Joe Leonardo will direct the concert staging, which features Hal Linden as Buddy Fiddler, Burke Moses as Stone, Marguerite MacIntyre (who played Mallory on Broadway) as Alaura/Carla, R.F. Daley as Stine, Barbara Passolt (who did the national tour) as Donna/Oolie and Tammy Tappan Damaino as Bobbi/Gabby.
Composer Cy Coleman, lyricist David Zippel and librettist Larry Gelbart will be in residence during the rehearsal and performance week.
"The McCallum Theatre generally does not produce shows," Mitchell Gershenfeld director of presentations and theatre operations, told Playbill On-Line. "Rather, we present shows that are on the road. However, a meeting with Larry Gelbart prompted me to produce this concert version of City of Angels."
The noirish musical comedy offers a split-stage look at a novelist writing a screenplay for a detective yarn (in color on one side the stage) and the action of the movie itself (in black and white on the other side the stage). When the worlds collide, creator (Stine) and created (detective Stone) sing "You're Nothing Without Me." The score also includes "With Every Breath I Take," "Everybody's Gotta Be Somewhere," Funny," "You Can Always Count On Me," "Stay With Me," "Double Talk," "What You Don't Know About Women," and more.
The show won the Best Musical Tony Award in 1990 (and Tonys for Gelbart, Coleman and Zippel) and ran nearly three years (879 performances). A London production and national tour were launched. Michael Blakemore was the original director. The concert director, Joe Leonardo, is known for regional stagings and recently directed the David Zippel revue, It's Better With a Band, for Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia. McCallum Theatre is at 73000 Fred Waring Drive in Palm Desert, CA. For ticket information, call toll-free (866) 889 2787, or visit www.mccallumtheatre.com.