The Arrival of Angels

With Cy Coleman, Larry Gelbart. David Zippel’s multiple Tony Award winning musical City Of Angels opening at Melbourne’s Art Centre on Thursday, Coral Drouyn managed to catch up with actor and co-Producer Troy Sussman for an enthusiastic chat.

It seems inconceivable that City Of Angels hasn’t had a professional production in Australia until now. Perhaps the “Powers that be” didn’t think our audiences were fans of  “Film Noir”, or would relate to the combination of reality and “Reelity” in a show about an author adapting his book as a film, and the two parallel worlds he lives in while working. But those are precisely the reasons I’ve wanted to see this show since it stormed Broadway in 1989. Add to that a moody jazz score from the great Cy Coleman (with David Zippel’s lyrics) and a book by the brilliant Larry Gelbart (if you’re responsible for writing Tootsie AND M.A.S.H – they’re just two highlights – you really don’t need to explain yourself) and this is on the must-see list for so many of us who love musical theatre, even without counting the 6 Tony Awards and 9 Drama Desk Awards it won.

In Melbourne we are blessed, but also spoiled for choice, with so many Indie companies willing to take chances that the major players won’t risk. The Life Like Company staged Stephen Sondheim’s Passion last year and some people called it a vanity project. Troy Sussman, one of the partners in Life Like Company, has a different viewpoint.

“We’d prefer to think of it as a “Passion” project (forgive the pun.),” he tells me. “When we started the company the Mission Statement was always to produce musicals that other companies, for whatever reason, wouldn’t do. It isn’t about bums on seats, or long runs, or even breaking even, though of course we hope we will. It’s about doing those shows which, if we didn’t have the company, we’d be saying ‘I wish someone would stage this.’

It’s because the company has such a strong and successful touring presence in children’s entertainment, holding the stage rights to such international icons as Barney (who wouldn’t love a purple Dinosaur?), Scooby Doo for heaven’s sake take elocution lessons Scooby) and Peppa Pig (can we ever eat bacon again?), that we get to see the more eclectic and far riskier productions like City of Angels.

The three Directors of the company – Troy, Anton Berezin, and Theresa Borg – have known each other since schooldays and are single minded in their love for musical theatre. Troy’s father is a Jewish Cantor, but he didn’t limit his singing to the synagogue.

“My first memory of any theatre is of standing in the wings on stage watching Dad rehearse for a community theatre production. I think I was hooked instantly.”

By the time he was six, Troy was himself on stage as one of the lost boys in Peter Pan, and before he reached his teens he was on the main stage as the Artful Dodger in Oliver!, so his answer to my stock question “what role is at the top of your Bucket list” wasn’t surprising.

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to play Fagin,” he tells me. “And yes, part of it is being Jewish, as was Lionel Bart, and there’s all those marvellous minor chords at work, but there’s also a melancholy about the character, you can’t help wondering what he might have become if he’d had the right breaks. I’ve been lucky in my life, but Fagin managed to turn adversity into a winning game. Yes, he’s a crook – but he’s a survivor too.”

Troy isn’t the lead in City of Angels, but he doesn’t mind one bit given the quality of the cast.

“It really is one of the most astonishing casts ever for an Australian production,” he marvels. “And every single one of them, including myself, auditioned. We just all wanted so badly to be part of this show. Amanda has had the Broadway cast recording for years but she, like most of us, never thought we’d see a professional production here.”

When you have Amanda Harrison, Kane Alexander, Anne Wood, Rohan Browne, Chelsea Plumley, Melissa Langton and Adam Fiorentino alongside Troy and fellow producer Anton Berezin, you know you are in for SERIOUSLY great performances, even without the wonderful Kellie Dickerson as Musical Director and Martin Croft directing, with choreography by Kelly Aykers.

The Bad News is that it’s only for FOUR performances November 5^th – 8^th, so if you haven’t got your tickets you are really going to have to get moving. Chances are there will never be another professional production here. The Good News is that we get to see this gem at all. Let’s all be grateful for that.

Images: top image of cast members by Colin Page Photography, lower image, Troy Sussman.