City of Angels

Once again, a beautifully boiled down production of a rarely performed Broadway classic is on show up close at the Hayes Theatre.

Although in this case it has only been boiled down a little, as the ensemble includes 18 members of the cast, and seven members of a hot band that are on stage surrounding the cast in a semi-circle.

That is a ratio of just under one cast member/musician for every four members of the audience!

As a result, it was a little squeezy on stage, particularly as the narrative requires the frequent wheeling on and off – of a double bed for sexy scenes, and a hospital bed for patients barely alive or recently departed.

City of Angels scooped the Tony Awards of 1990 and is set in Hollywood of the 1940s. It cuts between the angsty world of screen writer Stine (Glenn Hill) and the actual movies he is writing for producer/director Buddy Fidler (Paul Hanlon) These are led by action man Detective Stone (Aaron Tsindos) - who has comic book scrapes with gangsters and sweeping passion with dames.

Stine bangs away on a typewriter and in a hilarious conceit when he decides to re-write a scene, the actors go into rewind mode, and we see the updated draft.

Hanlon has the best part in the musical and milked with aplomb the juggle of a studio boss barking orders on a telephone, whilst being attended to by lackies ranging from a shoe shiner, hairdresser to a masseuse.

The music by Cy Coleman doesn’t have any of the blockbuster hits of Sweet Charity (which was the Hayes Theatre’s debut smash) but the rich jazz score suits the era, and the lyrics to the songs are tight and humorous.

My favourite was “The Tennis Song” which was choreographed nicely for Penny McNamee  nd Aaron Tsindos

You leave me breathless too
Wait till our match is through
I may lack form and finesse
But i warm up in a jiff
It's not exciting unless
The competition is stiff

The musical shares the spotlight amongst many of the actors, with Marcus Rivera and Chantel Cofie shining with respective cameos as a Police officer and an actress.

A striking design from Simon Greer, sharp lighting from James Wallis and attractive costuming from Ether Zhong combined to give the production a slick look.

On the downside the first act is a little on the long side and the portrayal of the poor behaviour of a Hollywood boss in a jolly light and an actress offering sexual inducements for career advancement, goes against the tide of recent times.

But that is the way it was written, and audiences can see it in that context.

David Spicer

Photographer: Grant Leslie