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Sharp script and a versatile cast add color to Lyric’s noir-ish ‘City of Angels’

From left: Ed Hoopman and Meghan LaFlam in “City of Angels.”Mark S. Howard

As Act 1 of the film noir-inspired "City of Angels'' draws to a close, a showdown erupts between an aggrieved screenwriter and his creation, a fictional private eye who objects to the writer's choices.

In a moment Pirandello might have savored — once someone had explained film noir to him, that is — the scribe and the gumshoe launch into a duet during which each fiercely declares, in the words of the song title, "You're Nothing Without Me.''

The scene distills the essence of the concept underlying this clever but uneven musical, now at Lyric Stage Company of Boston under the energetic direction of Spiro Veloudos.

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A key strength is the script by the great Larry Gelbart (television's "M*A*S*H"), which is a tangy delight, full of throwaway witticisms and structured as a play-within-a-play — or, rather, a film-within-a-play. In keeping with noir conventions, the plot of "City of Angels'' is a convoluted one, though not as byzantine as, say, "The Big Sleep.''

In this tale of a novelist adapting his own book into a screenplay in the Los Angeles of the late 1940s, Gelbart landed some well-aimed punches on everyone's favorite target, Hollywood, while providing glimpses into the vexations of a writer's life — in this case, a protagonist who talks back to his creator.

Still, it's a bit hard to understand why "City of Angels,'' which premiered on Broadway in 1989, won a Tony Award for best musical. Cy Coleman's score only intermittently sparkles — it's seldom a match for his compositions for "On the Twentieth Century,'' now on Broadway in a sensational revival starring Kristin Chenoweth — and David Zippel's lyrics are sometimes witty but not consistently inspired.

Phil Tayler delivers a capable performance as Stine, the novelist-turned screenwriter, forced to cope with a vain and meddlesome producer-director played by J.T. Turner. But the three best reasons to see "City of Angels'' are named Ed Hoopman, Leigh Barrett, and Jennifer Ellis. When any member of this trio is center stage, the production crackles with life; when they're not, the wattage dims perceptibly.

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The versatile Hoopman, whose previous roles at Lyric Stage have ranged from the poet Robert Lowell in "Dear Elizabeth'' to Groucho Marx in "Animal Crackers,'' excels as Stone, the fictional gumshoe. As with many a good noir, Stone's troubles begin when a glamorous woman (played by Samantha Richert) materializes in his office with an assignment as mysterious as she is. During that encounter and the ensuing escapades, Hoopman conveys the requisite world-weariness while proving skilled at slinging hard-boiled one-liners.

Barrett, that consummate pro, once again delivers the goods, doubling as Oolie, Stone's tough-shelled but tender-hearted secretary, and as Donna, secretary to the producer. Barrett plays Oolie as a kind of Thelma Ritter with sex appeal. I know, the very concept is enough to make your head explode, but Barrett pulls it off, especially in her sultry-yet-rueful performance of "You Can Always Count on Me.''

And then there's Ellis, a rising star whose talents have shone through mediocre material in Stoneham Theatre's "The Secret Garden'' and SpeakEasy Stage Company's "Far From Heaven.'' Her star rises a bit more in "City of Angels,'' where she brings an aura of pathos to Bobbi, Stone's troubled ex-wife, and Gabby, Stine's progressively more estranged wife.

Ellis is equally persuasive in her performance of "It Needs Work,'' Gabby's biting dismissal of a lame cover story offered by Stine, her two-timing hubby, and in Bobbi's heartbroken "Every Breath I Take.''

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The action of "City of Angels'' takes place on a handsome set by Matt Whiton that is dominated by two large platforms located upstage. A desk sits on each platform: One is Stine's, and features a typewriter on which he is forever clacking away; the other is the producer's, and features several phones but no typewriter. Want to guess which one of them ends up with the top writing credit on the screenplay?


Don Aucoin can be reached at aucoin@globe.com.