Los Angeles, that sparkling, sunny city, is known as much for its grit as its glitz. There are gunshots and gangs, seismic rumblings and smog, not to mention the harrowing realities of parking. This darkness contrasts with the bright lights and sunshine, rendering the city in chiaroscuro. This makes it a perfect setting for film noir, with its sooty imagery and shady characters. City of Angels is a musical comedy that makes light of this dark genre – it uses the film noir style to tell the story of a detective novel writer named Stine who lives in '40s Hollywood. We watch the "real life" protagonist, Stine, (in "color") as he develops his novel for the screen, and we watch Stone, his hardboiled detective protagonist (in "black-and-white").
April, 24 and 26, $10, 7:30 p.m., Williston Theatre, Williston Northampton School, 18 Payson Ave., Easthampton, (413) 529-3434.
