Performing Arts teens travel back to a simpler time in a demanding stage production

The Huntington Beach High School Academy for the Performing Arts will travel back to the 1940s in its upcoming production, “City of Angels.”

The six-time Tony Award-winning musical comedy, which opens Friday, follows the story of Stine, who encounters a series of mishaps as he attempts to turn his latest novel into a screenplay. For one thing, his marriage crumbles.

At the same time, Stine’s detective character, in a spoof of noir crime films, is seen in that cinematic black-and-white style through lighting techniques as he finds new romances but still longs for the one who got away.

In essence, it’s a movie with two plots: the real world of the writer and the celluloid world of the fictional film.

Tim Nelson, director of the show, said he wanted the APA students to perform this show because of the music and vocals that it requires.

“It’s one of those shows that includes that crooning 1940s style of singing and really intricate five- and six-part harmonies,” he said.

Nelson said he believes the 60-member cast of high school students is up to the challenge.

APA performed songs from the 1940s last year during a holiday show, and that’s when Nelson realized the group’s potential for “City of Angels.”

“The students were so good in that holiday show and sounded so good in the style,” he said. “Our orchestra this year is also really strong in jazz, so I thought this would be perfect. Not a lot of people perform ‘City of Angels,’ and I think that’s because of the really heavy jazz element that’s in it.

“You have to have strong singers, a strong orchestra and tech, which is what we have here. It felt like the perfect marriage of everything.”

Technical skills are needed, for instance, for the light sequences that make certain scenes black and white. These can be tricky. And the set includes a two-story mansion that the students have been building for the past month.

The 2015-16 season also boasts the largest number of musical theater students at APA since Nelson joined the team 20 years ago.

When he first started at the school, the program had 35 students. This year, the group topped out at 150.

“There’s so much talent this year,” he said. “There are a lot of them who sing a lot, so this was a really great chance to show off many of them.”

Nelson, who has presented “Miss Saigon” and other more demanding productions at APA, said he likes to give his students a taste of what they will experience in professional theaters.

While “City of Angels” doesn’t tackle war, murder or prostitution, as “Miss Saigon” does, it requires “a mature theater sense and voice,” Nelson said.

“One of the reasons we do shows that we know the kids can handle is because our school is a professional training ground,” he said. “It’s important that they learn these more challenging roles and vocals. That’s not to say that some of the tried-and-true shows aren’t great — like ‘Hello, Dolly!’ which we did a few years ago — but you can always bring new things to it too.”

Nelson said “City of Angels” is a play the entire family can enjoy.

“It’s just like an old 1940s film like ‘Casablanca,’ ” he said. “It’s similar to that style but it’s all musical, and it has some of the most beautiful music from a long time come out of it. The adults will walk away taking one thing from it, while the kids will take something different.”

If You Go

What: “City of Angels”

Where: Huntington Beach Union High School District Auditorium, 1905 Main St.

When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 25

Cost: $22 for adults; $16 for students and seniors

Information: hbapa.org