The Tony-winning City of Angels opened Dec. 11, 1989, and ran on Broadway for 879 performances at the Virginia (now August Wilson) Theatre. The musical weaves two plots: the real world of a writer turning his book into a screenplay and the fictional world of the film he is writing about. The musical is an homage to 1940s Hollywood film noir, with the real world scenes in full-color and the fictional scenes in black-and-white. Most of the cast (with the exception of those playing Stine and Stone) doubles as characters in both worlds.
The creative team was Larry Gelbart (book), Cy Coleman (music, vocal arrangements), David Zippel (lyrics), Michael Blakemore (direction), Walter Painter (musical staging), Billy Byers (orchestrations), Yaron Gershovsky (vocal arrangements), Gordon Lowry Harrell (music direction), Robin Wagner (sets), Florence Klotz (costumes), Paul Gallo (lights), Peter Fitzgerald and Bernard Fox (sound), Steve Atha and Patrik D. Moreton (hair), BH Barry (fight direction).
The cast included Gregg Edelman (Stine), James Naughton (Stone), René Auberjonois (Buddy), Randy Graff (Oolie / Donna), Dee Hoty (Alaura), and Kay McClelland (Bobbi / Gabby) with Peter Davis (Angel City 4), Shawn Elliott (Munoz), Tom Galantich (Officer Pasco), James Hindman (Mahoney), Gary Kahn (Angel City 4), Amy Jane London (Angel City 4), Alvin Lum (Yamato), Jackie Presti (Angel City 4), Scott Waara (Jimmy), and Rachel York (Mallory). Below is the Broadway cast at the 1990 Tony Awards.
The production was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, winning for musical, book (Gelbart), score (Coleman & Zippel), actor (Naughton), featured actress (Graff), and sets (Wagner). The cast recording was nominated for best musical theater album but lost to Les Misérables. The 1993 London premiere won the Olivier Award for best new musical, and the 2014 West End return won the Olivier for best musical revival. The show has not yet received a Broadway revival nor a film adaptation.