesting but complex plot line. The parallel plots of the reel and real world is so cleverly written and intertwined. Certain characters inspire others and this comes through in the artful recurring of particular lines of dialogue.

“Being cast as Gabby is honestly such an enormous privilege. Gabby has such an incredible depth of character and she constantly intrigues me. I love that she is a strong, intelligent and independent woman but despite all of this her one weakness is the man she loves, Stine. Almost every woman can relate to that sense of vulnerability. It is a beautiful blurring of the line between the actor and the audience - my favourite moment in the show is the realisation of that during Gabby's song 'It needs work’. 

“My favourite line in the show is ‘Can honesty be imperfect?’ - it's one of the lines I referred to that recurs later on in the show, thanks to the witty nature of the script. The line is eloquent and powerful yet quite simplistic. That's why I love it the most.

“Words cannot describe how excited I am for opening night. After enduring the HSC and my first year at Sydney Uni I am beyond excited to get back on that stage at Hornsby RSL for SYMT. I'm so privileged to be cast as Gabby in this wonderful show.”

SYMTpresents two productions each year for young people between the ages of 10 and 25, and City of Angels features a cast of almost 50 performers aged between 14 and 25.

Performance Dates

Friday 6 July 8pm. Saturday 7 July 8pm, Thursday 12 July 8pm, Friday 13 July 8pm and Saturday 14 July 2pm and 8pm.

Under 18’s must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Bookings

Hornsby RSL - 9477 7777

www.hornsbyrsl.com.au

Images: (top) Max Newstead (Stine) and Emma Scarlis (Gabby). Production shots - Andrew Bartle as Stone and Claire Jackman (18) as scheming Mallory; Andrew Bartle (22) as Detective Stone & Ashli Marin (19) as Femme Fatale Alaura. Photographer: Grant Leslie.