@dramatistsguild @JoshGershick

A Dame, a Dick, an Audacious Place to Develop New Work

The “film noir comedy” Kill Me, Deadly, written by DG member Bill Robens and streaming now on Amazon Prime, iTunes and Direct TV (among other platforms), is a camp amalgam of Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man, The Big Sleep, Dead Reckoning and Mildred Pierce, et al—an homage to Chandler, Cain & Hammett, all played for laughs. It is a valentine to 1940s LA, a love note to hard-boiled detectives and the tough dames they love.

But what is most interesting is the film’s origin story: Written first as a simple Noir scene for a late-night pastiche at LA’s audacious 40-seat Theatre of Note in 2004, later expanded into two scenes for Roben’s zany compilation show A Fish without His Flippers, and finally emerging in 2009, as a full-fledged Theatre of Note production that Variety dubbed “hilarious and superb.”

But really, Kill Me, Deadly is the story of a can-do band of theatre artists, working on a shoestring to create fun, meaningful work. And it is the story of what can emerge from the launchpad of LA’s smaller stages with a good script, a little grit and a lot of moxie.

“I’ve done several plays at Theatre of Note; the people there are wonderful—such funny, talented people,” said Robens, whose sold-out play ran for three months and subsequently was published by Playscripts. “[When we closed] the cast met to decide what we were going to do next, and ultimately we thought, ‘wouldn’t it be great to do Kill Me, Deadly in black & white?’ We weren’t sure the material would translate to film, so we started small.”

Theatre of Note company member Kirsten Vangsness—who originated the role of femme fatale Mona Livingston on stage and reprised her in the film version—took point as the project’s executive producer, and the team shot two scenes at the storied Hollywood eatery, Musso & Frank’s. Robens et Cie then showed the footage to Joe Mantegna, who had seen the Theatre of Note production and loved it. Mantegna promptly signed on to play LA mobster Bugsy Siegel.

The cast and crew of Kill Me, Deadly—including director Darrett Sanders, who played tough-guy Louie Shorts in both the play and film—worked for nearly five years, shooting on location and on LA sound stages, pausing for months and years when the money ran low, and ultimately wrapping the picture with a Kickstarter campaign that raised nearly $227,000 from more than 4,000 people worldwide.

But even with the success of his movie, Robens said, it’s still more of a rush to see his work live.

“The stage is more exciting because there are so many things than can go wrong,” he said. “With film, there’s one thing that can go wrong: The projector malfunctions or the digital playback fails, in which case you’re completely screwed for the evening. But with a play, I’m more on a journey because it is going to be different every night. And if I’m watching one of my plays at a place that I don’t know, then I’m always filled with abject terror as it starts because I just do not know what to expect. It can be un-nerving.”

Kill Me, Deadly’s trajectory, said Robens, illustrates the unique ecology of LA’s theatre scene, an often actor-driven environment where new and unusual work routinely is cultivated.

“Theatre of Note is a home to me—a valuable institution for me and other writers,” he said. “It’s an absolutely crucial place where I feel safe—and safe to screw up. It’s always collaborative, and I’m comfortable with that collaboration because the people are so talented. They know what they’re doing, and they understand what we’re trying to accomplish. So when I do a play at Note, it’s me, the always-excellent directors and a bunch of really, really good actors who will help sculpt the script into what it’s going to become.”

jgershick@dramatistsguild.com

Kill Me, Deadly – Film Poster (2016, Opiate of the Masses Productions)

Siren Mona Livingston (Kirsten Vangsness) pleads with gumshoe Charlie Nickels (Dean Lemont) in the film version of Kill Me, Deadly.

Kill Me, Deadly – The Play: Dean Lemont (as gumshoe Charlie Nickels) and Lynn Odell (as his crack assistant, Ida) in Theatre of Note’s 2009 production of Bill Robens’ Kill Me, Deadly

Writer Bill Robens