City of Angels - The ending

[everythingISpossible]

Posted: 10/2/15 at 9:47pm

I’m going to be directing a regional production of City of Angels this winter and I wanted to see if anyone out there had some answers to my questions on the ending.

 

First of all, I love the show. I think it’s smart, hilarious, and has a great score. But the ending feels so inept and thrown together. To me, it reads like a half baked idea in a first draft. It makes me wonder if the original Broadway production (which I know didn’t have an out of town tryout) was in previews and the powers that be decided they needed a new ending. Is it possible that coming up against opening night and very little time to put in new material, they threw this ending together and wished for the best? Because I cannot fathom that the current ending was the one they had original planned on using. But then again it doesn’t appear that anything was changed for the West End production or the national tour, so maybe everyone is just fine with the ending the way it is and I need to get over it.

 

Anyways, if anyone has any thoughts or stories about the ending I’d love to hear it. Especially if you saw the original Broadway production in previews and have any information to offer that I might be missing.

Updated On: 10/2/15 at 09:47 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/2/15 at 10:01pm

I don't honestly remember how the plot is resolved in CITY. I remember the leading men and one of the women reprising "You're Nothing Without Me", but I don't know how they got there.

 

But look at the endings of GUYS AND DOLLS; KISS ME, KATE; and a lot of other musical comedies. Many of them seem pretty arbitrary.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 10/3/15 at 4:59am

I saw the original production on Broadway but not in previews. I saw it when Tom Wopat took over in the role of "Stone". I agree the "Hollywood ending" was not really that great but it makes sense in the time period of "City Of Angels" where all movies had a happy ending.

[n12]

Posted: 10/3/15 at 10:06am

in the recent Domnar production, the ending was exactly the same, except Gabby didn't sing with them, she came on and looked at Stine as he sang to her, leaving it feeling far more realistic that there was hope for their relationship than Gabby just coming straight back to him. Worked wonderfully IMO and it always throws me listening to the obc when gabby starts to sing as i think it works far better.

[everythingISpossible]

Posted: 10/5/15 at 2:55pm

Thanks for the responses. If anyone else has any insight (especially if you saw City of Angels in previews on Broadway or even better if you read a first draft of the show) I would love for you to share your thoughts.

 

n12 – The Donmar ending sounds interesting (and less forced than on Broadway). I wish they had released more footage from their production. The clips I’ve seen look great and the reviews were pretty fantastic.