With the uncanny instinct of pirates producers Barry and Fran Weissler, and Roger Berlind, once again lifted a gem, as they did “Chicago”, almost intact from City Center’s Encores! Series three years ago, keeping its director and choreographer, Kathleen Marshall and its musical director, Rob Fisher, in addition to its star.

What keeps this vehicle timeless is its setting, musical theater’s ongoing love affair with New York City, and its theme, which it shares in odd juxtaposition with its neighboring new Broadway musical, Avenue Q, the angst of newcomers surviving the Big Apple, but the times certainly are different. In the days when Musical Comedy meant just that, no tears are shed in this tender tale, by writers Joseph Fields & Jerome Chodorov, based on their play, “My Sister Eileen”, of two sisters, hicks from Ohio, who arrive in town with big dreams and small budgets. Ruth, the older more serious sister, is fighting sexism in her job search as a writer, while her younger sister, Ruth, is just fighting sex, that is, the advances of all the young men she meets.

They land in a cellar apartment in Greenwich Village formerly occupied and suddenly vacated by a hooker, whose “clients” keep showing up. The rent is paid in advance to their wily landlord (David Margulies) before they hear the barrage of bombastic blasts from the subway underneath the apartment, and they are, naturally, broke (ah the days when that was not dangerous). The unwed couple upstairs, Wreck (Raymond McLoed) a former football player and Helen (Nancy Anderson) practically move in trying to hide from her disapproving mother (Randy Danson).

The crusty Ruth wisecracks her way through her stress at not getting published, the winning winsome Eileen is groped at every audition but is gladly protected, fed, entertained, mostly fed, by a never ending series of swains, the smitten drugstore soda jerk, Frank (Peter Benson), the local cops, Italian waiters, the scheming reporter Chick (Michael McGrath) who leads Ruth to his editor (Gregg Edelman). Eileen gets the attention but, in the end, Ruth gets the leading man.

“Wonderful Town” is generally perceived as the natural follow up to the successful “On The Town”, which featured Comden/Green/Bernstein in their 1944 Broadway debut, since they are both valentines to New York City. But it wasn’t until just 5 weeks before rehearsals were to begin that Betty Comden and Adolph Green took over from LeRoy Anderson and Arnold Horwitt, who were in dispute with the show’s writers.

Because of his focus on writing serious music, the influence of Bernstein’ s favorites, Copeland and Stravinsky, is evident in the syncopation and discordant jazz (“Wrong Note Rag”) in the versatile score but it is his humor, in happy conjunction with the cleverness of Comden & Green, which buoys this unique score. The mildly western “Ohio” is the wail of the frightened girls, “Christopher Street” a neighborhood songs about tourists and natives, “Pass that Football” Wreck’s nostalgic ode to his past, “What a Waste” a journalist’s lament, “My Darlin’ Eileen” a love song from a chorus of friendly cops. Two of Broadway’s funniest songs include “Conversation piece” the marvelous comic scene when conversation gets static punctuated bombastic musical chords which underscore the tension as verbal forays drastically bomb, and “One Hundred Ways (To Lose A Man”, Ruth’s run down on her equally disastrous love life. But let us not forget the love ballads which range emotionally from the simple and touching ”A Quiet Girl” to the tentative “A Little Bit in Love” to the flat out declaration “ Its Love”.

The odd jobs Ruth takes provide a clever opportunity for the score to include “Swing” and the aforementioned “Wrong Note Rag”. They also provide Ms. Murphy the opportunity to flex her comedic muscles. Having already established herself in musical tragedy by winning a Tony in Stephen Sondheim's "Passion" and the dignified "King and I", as the talented but awkward writer, Ruth Sherwood, Murphy’s comic genius combines the mugging capabilities of her illustrious predecessor, Rosalind Russell, with an equally agile voice, and an athletic body as exhibited in the hilarious “ Conga” with a Las Vegas chorus of Argentinean sailors. Ms. Murphy traverses assorted styles without ever breaking character. As her winning winsome sister, Eileen, Jennifer Westfeldt (Co-writer, co-producer and lead in the film “Kissing Jessica Stein”) is not quite as young and irresistible as the role implies. Nor does the somewhat stolid Gregg Edelman have that sexy, nuanced demeanor of a leading man. Michael McGrath, however, is perfectly sleazy and conniving as the hard boiled reporter.

By retaining Encores! tradition of an onstage orchestra Ms. Marshall’s staging and choreography is relegated to stage front and John Lee Beatty’s sets are somewhat one dimensional, but Martin Pakledinaz’ colorful period costumes and Peter Kaczordowski’s lighting add to the New York flavor. A little tidbit: many of the orchestrations credited to Don Walker were " ghosted" by Sid Ramin, Robert Ginzler, and Irwin Kostal.

A musical that ends with the entire cast exultantly singing “Its Love!” ends on a high note indeed…and that’s Wonderful!

Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200.