A Note from the Director

Bringing Film Noir to the Stage

The noir detective genre did not start on screen. The most famous noir films of the 1940s; The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity, among others, were adaptations of novels from such authors as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. And noir’s reach continued to grow, from comics (Batman is likely the best known noir detective) to video games (Rockstar’s “L.A. Noire” for modern gaming consoles).

Yet noir is most closely associated with movies because that medium has the widest reach, having enveloped many Hollywood big-draw actors. Over decades, film noir expanded its own scope, spawning several popular subgenres such as neo-noir (e.g., Polanski’s, Chinatown) and tech-noir (e.g., Scott’s, Blade Runner). It has ballooned so large that likely some of your favorite movies feature noir elements of which you might not be aware.

Classic film noir of the 1940s is the most distinctive due to its striking visual style. Black and white filmmaking of that era paired well with the gritty, nihilistic themes of the movies, with its dim lighting and high-contrast shots. Low angles, wide angles, and dutch (skewed) angles were also frequently used. Movies often moved through numerous settings. All this keeps the viewer onedge, never quite comfortable or sure where the next scene will take them.

In bringing film noir to the stage with City of Angels, I tried to incorporate these characteristic filmmaking techniques. The musical’s black and white scenes are part of the script, but anything more is up to the specific director. To accommodate the many scenes, our set primarily utilizes modules that are frequently in motion. A challenge was to create unique locations that would still allow each scene to flow into the next. Certain set pieces are abstract, rotating and rolling between the foreground and the background, arranged and rearranged in different shapes intended to simulate film noir’s offsetting dutch angles.

Additionally, we’ve used the large dimensions of Shannondell’s stage to replicate film noir’s notable wide shots and height differentials. Film noir characters fit in a hierarchical structure; the playing field is never level, and the protagonists are typically near the bottom. However, their struggle to come out on top against unfair odds is what makes them so engaging. So we worked to showcase this visually on stage.

I believe film noir is an honest genre. While many of its characters are liars and cheats, it presents an honest view of the world and the people populating it: the good, the bad, and the really ugly. In putting on City of Angels, I felt it important to present its characters in true form. Many rehearsals were spent discussing what makes the characters “real.” It would be easy to fall into caricatures, especially with such a witty script, but we worked to make the humor a by product of a character’s layered personality, as opposed to a mere wink and a nod to the audience. The comedy lies in the truth (feeble pun intended).

Whether we succeeded with these goals is for you to consider. City of Angels is among the most difficult musicals I’ve directed, if not the most, for many reasons that likely will be clear as you watch. It’s also one of my favorite musicals, again for reasons that hopefully will be clear as you watch. The process has been as rewarding as it’s been challenging. Thanks for coming; I hope you find it as enjoyable as I.

Paul Recupero Director