The bulletin board is rather large in size, perhaps the largest in the Creative Arts building. Despite its size, there isn’t much empty space left on it.

The large, cork board is filled with cast lists, rehearsal schedules, contact information and so forth. Just below the center of the board, a single sheet of white paper with large black lettering reads, “City of Angels rehearses in McKenna Theatre Tonight.”

The organized yet chaotic looking bulletin board is a fairly accurate representation of the production process of the theatre arts department’s musical, “City of Angels,” set to debut at 8 p.m. on May 2 in McKenna Theatre.

While the cast and crew have mainly found the process an enjoyable one, they also concur that it wasn’t without its problems.

“It’s been described as a ‘marathon of a musical,’” said Talia Derry, who plays the female lead roles of Oolie and Donna. Derry shares her roles with Rachael Halladay-Sullivan, a senior majoring in theatre arts and dance.

“City of Angels,” which stage manager Asia Leads has described as “film noir meets musical theater,” revolves around a writer, Stine, who is adapting his novel into a screenplay.

“The award-winning Broadway musical takes place in two worlds—Stine’s 1940s Hollywood and inside his movie,” Sullivan explained.

In the play’s production, however, working with such a large crew can create room for problems, according to crew members.

“We have nudity, smoking, guns, 41 different scenes and 25 actors,” Leads said of the entire production consisting of more than 70 people.

For the actors, their hard work began at the onset of auditions in November 2007.

“The auditioning process took quite some time,” Derry said. “Everyone, at first, had to audition privately for the director and musical directors, and then, if called back, audition right alongside all of the people that were up for the same role.”

“The auditions...were a really long process. For me the singing [was] by far the biggest challenge,” Sullivan said.

When rehearsals began in January the real hard work began, according to Sullivan, who said rehearsals were long and demanding.

“The rehearsal schedule has been quite hectic, especially as we grow closer to the performance. We were often rehearsing in three or more spaces at once because there was so much to do,” Sullivan said.

None, however, have likely had it harder than the stage manager. Leads is responsible for all aspects of the show, she said, from scheduling and running rehearsals, to keeping track of what still needs to be done and facilitating communication between cast and crews.

“It’s frustrating when the schedule is constantly changing,” Nevaraz said.

Keeping everyone on the same page has been the biggest and most ongoing challenge Leads added.

To see how the involved process of this production turned into a play, catch “City of Angels” in McKenna Theatre on May 2 and 3 and May 8 through May 10 at 8 p.m. and May 11 at 2 p.m.