City of Angels – reviews of 'dazzling' noir musical revival

What you need to know

A revival of noir comedy musical City of Angels has opened at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Josie Rourke directs the show with book by Larry Gelbart (MASH, Tootsie), score by Cy Coleman, and lyrics from David Zippel.

A homage to 1940s noir, the story weaves together the plot of a New York writer trying to turn his detective novel into a screenplay in Hollywood, and the fictional world of his script, which begins to encroach on his life. Runs until 7 February.

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What the critics like

City of Angels, given "a stupendous revival by Josie Rourke", is bitterly amusing about the treacherous LA movie industry but is far more than a one-note satire, says Dominic Cavendish in the Daily Telegraph. It's also a homage to 1940s noir that reminds you of the glories of crime-writing and cinema and the possibilities of the musical.

Rourke's dazzling revival of this "jazzy, delectably tart take on film noir and Tinseltown hacks" is a miracle of coordination, says Paul Taylor in The Independent. If Raymond Chandler had collaborated with Luigi Pirandello, it would have looked a lot like this diabolically clever, wise-cracking pastiche

It has one of the wittiest books ever written, boasts an effervescent score and here gets "as slick and svelte a production" as you could wish for, says Michael Billington in The Guardian. Gelbart's phenomenally clever, split-level play is packed with jokes and could exist on its own without the music.

What they don't like

At first it seems like "one of those adventurous, dazzling, but emotionally shallow shows that prods nicely at the brain but sidelines the soul", says Dominic Maxwell in The Times. But a scintillating second half seasons the super-smart exercises in style with just enough emotional content.