As tonight is the opening night of The Color Purple here at Stanford, it seems
appropriate to take a look back at the recent Ram’s Head production of City of
Angels. Since my very limited experience with musical theatre leaves me somewhat
unqualified to write a proper review of City of Angels, I will simply share my
scattered thoughts and musings.

As an entirely student-run production, the musical was wonderful. It didn’t have
that extracurricular flavor to it; I could really tell that the production had become a
top priority for the students involved. City of Angels had hard work written all over
it, which is something I think everyone at Stanford appreciates.

My favorite number in the musical was “All Ya Have To Do Is Wait,” which featured
Munoz and three other characters. Almost every other musical number had
minimal choreography, so (as a biased dancer) I found myself wishing for more
dancing throughout the musical. “All Ya Have To Do Is Wait” gave me a taste of what
I felt was lacking in other parts of production. I recognize that this number was one
of the most upbeat pieces in the musical, but – having personally seen the director
Benno Rosenwald tear it up at the dance studio – I am confident that he would have
been beyond capable of injecting more dancing into some of the musical’s jazzy
tunes.

Speaking of jazz, I feel obliged to end my ramblings by shining the spotlight on the
orchestra’s fabulous work. Orchestras always seem to be underappreciated in
musical theater, but City of Angels’ orchestra sounded brilliant and professional;
there really isn’t anything like a live orchestra.

Well done, Ram’s Head. Well done.