The Lethbridge production of the Broadway musical City of Angels was a masterpiece. The performance was accompanied by the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra, marking the musical theatre’s final show with the orchestra after a 15-year fundraising partnership.
College communication arts instructor George Gallant starred as Stine, a mystery novel writer.
The show follows Stine as he is pushed by a pretentious director to change the plot of his novel, City of Angels, to prepare it for the big screen.
Gallant says playing the part of Stine was fun, calling the character “a bit of an ass.”
“The show was about the progression of his change,” says Gallant. “When your values are challenged you have to make changes to get to your core values. That is what Stine had to do.”
Gallant has been involved in musical theatre for 25 years. He says it was the music that attracted him to this performance.
“The symphony with this show is just incredible and because I sing with a big band already, that style of music is what I like to do,”
Another college instructor, Tony Deys starred in the show as well. Deys played to part of Stone; a fictitious private eye, which Stine creates for his novel City of Angels.
Gallant says working with Deys, a fellow colleague and friend was great.
“This is Tony’s first big lead and so it was fun to work with him just because of the energy and enthusiasm he brings in. He’s a really good strong actor.
The show was multi-layered, portraying the two different worlds of the writer and movie set and the characters in the story itself.
The symphony orchestra did an electrifying job of bringing the entire two-hour performance to life.
The actors did an incredible job with their battling duets, freeze-framed poses and well-choreographed fight scenes.
The show was directed by Fran Rude, who purchased the script for City of Angels in New York City. She shared the script with musical director Ken Rogers and after eight years of hard work this performance came to be.
After 12 collaborative shows between the two directors, this show marked the final curtain call. What an extraordinary performance to take a final bow on together.