Press Releases

October 29, 2001
Life Infiltrates Art: "City of Angels" Is a Screenwriter's Daring Escape

Southampton Players Go High Tech; Present a Movie Within a Play

Contact:
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Gangsters. Corrupt cops. A mysterious, alluring woman enters with a risky proposition for a hard-luck PI.

A popular detective writer's life starts imitating his art in the clever spoof "City of Angels," as presented by The Southampton Players Fridays through Sundays at 8 p.m., November 2-18, in the Avram Theater.

Tickets are $15 general admissions/$10 students and seniors. For further information, contact the Southampton Players box office at 631-287-8480.

With a set that resembles a 1940s gangster film, highlighted by a full-sized movie screen that segues between the world of writer Stine (Robert Meehan) and his fictional hero Stone (Tegue DeLeon), The Southampton Players take on their most challenging project yet.

With 25 cast members, most of whom play dual roles of people in Stine's and Stone's worlds, an onstage jazz-singing quintet accompanied by the Big Band East and scenes that alternate between black and white and color, this isn't your typical musical.

In "City of Angels," almost every character bounces back and forth between fiction and reality, but eventually the two worlds become more and more intertwined. "There are even two endings, a surprise ending and a Hollywood ending," said director Michael Disher, whose daring big-band musicals of recent years ("Anything Goes," "Guys & Dolls," "The 1940s Radio Hour") regularly attract standing-room-only crowds.

"City of Angels" is led by Meehan, a Sag Harbor actor whose EmCee role in The Players? summer production of "Cabaret" stole the show. While Stine's own life is in shambles, his alter ego Stone, played by longtime Players favorite DeLeon, gets into even more trouble.

"They are perfect in these roles," Disher said. "Robert is a director's delight, a consummate professional. Tegue has starred in our other musicals and really understands 1940s machismo."

Both characters have a weakness for women. While Stine's wife Gabby (talented soprano Lauren Bazinet) tells the writer to stick to his stories, Stone hasn't gotten over his love affair with low-rent lounge singer Bobbi (Bazinet's alter ego).

Stine's assistant Donna is the model for Stone's Oolie, a secretary with a heart of gold. Both characters are played by Players newcomer Aura Granieri. Alaura Kingsley, the stylish vixen who asks Stone to find her missing stepdaughter, also has an alter ego: She is going to be played by Carla Haywood in Stine's movie. The duo is played by Players veteran Anne Esguerra, who, Disher said, "is a powerhouse performer with a commanding presence on stage."

The centerpiece movie screen is actually a huge, high-tech, backlit computer display that not only introduces scenes from the era, but also reproduces Stine's typewritten dialogue.

Best known for their rollicking musicals with large casts and elaborate sets, the burgeoning Players become one of Eastern Long Island's most popular troupes in recent years, attracting some of the area's top community actors, who share their skills with Southampton College's wealth of younger talent in its theater program.

"We've developed a loyal audience because we keep growing as a troupe and taking on daring works," Disher said. "We put it all out there, and stage important plays that people usually haven't seen before."

The Broadway version of "City of Angels," with music by Cy Coleman ("Barnum," "Will Rogers Follies"), lyrics by David Zippel ("Mulan") and book by Larry Gelbart ("MASH"), won six Tony Awards and ran for 878 performances.