Broadway Stars Thrill L.A. Audiences in "City of Angels"--Don't Miss It!

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 2:46pm

City of Angels has opened in L.A., presented by Reprise! at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. So far Variety seems to be the only publication to review it, giving it an out and out rave. Scroll down for the review.
The cast is filled with Broadway and West Coast talent!
It's a must see!

Stephen Bogardus as Stine
Burke Moses as Stone
Vicki Lewis as Donna/Oolie
Tami Tappan Damiano as Gabby/Bobbi
Alli Mauzey as Mallory/Avril
Kevin Earley as Jimmy,
Daniel Guzman as Munoz
Marguerite McIntyre as Alaura/Carla
Michael Lerner as Buddy
along with Stephen Briethaupt, Randy Brenner, Eric Leviton, Wes Ramsey, Teresa Marie Sanchez, Brent Schindele, Joe Souza, Herschel Sparber, Anne Fraser Thomas, and Freyda Thomas.

What a cast!!! They've even got lead actors in supporting and ensemble roles.
Kevin Earley had the lead in Applause and starred on Broadway in Thoroughly Modern Millie
Wes Ramsey was one of the stars of the gay indie hit Latter Days.
Brett Schindele recently starred in The Musical of Musicals The Musical in Laguna Beach.
Joe Souza is fantastic in Bark (the Musical)
Just to name a few of the big names in small roles.

And Tami Tappan Damiano keeps scoring one great show after another. This fits right between her star turn in The Grand Tour, and the upcoming Never Gonna Dance, in Long Beach. This woman is unstoppable!

By the way, Vicki Lewis (of News Radio) is an amazing singer, if you didn't already know.


Directed by Joe Leonardo, with choreography by Kay Cole, the show will run January 24-February 5 at U.C.L.A.'s Freud Playhouse.

www.reprise.org
Updated On: 1/29/06 at 02:46 PM

[Danielm]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 6:22pm

Very excited! I wasn't that excited when they announced the season, but this is a great cast. I love the score of this show. Also, this time I won't have to sit through one of Marsha Seligman's (is that the right name) speeches.

[justme2]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 7:26pm

I see Herschel Sparber is reprising his role of "big thug". Borgadus will be great, no doubt. Plus, he's already tackled this role before. I am curious to see Vicki Lewis as Donna/Oolie as well. She's definitely got the brass and sass for the role.

Exciting news for us West Coasters!

[Danielm]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 7:50pm

Vicki Lewis did one of the songs at the Reprise night at the Ford Theatre this summer and she was great (one of the few great moments in a stultifying evening).

[lite2shine]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 1:21am

Yay for Kevin! I saw him as Enjorlas on the tour ages ago. I'll be looking forward to seeing the show!

[Sheri]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 1:28am

Thanks for posting this, Steven!! I was waiting for the announcement!

Updated On: 12/22/05 at 01:28 AM

[Sheri]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 1:36am

Sorry, I was so excited about the casting announcement that I forgot to mention that I'd seen Burke Moses, Tami, and Kevin in those roles before (three years ago in Palm Desert) and they were fabulous! Great cast!

Updated On: 12/22/05 at 01:36 AM

[lite2shine]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 1:37am

Now have they announced L5Y concert casting, besides JRB? Who will be Cathy? Lauren is out because she'll be Spamalot. I can't wait to see the concert version.

[justme2]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 1:53am

I am just thrilled that anyone is working with, IMO, is one of Cy Coleman's best scores.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 2:13am

I also wonder who will be the leading lady in TL5Y. I actually emailed Jason Robert Brown suggesting that he cast Tami as Kathy and he responded that he agreed with me about how wonderful she is, but that she had other committments, and he assured me that I'd be pleased with their choice (but not a hint as to who that might be). Any guesses?

Back to City of Angels, I didn't know that several of the cast did it in Palm Desert a few years back.

And yes Vicki was a scene stealer at the Reprise concert, though I didn't find any of it "stultifying." In fact, I loved (almost) every minute of it (with an especially fond memory of Tami singing Popular, from Wicked).

L.A. people have an exciting City of Angels to look forward to (plus Jason Robert Brown starring as (almost) himself in TL5Y on Monday January 30th!

[Sheri]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 2:18am

Back to City of Angels, I didn't know that several of the cast did it in Palm Desert a few years back.

It was at the McCallum Theatre in 2002 (I believe). R.F. Daley was Stine, Hal Linden was Buddy... Great production. I'm very excited about this.

Updated On: 12/22/05 at 02:18 AM

[lite2shine]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 2:39am

> she had other committments,

You got that right, it would be too much to ask Tami to be in L5Y AND City of Angels.

I didn't know Palm Desert has a theatre. I thought it's a golf community!

[Sheri]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 2:57am

You got that right, it would be too much to ask Tami to be in L5Y AND City of Angels.

Very true! Though Tami did play Queenie in The Wild Party, which was on a Monday when she was still playing Sarah Brown in Guys & Dolls... Admittedly, Cathy is a MUCH bigger role than Queenie (with MUCH more singing!) but I've always thought Tami was incredible and would've loved to have seen her in L5Y...

I'm really looking forward to seeing both shows. :)

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 11:41am

So I'll be seeing you at least for TL5Y! I got my ticket early because this is one I want to be up close for! What else are you planning on seeing?

[noahrp3]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 11:52am

Wasn't Marguerite McIntyre in the original broadway production of City of Angels?

[Sheri]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 12:13pm

I got my ticket early because this is one I want to be up close for!

Bought my tickets for L5Y in November when I found out I wanted to be in LA for City of Angels :)... Too bad all the good seats were sold. We're sitting a little far back, but at the Freud, it's fine. I remember seeing 1776 there once from the last row!

What else are you planning on seeing?

Just Diva at Pasadena Playhouse, City of Angels and Last 5 Years so far. I'm waiting to see if any more of my favorites will be cast in anything while we're in town. :)

[lite2shine]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 12:34pm

Sheri, I didn't know you'll see L5Y too, yay! We can see each other (if we don't hook up in NYC ! I got the ticket right after it was on sale, so I'm sitting pretty close to the stage I think. I haven't gotten City of Angels ticket yet. I'm hoping for goldstar event

[Sheri]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 12:46pm

Yay! I'll finally get to meet you! Hopefully we'll see you before then in NYC too!

Hopefully more City of Angels performances will appear on Goldstar - right now only shows for the 24th and 29th (evening) are offered (and the 29th is already sold out).

http://www.goldstarevents.com/events/browse/90013/event/6347.html

[decotodd]

Posted: 1/26/06 at 8:04pm

Caught the show last night - fantastic! You won't be disappointed - as pointed out above, the whole cast is stellar, with luxury casting in supporting roles. That's one of the great things about Reprise - since it's only a 2 week run and the exposure is great, they are able to get wonderful talent.

Looking forward to LAST 5 YEARS, which I understand is sold out.

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 1/26/06 at 8:14pm

I wish I could see this...I saw Bogardus on tour with this...He was amazing!

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 1/26/06 at 9:12pm

Saw it last night. Except for minor quibbles, I had a great time. The cast is uniformly wonderful and the orchestra swings! I definitely recommend it.

I'm still trying to find ONE ticket to L5Y with JRB. I will gladly pay up to $120 per ticket at this point. I'm desperate. If anybody wants to SCALP me a ticket, I'll buy it. Please help.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/26/06 at 10:05pm

I saw Alli Mauzey in the original company of the Hairspray tour. I happened to catch the first time she went on as Penny Pingleton. She was great!

[mallardo]

Posted: 1/27/06 at 10:43am

To answer a question posed above, yes, Marguerite MacIntyre was in the original Broadway production of City of Angels as Mallory/Avril. I presume she either understudied or followed Rachel York in the role.

[decotodd]

Posted: 1/27/06 at 12:57pm

There's a rave review in today's Variety:

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117929369?categoryid=33&cs=1

[mallardo]

Posted: 1/27/06 at 4:14pm

I certainly agree with the Variety reviewer but the chief pleasure for me was that fabulous on-stage orchestra having a ball with Coleman's amazing jazz score. I've seen a few productions of City of Angels but I've never heard it PLAYED like this. Sheer bliss!