Sex and bare thighs? This must be a winter term musical.
The clatter of character shoes on plywood had a familiar ring in Wilder Main this weekend, the most popular space on campus for student-directed winter term musicals, and a space that City of Angels director senior Lev Rosen knows well. Rosen opened his fifth show at Oberlin in black and silver pinstripe tails and a smirk. “Please turn all cell phones to vibrate,” he instructed.
The audience didn’t need any more titillation than the City’s jazz. Its catchy, clichéd camp vibrated and shimmered up and down Hollywood and Vine and was enough to keep a full house happy for over two hours.
The show was not hindered by heavy directorial concepts. Rosen and assistant director/choreographer, senior Rachel Sass, kept their creative tasks simple and to the point. It was clear in every detail of the show that all involved were having a fantastic time.
The dialogue was swamped by the music in the cavernous hall, the recorded sound was scratchy, the stage fight crude and the angels ardently earthly. There was chaos and there were faulty notes, missed steps and timing. In the dark the audience hoped the rickety set wouldn’t topple over, but the players revelled in their own unpolished ostentation and the audience loved celebrating along with them. (And it isn’t simply because Wilder Main provides a warm haven in the midst of the blizzarding plains of Northern Ohio.)
City of Angels had talent, energy and magic in unexpected places. The chorus of extras was particularly detailed. With a cast of almost 30 actors, each person had a moment or two to shine and each did so with a generous delight that was the perfect invitation to go home singing and smiling.
If the production was lacking in polish, it made up for it in charm. The show itself was smart and quick and the hip Cy Coleman jazz kept the pace, energetically tapping and crooning.
The largest challenge was in the form: the action of the show switches back and forth between the “real” world of Stine and Gabby and the film noir world of Stine’s screenplay. Almost all of the actors play roles in both worlds: their roles in the film reflected their roles in Stine’s life.
All players demonstrated a firm grasp on the very specific qualities of the film noir genre. The characters had sharp retorts and turns of phrase and the women were always turning heads.
The cast clearly benefited from having all of winter term to research and rehearse.
The set also benefited from having a long prep time. Triangular rotating flats turned scenery into film stills and blue lights transformed the actors from the “real” world into stars of the silver screen. The use of the blue lights worked to bring the audience into the world of noir, albeit limiting the visibility of the actor’s hardworking faces. It did, however, serve to make the moments of “reality” all that much more detailed and effective, drawing us into the “real” lives of Stine and Gabby.
The use of a filmic rewind is raw creativity at it’s best– a device that kept the audience laughing and guessing. And there are more surprises, twists and turns. “This plot has got a lot of déjà vu in it,” said one character in reference to Stine’s film. It is true of the play as well.
At many moments, self-reflexive irony kept the audience questioning the very clichés we were enjoying.
One of the most interesting issues that the play touched on was the political atmosphere of Hollywood in the 1940s, and the pressure screenwriters were under to remain “un-political” and morally “clean.”
Wilder Main. Fri. and Sat. at 7:30pm. $3 for advance general admission, $4 at the door.