Sneak Previews! THE MUSIC INSIDE

Sneak previews of THE MUSIC INSIDE, independent feature film by HSU professor David Scheerer made partly in Humboldt, will be screened on Friday, November 13 and Saturday, November 14 at 7:30 PM in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $10, $8 students and seniors, with a limited number of free seats to HSU students for each performance, from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Photo: Theresa Ireland. All production photos by Matt St. Charles. Click photo to enlarge.

THE MUSIC INSIDE

It’s a movie about a man with a secret in his past, which a young female journalist urges him to reveal. The secret involves a woman who became the love of his life, now lost to him forever. It is a story of fear and intolerance, and ultimately of hope and redemption. And it all begins on a sun-burnished beach at Trinidad.

The Music Inside is an independent feature film directed by HSU professor David Scheerer, which the public will see for the first time in two sneak preview screenings on November 13 and 14 at the Van Duzer Theatre. About a third of the movie was filmed at HSU and on the North Coast, and it was completed with the participation of HSU students and faculty.

Photo: Director David Scheerer and Script Supervisor Margene Scheerer on the set.

“Thematically, this film deals with the stigma and prejudice associated with mental illness,” director Scheerer said, “and how love can be a source of strength in overcoming that stigma.”

Award-winning San Francisco actor Kurt Kroesche plays a university professor with the past he has kept hidden, and Theresa Ireland plays a young journalist who confronts him. It turns out that she has her own secret.

These were the scenes filmed at HSU and other North Coast locations. “These scenes comprise the part of the story that takes place in the present,” Scheerer explains, “but like movies such as Slum Dog Millionaire, much of the story is told in flashbacks to the past.”

Photo: Kurt Kroesche

The flashback scenes were filmed in 2005, when Scheerer taught at Montana State University. He enlisted professional actors, some of whom he met while working at what became the Sundance Film Festival. These sequences star Amy Redford, daughter of Robert Redford. Her screen acting credits include Maid in Manhattan (directed by Wayne Wang), The Understudy and other independent films and television series episodes. Also starring are Mary Ellen Trainor (Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Ghostbusters) and Brian Wimmer (Nightmare on Elm Street, House of Fears, China Beach.)

Photo: Amy Redford in 2008.

Theresa Ireland is known on the North Coast for theatre roles at North Coast Rep (Jake’s Women, Pirates of Penzance) and Ferndale Rep (Bus Stop, Anatomy of a Murder) as well as local commercials and independent films.

“We have a tremendous ensemble for the whole movie,” director Scheerer said. “There are performances here that are as inspiring as any you’ll see this year on the big screen.”

The two sneak preview screenings at HSU provide an opportunity for the public to participate in this film’s future. “This is still a work in progress,” Scheerer said. “Since we are still able to change things, we are eager for audience feedback.”

Scheerer is not the only one interested in that feedback, or in the future of The Music Inside on the festival circuit or on television and DVD. So are the many HSU students, faculty members, and members of the North Coast community who participated in making the film. That's partly because some are now among the owners of this movie. (More on that in posts below.)

THE MUSIC INSIDE: The North Coast Connection

When his HSU faculty colleagues in the Theatre, Film & Dance department said they wanted to include a film screening in the year’s production schedule, David Scheerer saw it as a way to take care of some unfinished business, as well as to provide some unique opportunities for HSU students.

The unfinished business was a feature film, shot in 2005 when Scheerer taught film at Montana State University. Using professional actors, some of whom he’d met during his years working on what became the Sundance Film Festival, he directed the script of a former screenwriting student, Michael Van Wagenen. But test screenings revealed some problems, and the project was shelved.

Scheerer and Van Wagenen discussed a solution—a different way to frame the story of a mentally ill young man and his relationship with a young woman who was interning as a social worker. But the new version required a new character, and new scenes amounting to about a third of the complete film.

So Scheerer asked his HSU colleagues “if they would be willing to support me in shooting these new scenes. Much to my joy, the season selection committee agreed.”

So last fall, students who took a pre-production workshop became involved in making what essentially is a new movie. “They looked at the first cut, and helped me identify what worked and what didn’t work. They helped me in rewriting the script, casting the new scenes, and doing all the pre-production work.”

This included building a set in the Studio Theatre: the office of a professor of theology, who has a secret past. He is confronted there by a young woman journalist, and is compelled to tell his story. That story, which goes back some twenty years, reveals him to be that mentally ill young man in the first version. The new version includes a twist, which casts a surprising light on what’s gone before.

Students helped build the set, which had movable walls so that director Scheerer could shoot from any angle. Students were also among the crew when the scenes were shot in January, between the first and second semesters of the HSU school year.

In fact, the set became something of a community effort. “Since our professor’s field is theology, we wanted to have artifacts from all religions in his office, so a lot of people across the campus helped to collect them,” Scheerer said. “These artifacts are important to the story, because part of his mental illness had been his belief that he was a prophet.”

“ To do the shoot, I brought in Brian Wilcox, a professional cinematographer and a friend of mine,” Scheerer said. “And Panavision gave us the Super 16 film package, so our students got experience working with a high-end professional film package, and with a professional cinematographer.”

Other interior and exterior scenes were also shot on the HSU campus (“though we never say in the script what university it is”), and the crew journeyed up 101 to Trinidad to film a key scene—in fact, the first scene of the movie.

“We were going to shoot the opening on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, because of its iconic quality,” Scheerer said. “But Luffenholtz Beach in Trinidad turned out to be so beautiful and so appropriate. We filmed at sunset on a gorgeous January day—it’s such a striking and impressive opening sequence that it won out over the bridge.”

HSU students then helped edit and finish the film, in a post-production workshop last spring.

Theatre, Film & Dance faculty also participated in the new scenes: Jody Sekas designed the set, Rae Robison designed the costumes, and James McHugh worked on the lighting with cinematographer Wilcox.

Scheerer also enlisted Music Department professor J. Brian Post to write new score elements. Art Department professor Wayne Knight created the storyboards for the new scenes, and designed the titles and poster elements. Knight died in October of complications from the H1N1 virus. “We’ve added a title to the film,” Scheerer said, “dedicating the screenings at HSU to Wayne.”

THE MUSIC INSIDE: The Cooperative

The participation of HSU students and faculty who worked on the film doesn’t necessarily end with the sneak preview screenings. While in Montana in 2005, Scheerer had created a cooperative ownership of The Music Inside, with the help of lawyer John Frohnmayer, former director of the National Endowment of the Arts. Essentially, everyone who worked on the film owns a piece of it, and shares in any future profits.

“The reason I’m pioneering the cooperative approach is because of my background at Sundance,” Scheerer said. “I really believed in the independent film movement in the 80s, and I could never find a way that the producers didn’t end up owning the work and making all the money. We’d rather divide the profits with the people who made the film.” Because of the North Coast shoot, HSU students are now among those people.

Profits could come from television and DVDs, perhaps after a tour of international film festivals. “If it works,” Scheerer said, “it could change the way independent films are made.”

THE MUSIC INSIDE: North Coast Credits

CALIFORNIA UNIT
Line Producer - Ann Alter

Director of Photography - Brian Wilcox

1st Assistant Camera - Nolan Ehrstrom

2nd Assistant Camera - Sierra Hayworth

2nd 2nd Assistant Camera - Liberty Divina

1st Assistant Director - Ian Strope

2nd Assistant Director - Joshua Nelson

2nd 2nd Assistant Director - Oliver Brink

Editor – Cole Saxton

Scenic Art Director - Jody Sekas

Assistant Art Director - Jenn Hood

Make-up / Hair Designer - Janet Warren

Wardrobe Designer - Rae Robison

Assistant Costumer - Amy Echeverria

Wardrobe Manager - Catherine Brown

Script Supervisor - Margene Scheerer

Assistants to Script Supervisor – Kyle Bellinger
Mike Green

Video Tap - Cole Saxton

Location Manager - Perry Cage

Set Lighting Director - James McHugh

Master Electricians - Emily Ruebl
Patrick Sullivan

Sound Mixer - Elizabeth Cruz

Boom Operator - Chris Hancock

Cable Puller - Andrew Campbell

Costume Construction - Laura Rhinehart

Casting - Jane Morgan

Leadman - Jody Sekas

Set Construction - Jody Sekas
Jayson Mohatt

Construction Foreman - Jayson Mohatt

Construction Supervisors –
Ali Beltramo
Henry Echeverria
Mason Lev

Construction Crew -
Dorothy Ray
Susana Carmona
Allan Chau
Alexis Dueñas
Asher Dunkelman
Melissa O’Brien
Edgar Ramos
Sarah Niznik
Megan Duits
Justin Bell
Theodore Blizzard
David Bording
Jacqueline Buntman
Leenyque Carbin
Kieran Cavanugh
Minh Dao
Marissa Dominguez
Matthew Flores
Jasmyn Fuller
Yocelyn Gomez
Benjamin Goodlad
Jesus Ibarra
Kileigh Keller
Paula Liebler
Janiece Logan
Javon Mack
Tirzha Martinez
Megan McFerrin
Kenny Ng
David Oladapo
Seger Phillips
Alyson Race
William Raynor
Karmn Rivel
Heather Scheeler
Nathan Stanley
Kylie Washer
Justin Williams

Set Dressers:
Jenn Hood
Laura Rhinehart
Colin Trevino-Odell
Sandy Grimm
Jennifer Hood
Marie Mourougaya
Laura Rhinehart

Set Decoration:
Jody Sekas
Ali Beltramo
Mychal Ducken
Amy Echeverria
Henry Echeverria
Sandy Grimm
Jennifer Hood
Calder Johnson
Mason Lev
Jeannie Mello
Laura Rhinehart
Colin Trevino-Odell

Art Production Assistants - Sandra Grimm
Marie Mourougaya

Prop Master - Calder Johnson

Properties Crew:
Taylor Brady
Callie Cleveland
Adrian Emery
Bryshawne Halsey
Mitchell Kupfer
Yuvizela Martinez
Calvin Meister

Leadman / Swing Gang:
Colin Trevino-Odell

Storyboards - Wayne Knight

Graphic Titles – Stephen DuBois

Continuity Assistants - Mike Green
Kyle Bellinger

EPK/ Still Photographer - Matt St. Charles

Asst. EPK - Sammy Seidenberg

Transportation - Mychal Ducken

Stand-ins - Michael Green & Mychal Ducken

Key Grip / Dolly Grip - Ben Bettenhausen

Best Boy - George Nelson

Grips - Timothy O’Malley
Ace Aseltine

Catering & Craft Services - Christine Wright

Craft Services Assistants - Richard Rentaria
Mychal Ducken

Production Assistants –
Richard Rentaria
Sandra Grimm
Oliver Brink
Marie Mourougaya
Ace Aseltine
Mychal Ducken
Perry Cage
Andrew Campbell
Timothy O’Mally

Special Thanks

Richard & Sherry Van Wagenen
Dave & Rusty Swingle
Jerry Bancroft
Bernadette Cheyne
Leslie Taylor
Bill Neff
Filmlites Montana
Suzie Vanderbeek
Eric PearsonRollin Richmond
Bernadette Cheyne
Suzan Logwood
Debra Ryerson
Landy Hardy
Ted Jones
Mary Cruse
Patti Stammer
John Mayer
Wayne Knight
Christine Laird (Arcata Stay)
Access Humboldt
Sean McLaughlin
Jessemyn Reid
Julie Ryan
Jerusha Wilhelmi
Byron Nelson Sr.
Glen Nagy
Jeanette Nelson
Jordan Benhardt
Stephen Jenkins
Amanda Cordell
Calder Johnson
Wess Johnson
Jane Morgan
Laura Rhinehart
Kim and Jody Sekas
Rabbi Naomi Steinberg
Harry Wells
J.M. Wilkerson
Advanced Display & Signs – Eureka
All Under Heaven – Arcata
Arcata Pro Floor - Arcata
Himalayan Rug Traders – Eureka
Kokopilau – Eureka
Many Hands Gallery - Eureka
St. Innocent Orthodox Church - Eureka
Samraat Cuisine of India – Eureka
Sherwood Forest Nursery – Eureka
Tin Can Mailman – Arcata
HSU Marketing and Communications: Kellie Brown & Jarad Petroske
TFD106 Technical Theatre Students
TFD 477 Production Workshop Students
Humboldt State University Plant Operations
Humboldt State University Risk Management: Dave Bugbee & Sharon Seward
PANAVISION New Filmmakers Program / Ric Halpren
Smug’s Pizza
Star’s Restaurant
The Theatre, Film, & Dance Department at Humboldt State University

THE MUSIC INSIDE: The Credits

DIRECTED BY
David Scheerer

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Everett Lafayette
Margene Bruce

PRODUCERS
Ian Lyman
David Scheerer
Mike Van Wagenen

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
Beverly Bica
Helene Holt
Kenneth Kemp
Karl Swingle
Michael Van Laanen

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Brian Wilcox
Rod Lamborn

EDITOR
Cole Saxton

ADDITIONAL EDITING
Karl Swingle

SCREENPLAY
Michael Van Wagenen
David Scheerer

ORIGINAL SCORE
Kenneth Cope
Brian Post

POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Steve Liminoff

Annie – AMY REDFORD
Ms. Amado – MARY ELLEN TRAINOR
Jack – BRIAN WIMMER
Roger – KURT KROESCHE
Michelle – Theresa Ireland
Roberta - Dee Dee Van Zyl
Bill - Gary Fish
Red - Eric Thompson
James - Michael Van Wagenen
Angel Justice - Betty Ann Conard
Lavina - Lynette Evanson
Kenny - Bill Koch
Harold - Thomas Stewart
Rick - Miles Gravage
Rachel - Kim Walker
Old Man on Porch - Doug Sebern
Televangelist - Wayne Mansaw
Annie’s Father - J.P. Gabrieli
Skateboarder - Alex Zemeckis
Jack’s Friend / Jeff - Cekoa
Jack’s Friend / Craig - Stephen Bryan Conard
Lead Detective - Joel Jahnke
Interrogation Detective - Ken White
Young Woman - Cassandra Langr
Old Woman - Alaette Fish
Trucker Woman Voice - Julianna Clayton

Extras
Britton Deckard Edward King
Christopher Kustusch Elisabeth King
Jack Dyer Joshua M. Bradner
Laurie Pacheco Rob Story
Zach Dyer Monica Van Wagenen
Tad Dyer Maya Isabel Van Wagenen
Kelly Friedman Kent Jesse
Marianne Adams Dennis Aig
Josie Adams Hannah Aig-Bertanelli
Kaycee Anderson Leah Aig-Bertanelli
Annemarie Strand Leandra Hill
Mark Edmo Steve Keim
Mitzi Scheerer Bill Neff
Justin Lubke Mary Neff
Remy Kirkham

Production Manager - Beverly Bica

First Asst. Director - Ian G. Lyman

Montana Casting - Betty Ann Conard

Extras Casting Associate - Therese King

Stunt Double / Annie - Jessica Paelaet

Producing Partners –
Al Riaz Adatia
Richard Arensee
Robert Barrus
Margaret Bruce
Todd Frank
Lynn Frank
Stephen Gregory
Julie Kress
Fred Kroesche
Dorothy Machado

Art Director - Mary Ellen McMahon

Set Dresser - Melissa Stone

Hair & Make up - Sam DeBree

Asst. Hair & Make up - Kathy Suta

First Asst. Camera - Michael Miller

Second Asst. Camera - Zach Gildersleeve

2nd Second Asst. Camera - Ryan Stumpe

Additional Photography -Zach Gildersleeve
Ryan Stumpe
Video Tap - Karl Swingle

Gaffer - Jason McKnight
Filmlites Montana

Best Boy - Bill Heiselmann

Key Grip - Tony Ballew
Sun Dog Grip & Electric

Second Grip - Tov Arneson

Rigging - Thomas Lyman

Motorhome - Filmlites Montana

Armorer & Special FX - Bobby Brooks

Assistant Special FX & Set Painter - Eli Dorsey

Title Design – Wayne Knight & Stephen DuBois

Wardrobe - Raven Erebus

Assistant Wardrobe - Brooke Alison Draves

Second Assistant Wardrobe - James Greer

Script Supervisor - Margene Scheerer

Production Coordinator - Joseph Etchingham

Assistant to the Producers - Michael Van Laanen
Deanna Kotrbr

Storyboards – Wayne Knight

Location Manager - Justin Lubke

Assistant Location Manager - Ian Kellet

Transportation - Micah Ranum

Legal Services - John Frohnmayer

Accounting Services - Robert DaBell / CPA
Rudd & Company Accountants

Story Consultants - Monica Delgado
Cecy De Luna
Kenneth Kemp
Margaret Stohl
James Redford
Matt Van Wagenen
David Scheerer

Post Production Consultants –
Mark Allen’s Garage
Scott Chestnut
Jeffery Reyna
Eric Van Wagenen
Steve Liminoff / Canyon Digital

Production Assistants –
Josh Collins
Scott Hamann
Leandra Hill
Kyle Littlefield
Remy Kirkham
Julie Macalister
Jadi Stuart
David Jadunath

Still Photography - Rachel Laudon

Electronic Press Kit Videography - Mike Burchett

Craft Service - Ross Mitchell
D.J. Scheerer
Mitzi Scheerer

Montana Sound and Effects by - Digital Sorcery

Production Sound / Sound Design - Troy William Dunn

Dialogue Editor / Foley Artist - Heidi Elise DuBose

Boom Operator - Patrick McNair

Temp Mix by - Jeff Carter, Mach One Audio

Montana Unit Orchestrations - Kenneth Cope

Montana Unit Music Recorded & Mixed by - Barry Gibbons
Platinum Sound Lab

Montana Unit Original Music by Kenneth Cope
California Unit Original Music by J. Brian Post
Music Editor: J. Brian Post

“Hiney Mah Tov”
Traditional Hebrew Text/Music by Kenneth Cope
Additional Lyrics by Michael Van Wagenen & Kenneth Cope
Hebrew Translation by Kelly Ogden
Performed by Tel Aviv Salsa
2004 Merge Right Music/BMI

“Laudate Dominum”
Written by Kenneth Cope
Latin Translation Assistance by Jenifer Swindle
Performed by Choir Invisible
2004 Merge Right Music/BMI

“Wounded Angel”
Written by Kenneth Cope
Performed by Mindy Gledhill
2004 Merge Right Music/BMI

© COPYRIGHT 2009
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The Montana Motion Picture Cooperative, Inc.

Any similarities to any persons or events, whether actual or fictional, are entirely coincidental.

CITY OF ANGELS: October 2009

Hollywood comes to Humboldt in the acclaimed musical comedy CITY OF ANGELS, Thursday, Friday & Saturday October 22-24 and 29-31 at 7:30 PM, Sunday November 1 at 2 PM, in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. It’s sexy, witty—and definitely PG13. Tickets: $15/$10, students/seniors $10/$8 from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928). HSU Theatre, Film & Dance and Music Department co-production. [click on photo to enlarge.]

CITY OF ANGELS Update (Updated)

New posts on musical aspects of CITY OF ANGELS plus more photos at HSU Music. Also check out the preview with photo at Humboldt State Now.

Update 10/22: Preview with photos in Northern Lights, Eureka Times Standard. Photo in North Coast Journal.

CITY OF ANGELS

Stone is a private dick on a case who gets involved with seedy characters and beautiful women in 1940s Los Angeles. He’s also a character in a Hollywood movie, the kind that made icons of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.

Right before our eyes he and the other film characters are being hatched from the head of Stein, the novelist trying to write his first screenplay. Stein has his own struggles with studio bosses, not to mention his wife.

Two stories intertwine. We see Stine turning his mystery novel into a screenplay: the detective hero, the femme fatale, the gangsters and the detective’s Perfect Woman are all on stage as Stine sees them in his imagination, complete with torch songs and movie soundtrack music. We even see the characters immediately act out his revisions.

But there are eerie (and hilarious) parallels between the fantasy world of detective Stone and the real Hollywood of writer Stine—until people from both worlds start talking (and singing) to each other.

City of Angels crackles with satirical wit, wisecracks and double entendres, in a detective story as ridiculously full of lies, betrayals and seductions as a Raymond Chandler classic. The real Hollywood turns out to be not very different.

Produced by the HSU Department of Theatre, Film & Dance and the HSU Department of Music, City of Angels is directed by Rae Robison, with musical direction by Elisabeth Harrington. The show will be backed by a twelve-piece orchestra, conducted by Elisabeth Harrington (seen here in rehearsal with actor/singer Chris Hatcher.) The musical also features an all-female quintet, singing 1940s-style swing.

Featured performers include (top to bottom) Ethan Heintz as Stone, Chris Hatcher as Stine, Jamie Banister as Gabby/Bobbi, Kelly Whitaker as Alaura/Carla (pictured from a Ten Minute Play Festival performance last spring), Brandy Rose as Oolie/Donna (also not in costume--photo from her web site) and Anthony DePage as Buddy/Irwin (not pictured.)

CITY OF ANGELS: A Valentine to Classic Movies

This Tony Award-winning show (Best Musical, Score, Book, Actor and Scenic Design) presents music by Broadway veteran and jazz composer Cy Coleman, with song lyrics by David Zippel. But the show is most noted for being funny, with a script by Larry Gelbart, head writer for TV’s M*A*S*H and author of Broadway’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

“There's nothing novel about show-stopping songs and performances in Broadway musicals, but how long has it been since a musical was brought to a halt by riotous jokes?” So begins the Broadway opening night review by New York Times drama critic Frank Rich. “... Only the fear of missing the next gag quiets the audience down.”

“It’s an incredibly funny ride from the beginning to end,” said HSU director Rae Robison, “and a Valentine to film noir. If you love old movies, you’ll love this show—and if you don’t love these movies already, you might start watching them after you’ve seen this musical.”

CITY OF ANGELS: Movie Movie

This production will emphasize that movie world by including filmed sequences projected in the Van Duzer Theatre as part of the show. “I told Scenic Designer Mason Lev and Assistant Designer Calder Johnson that I wanted to incorporate film as part of our live show, so they created a set that has a lot of surfaces for film projection,” said Robison. “We’re actually filming some of the play’s scenes, and at times we’ll have live video so the audience can watch that as well as what’s happening on stage. We’re even hoping to have a chase scene that happens on stage, and on screens across the stage at the same time.”

Several HSU film students are involved in creating the film scenes. Since HSU dance alum Lela Anotto-Pemberton is creating the choreography, City of Angels makes use of all three programs within the Theatre, Film and Dance department, as well as collaborating with the Music Department.

CITY OF ANGELS: Double Trouble

Other production challenges include mixing and matching the two worlds of the story. The worlds are separated by color: the “real” Hollywood scenes are very colorful, while the colors in the “movie” scenes are muted. But since several characters in each world are played by the same actors, there are additional problems.

“ For example, Jamie Banister plays Bobbi, our torch singer and detective Stone’s true love in the movie. But she also plays Gabby, the writer Stein’s’ wife, who isn’t too pleased with him,” Robison explained. “Costume designer Kitty Grenot had to create costumes that give each character an individual look, but in some cases, an actor has to transform into another character in about four seconds on stage.”

The complex and frenetic rehearsal schedules for a normal musical—the staging, acting and technical rehearsals, the separate rehearsals for orchestra and singers before they come together—were further complicated by the filmed scenes, which meant a movie shoot as well. So actors were rehearsing somewhere every day, and on the film set in the evenings and on weekends.

The cast combines veteran performers and relative newcomers. Chris Hatcher has appeared in several local productions, including Humboldt Light Opera’s Titanic and HSU’s last musical Urinetown as well as North Coast Repertory's Little Shop of Horrors.

“Probably the best known cast member is Brandy Rose,” Robison notes. Besides co-starring with Hatcher in Little Shop of Horrors at NCRT, Eureka’s Brandy Rose sings frequently at local events and venues, and auditioned for American Idol. She's currently a Vocal Performance major at HSU. “In this show she has a difficult dual role as the secretary to a movie mogul in the real Hollywood, and the detective’s secretary in the movie fantasy," Robison said. "She has to switch from a dizzy Gracie Allen kind of character to a sexy, sophisticated Lana Turner—polar opposites. She’s doing tremendous work.”

Other cast members reflect the collaboration in HSU musicals, which are co-produced by the Music and the Theatre, Film & Dance departments every other year. Vocal performance and music education major Jamie Banister (playing Gabby and Bobbi) has appeared in several Opera Workshop productions as well as in Urinetown, while Ethan Heintz (Stone) and Kelly Whitaker (dual role of Alaura/Carla) have primarily appeared in theatre productions, including last spring’s Ten Minute Play Festival.

The cast also includes a local unknown, because he’s just arrived. “Anthony DePage is a transfer student who is playing Buddy, the Hollywood producer,” Robison said. “He is just hilarious, and totally fresh on the scene here.”

CITY OF ANGELS: Our Cast

Stine: Chris Hatcher
Stone: E. Thomas Heintz
Gabby/Bobbi: Jamie Banister
Oolie/Donna: Brandy Rose
Buddy/Irwin: Anthony DePage
Alaura/Carla: Kelly Whitaker
Mallory/Avril: Keili Simmons Marble
Jimmy Powers: Kyle Ryan
Angel City Five: Jaclyn Catino, Kalea Hammond, Molly Severdia, Sara Scibetta, Tina Toomata.

Sonny/Studio Cop & Ensemble: Erik Tedsen
Big Six/studio cop & Ensemble: Michael Pietrelli
Gilbert/Hairdresser & Ensemble: Erik Tedsen
Lt. Munoz/Pancho: Colin Trevino-Odell
Pasco/ Del Dacosta: Gabriel Holman
Peter/Gerald & Ensemble: Philip de Roulet
Margaret & Ensemble: Golden Moeras Kamphuis
Luther Kingsley/Werner & Ensemble: Jonathan Barret
Madam Margie: Chelsea Snyder
Prostitute/Props Girl/Company: Shannon Bass
Prostitute/Jean/Company: Kyra Gardner
Dr. Mandril: Clayton Cook
Porn Vendor/Hildegard/Company: Kelsey Macilvaine
Harlan Yamato & Ensemble: James Murphy
Orderly/Big Six/Nephew/Company: Michael Pietrelli
Mahoney & Ensemble: John Pettion
Gilbert/Commissioner: Brandon McDaniel
Sonny/Bill/Company: Erik Tedsen
Jack/Company: George B. Nelson
Anna & Ensemble: Danielle Cichon
Carla stand-in & Ensemble: Jacqui Hernandez
Und. Oolie/Donna: Megan Hughes
Cinematographer: George B. Nelson

CITY OF ANGELS: Our Production

Director: Rae Robison
Musical Director: Elisabeth Harrington
Scenic Designer: Mason Lev
Asst. Scenic Designer: Calder Johnson
Costume and Makeup Designer: April "Kitty" Grenot
Lighting Designer: Jim McHugh
Asst. Lighting Designer: Amy Echeverria
Choreographer: Lela Anotto-Pemberton
Properties Designer: Henry Echeverria
Technical Director: Jayson Mohatt
Sound Designer: Jack Butler
Band Preparation: Kenneth Ayoob
Rehearsal Accompanist/Additional Musical Coaching: John Chernoff
Asst. Director: Chelsea Snyder
Stage Manager: Christina Focht
Asst. Stage Manager: Genevieve Angle
Film Coordinator: George Nelson
Asst. Film Coordinator: Perry Cage
Asst. Stage Manager--Film: Christina Paez
Properties Design: Henry Echeverria
Program/Poster Design: Mason Lev
Sound Design: Jack Brown
Wardrobe Managers: Jo Kuzelka, Erin Voudy

CITY OF ANGELS: The Original Production

The Broadway opening night of City of Angels in December 1989 looked like a certain disaster. The word on the street was that it would fail, and in the theatre itself, things were even worse. The heating system shut down, and the Virginia Theatre was freezing cold.

But certain comedians will tell you that people will laugh when they’re cold because they're alert, but when they’re hot they’ll just fall asleep. And that night, they laughed. New York Times critic Frank Rich described it as “an evening in which even a throwaway wisecrack spreads laughter like wildfire through the house, until finally the roars from the balcony merge with those from the orchestra and the pandemonium takes on a life of it’s own.”

Instead of failing, City of Angels played for more than two years and nearly 900 performances, and pretty much swept the Tony Awards before moving on to Los Angeles and London, and a national tour.

A year later, Rich would lament that newer musicals were overpriced and “aimed at wealthy tourists of limited attention span and advancing age,” and longed for City of Angels, “a satire that gave the audience credit for verbal and visual imagination.” At the end of his 12 year career as chief critic, Rich named only four new musicals as his favorites. City of Angels was one of them.

CITY OF ANGELS: The Creators

CITY OF ANGELS won Tony Awards for Best Musical, best musical score and best “book” (or script), and the Drama Desk Award for best lyrics.

Its creative team was unique. Composer Cy Coleman was a Broadway veteran, steeped in jazz and classical music. Larry Gelbart had co-written a hit stage show and movies but basically he was from TV (a comedy writer for the Sid Caesar Show, writer and producer and the creative mind behind the TV version of M*A*S*H.) David Zipple, the young lyricist, worked in the theatre but had no credits to speak of. They all had one of the major successes of their individual careers in City of Angels.

After writing popular standards such as “Witchcraft” and “The Best is Yet to Come,” Cy Coleman wrote the music for the show Wildcat (which brought “I Love Lucy”’s Lucille Ball to Broadway) and yielded the classic, “Hey, Look Me Over.” He had a Broadway hit with Little Me, the musical version of Auntie Mame, with book by Neil Simon.

Then Coleman teamed up with a legendary lyricist of the classic stage and movie musical 30s and 40s, Dorothy Fields, for a 1960s classic: Sweet Charity. But it was more than 20 years later that Coleman had another hit with City of Angels. For this play he wrote what’s reputed to be the first jazz score for a Broadway musical, a combination of 1940s-inflected swing and torch songs, Broadway ballads and Hollywood film themes.


Larry Gelbart’s previous hit show was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, produced locally a few years ago at Ferndale Rep. His story about a screenwriter came from experience: he wrote several movies, including Tootsie, which won Best Picture and several other Academy Awards. His earlier script, called Movie Movie, experimented with double storylines involving old Hollywood movies—themes that recur in City of Angels. He also turned his satirical eye to political subjects, for TV movies like Mastergate and Weapons of Mass Distraction.

Lyricist David Zipple went on to write lyrics for several Disney movies, and collaborated with Cy Coleman again on a children’s musical written by Wendy Wasserstein. He had several unproduced projects with Gelbart and one that reunited him with both Coleman and Gelbart. Cy Coleman died in 2004, and Larry Gelbart passed away recently, in September.

Ironically, for a musical about the movies, City of Angels has nothing to do with the 1998 movie of that title, starring Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan. That City of Angels was an Americanized version of the German film by Wim Wenders, Wings of Desire.

To further complicate matters in the best Hollywood tradition, a movie version of the musical City of Angels is “in development.”

CITY OF ANGELS

City of Angels features (left to right, top to bottom) Jamie Banister, Chris Hatcher, Ethan Heintz, Kelly Whitaker and Brandy Rose.

The New Season Cometh!

The 2009-2010 season at HSU begins with CITY OF ANGELS, the Tony Award-winning musical by Cy Coleman, Larry Gelbart and David Zippel. Once again, HSU Department of Theatre Film & Dance combines forces with the HSU Department of Music to present this vibrant and witty show on the Van Duzer Theatre stage. Rae Robison is the stage director, Elisabeth Harrington the musical director. It happens Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, October 22-24 and 29-31.

Next up is a first-look screening of a new feature film, THE MUSIC INSIDE, with script by Michael Van Wagenen, directed by HSU film professor David Scheerer. HSU faculty and students participated in creating scenes filmed at HSU and elsewhere around the North Coast. This will be the first time an audience sees this movie, and maybe the last time before it hits the film festival circuit. Screenings are just one weekend: November 13 and 14.

THE MARRIAGE OF BETTE AND BOO, an "achingly funny assault on the vanities, inanities and insanities of family life" by Christopher Durang, will be directed by Jody Sekas and performed in the Gist Hall Theatre December 3-5 and 10-12.

Second semester, in addition to the spring dance production (April-15-17), the Humboldt Film Festival (April 19-25) and the annual Ten Minute Play Festival (April 29-30, May 1; May 6-8), will feature two plays:

THE HOMECOMING, a classic drama by Harold Pinter, directed by John Heckel, will play the Studio Theatre stage on February 25-27 and March 4-6.

STEFANIE HERO, a fantasy by Mark Medoff, directed by Jyl Hewston, is performed in Gist Hall Theatre April 1-3 and 8-10.

11th Annual Ten Minute Play Festival: May 2009

TEN MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL: Previews

Update: In the Press: print editions of the Arcata Eye (4/29), North Coast Journal (4/30) and Eureka Times-Standard Northern Lights (4/30.)

On the Internet: at HSU Now (front page) (permalink story)

On the Radio: KHSU ARTWAVES with Wendy Butler: Tuesday 1:30 p.m. Listen Live Link.

YOU'LL LAUGH!

Mason Lev and April Kitty Grenot in Oatmeal Under the Elder Tree. (All photos by HSU Graphic Services. Click photo to enlarge.)

YOU'LL CRY!

Jonny Barrett and Patrick Croft in Te East London Coffee Sop.

YOU'LL QUAKE!

Claire Smith, Ethan Heintz and Brian Pike in Love Me, Love My Dog.

YOU'LL SHIVER!

Ken Klima and Amanda Sharp in Untitled Fit #9.

YOU'LL SWOON!

Calder Johnson and Kelly Whitaker in Double-Sided.

TEN MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL: Opens April 30!

Comedy! Drama! Romance! Fantasy! And ten minutes later another one! It’s the annual HSU Ten Minute Play Festival, on Thursdays through Saturdays, April 30-May 2, May 7-9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Gist Hall Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5/$3 students and seniors, with a limited number of free seats to HSU students for each performance, from the HSU Box Office in the campus bookstore (826-3928) or at the door.

TEN MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL: More Than Ever