Aaron Weisberg, right and Bruce Pember. The concluding show dates are at 8 p.m. June 13 and 14. For information, visit www.svct.org. Photo by Marty Cheek
Play includes 40 set changes and more than 50 characters, with all actors playing at least two parts
Published in the June 11-27, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Hurry and get your tickets for the closing weekend of the South Valley Civic Theater’s production of the musical comedy City of Angels, a homage to the 1940s film noir genre of motion pictures which has been wowing audiences at the Morgan Hill Playhouse since it opened May 23.
The Broadway hit is a performance weaving the story of the “real” world of novelist Stine (played by Morgan Hill’s Rob Christopher) trying to convert his detective book into a screenplay with the “reel” world story of the fictional film.
Every theater season, the SVCT does five shows — a teen show, children’s show and three main stage productions.
“When we do the main stage, there’s usually one show that’s a little different, a little more challenging and less known, and that’s what City of Angels is for us this year,” said producer Peter Mandel. “Last year it was Putnam County Spelling Bee, which was a little unusual. City of Angels is not done all that often, even though the music is incredible and it’s a very funny play.”
One reason that it’s rarely performed by local theatrical companies is because the show is a complicated play with 40 set changes and more than 50 characters, with every actor playing at least two different parts.”
Mary Beth Anderson, Joyce Bedard, Cindy Powell, and Patrice Lyn.
Photo by Marty Cheek
Because of the complexity of the scene changes, the set for City of Angels was built on a turn-table stage so that the next scene can be put together in the backstage area as the performance takes place at the front of the stage, Mandel said.
Lighting the stage also came with its share of complexity as the lighting had to switch between the color of the real world and the black and white of the “reel” world of the story’s film.
“It’s a fun time out. It’s an adult-themed show. It’s a 1940s film noir murder detective kind of story and a story about the screenplay writer is writing that movie and the challenges he’s having with the producer and director of the movie,” Mandel said. “It’s got jazz music so it’s a different type of score than many musicals in that it’s modern sounding. It’s got an amazing voice in the cast who are from all over the Bay Area who came down to do the show. There’s a lot of people performing whom the local audience have never seen before.”
Among them is Aaron Weisberg, a Sunnyvale resident who plays the hard-boiled detective Stone in the movie story of the play. Weisberg describes him as a “little bit of Mitchum and Bogart all in one” character.
“This is one of my favorite musicals,” Weisberg said. “It’s got a great jazzy score and really intelligent writing both with the lyrics and the book. It’s very smart.”
When he was in high school, Weisberg heard the musical big show-stopping number “You’re Nothing Without Me” that Stine and Stone sing at the end of Act I and was impressed by the emotions of the song. That song got him interested in City of Angels.
“As I started getting more into theater, I saw a recording of a show that they worked on in L.A.,” he said. “When they did it there and I thought, ‘I love this show.” So I got to know about the music. I did the show once nine years ago playing a different role and had a blast doing it. When this came around in Morgan Hill, I thought, ‘Hey they’re doing City of Angels, let’s go for it.’”
This is the first play that Weisberg has done with SVCT and he finds the local group welcoming of actors from outside Morgan Hill.
“People here are really nice and they want to give their all to make the show as good as it possibly can be,” he said.
Christopher said that the cast and crew really focuses on the details of the set and the costumes to add to the entertainment value of the play.
“The cast put in hundreds of hours building the sets so that it would play better and be faster with a turn table set so that it would move faster,” he said. “The orchestra is behind us so that the blend and mix of sound coming out to the audience is better. It wasn’t an easy thing to do but the director and producer all put it together.”
