Wonderful Town (New York City Center Encores!)

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In 2000, Kathleen Marshall’s ebullient revival of Wonderful Town—featuring a radiant Donna Murphy—proved to be a buoyant highlight in City Center’s musical theater canon and marked only their second foray onto Broadway where it moved in 2003. How quaint that now seems, in an era when Encores! transfers are practically expected. Marshall’s production shimmered with just the right blend of mid-century optimism and knowing wit, honoring the crackling score by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green while gently teasing its more dated affectations. It remains, in memory, an effervescent joy.

Fast-forward to 2025, and City Center has once again turned to this dependable crowd-pleaser, reportedly as a last-minute substitute for Michael John LaChiusa’s Wild Party. The choice makes logistical sense: Wonderful Town offers hummable tunes and a quirky, heartfelt book by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov. But under the direction of Zhailon Levingston—whose past work includes Table 17 and the vogue-infused Cats: The Jellicle Ball—this new iteration stumbles. Lacking Marshall’s instinct for the show’s fine balance between earnestness and irony, Levingston’s staging never quite finds its rhythm, veering too far into knowing kitsch and losing the tender charm that once made Wonderful Town feel, well, wonderful.

Casting the radiant Anika Noni Rose and the vocally luminous Aisha Jackson as the wide-eyed Ohio sisters venturing into Depression-era New York is a bold and welcome departure from tradition—one that hints at fresh narrative layers for this mid-century musical chestnut. But boldness in casting begs for boldness in storytelling. Instead, this Wonderful Town glances at the implications of race with a single throwaway line—Daniel Torres’s landlord, the budding Rembrandt, Mr. Appopoulos mutters, “I don’t care if your tan never goes away”—then retreats into the safety of period nostalgia.

The moment registers as both self-conscious and insufficient. In a 2025 staging, casting two Black women in these roles offers a real opportunity to deepen the show’s stakes: imagine what their artistic ambitions might look like when filtered through the very real racial barriers of 1930s Manhattan. Yet the production sidesteps this completely, choosing not to engage with the tensions it gestures toward. The result is an update that gestures toward progressiveness without committing to it—raising questions it has no intention of answering.

Thankfully there are great performances throughout, starting with the exceptional 28-piece orchestra led by music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell. Like much of Comden and Green’s signature work, Wonderful Town floats on a buoyant charm that wears its frivolity like a badge of honor—light as air, yet crafted with a clockmaker’s precision. The musical follows Ruth and Eileen Sherwood, a pair of endearingly mismatched sisters freshly arrived in 1930s Manhattan from Ohio.  Where Jackson exudes effortless sparkle as the starry-eyed actress Eileen, Rose brings a crisp, deadpan wit to the tightly wound aspiring writer Ruth. As editor Robert Baker—played with understated charm by Javier Muñoz—gently observes, her prose lacks authenticity. Muñoz’s warm and touching performances of “A Quiet Girl” and duetting with Jackson on “It’s Love” are vocal highlights of the show.

Their plunge into Greenwich Village bohemia unspools as a series of comic capers, populated by an ensemble of swiftly drawn oddballs: a faded football hero with a broken dream and louder sweaters (the charming Fergie Philippe), a lovesick drugstore clerk (a hilariously elastic Etai Benson) mooning over Eileen, and his competition, an unsavory newspaper man (a totally slimy John Rapson), in addition to a rotating cast of eccentric locals who breeze through the sisters’ basement apartment like human punchlines. The plot isn’t so much propelled as it is happily derailed by one farcical misadventure after another—a disastrous dinner party, an impromptu interview with Brazilian sailors that erupts into a jubilant conga line. It’s all deliciously silly, but delivered with the kind of showbiz finesse that makes silliness feel like a form of grace.

Jackson radiates charm with every step, finding a blend of naiveté and smarts in Eileen’s interactions with men. She’s pure energy—effortlessly magnetic. Vocally, she’s pure honey in “A Little Bit in Love.” In contrast, Rose offers a far more introspective take on Ruth, folding the character inward rather than playing her for laughs. Her rendition of “One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man” leans into quiet heartbreak more than sharp wit—a bold, intriguing choice that deepens the character but sometimes clashes with the script’s broader comedic beats. That tension is especially noticeable in the second act, when Ruth is suddenly called upon to belt a goofy, surreal jingle for the Village Vortex jazz club—a tonal pivot that’s harder to reconcile with Rose’s thoughtful interpretation.

Still, Rose and Jackson find their truest harmony—literally and emotionally—in “Ohio,” Bernstein’s most tender melody in a score that’s otherwise filled with fizz and sparkle. Their duet is gorgeously sung, with rich harmonies that hint at a lifetime of sisterhood. In that single song, full of yearning and resilience, you feel the whole weight of their past and the fragile hope of their future. The basement apartment may be a dump, but when they sing together, it feels like the sun’s coming up on the West Side.

It’s the ensemble that often shoulders the show’s liveliest moments, injecting much-needed verve into Wonderful Town. Under the dual choreographic vision of Lorin Latarro and Ayodele Casel, the stage comes alive with an exuberant collision of Latarro’s Broadway flair, swing rhythms, and classical ballet, punctuated by Casel’s irresistible tap numbers. The result is a kinetic mosaic—sometimes chaotic, often thrilling—especially when these styles burst forth all at once. It’s in these riotous, full-throttle sequences that the production truly finds its pulse, from the opening “Christopher Street,” straight through to the final “Wrong Note Rag.”

Linda Cho’s costumes lean into a shadowy palette offering black, white and gray for the bulk of the cast (yellow pom poms and red accents for ladies’ hats appear briefly) opening up to vibrant colors for the two lead females only, while Teresa L. Williams offers a minimalist set that rarely distracts, but also rarely delights. Lighting designer Ben Stanton provides strong support, especially with a moody red wash for the night club scene in the second act although overall visually, the production can feel subdued, even austere.

The mercurial shifts in tone—comic, romantic, and wistful—are carried effortlessly by Bernstein’s dazzling score, a kaleidoscope of jazz, swing, and lyrical balladry, and by Comden and Green’s sparklingly clever lyrics. The genius of the material shines through, undimmed by an uneven staging; it’s theatrical proof that great music and sharp writing are remarkably resilient.

Wonderful Town (through May 11, 2025)

New York City Center Encores!

New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.NYCityCenter.org

Running time: two hours and 35 minutes including one intermission