Rehearsals are underway for the New York City Center Encores! revival of Wonderful Town, set to perform at the Manhattan venue April 30鈥揗ay 11 with Zhailon Levingston (Cats: "The Jellicle Ball") directing.
Watch Encores! music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell conduct The Encores! Orchestra in the video above as the 28 musicians perform portions of Leonard Bernstein's "Swing" and "Ohio." Says Campbell, "Bernstein's music really embodies the character of the city." The musical comedy is set in 1930s New York City.
As previously reported, Tony winner Anika Noni Rose (Caroline, Or Change) and Aisha Jackson (Frozen) will co-star as, respectively, Ruth and Eileen, two
sisters who move to Greenwich Village from Ohio to make their NYC
dreams come true.
The duo will be joined by Jimmy Ray Bennett as Officer Lonigan, Etai Benson as Frank Lippencott, Allison Blackwell as Mrs. Wade, DeWitt Fleming Jr. as Speedy Valenti, Jessie Hooker-Bailey as Helen, Javier Mu帽oz as Robert Baker, Fergie Phillippe as Wreck, John Rapson as Chick Clark, and Daniel Torres as Mr. Appopolous.
The ensemble will feature Jonathan Duvelson, David Foley Jr., Lindsay Roberts Greene, Marc Heitzman, Sarah Michele Lindsey, Kate Louissaint, Alicia Lundgren, Morgan Marcell, Robin Masella, Dario Natarelli, Michael Olaribigbe, Patricia Phillips, Ren茅e Reid, Samantha Siegel, Phumzile Sojola, Nicholas Ward, Jacob Keith Watson, Annaliese Wilbur, and Richard Riaz Yoder. Casting is by The Telsey Office's Bethany Knox.
With music by Bernstein, lyrics by Betty
Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Jerome Chodorov and Joseph A.
Fields (adapted from their play My Sister Eileen, itself
adapted from autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney), the 1953
musical includes such show-tune favorites as "Ohio," "One Hundred Easy
Ways," and "Wrong Note Rag." The show was last seen on Broadway in 2003,
a revival that also began in City Center's Encores! series, in 2000.
Levingston's creative team will include choreographer Lorin Latarro,
tap choreographer Ayodele Casel, scenic designer Teresa L. Williams, costume
designer Linda Cho, lighting designer Ben Stanton, and sound designer
Megumi Katayama.
Rose, a Tony winner for her performance in the original production of Caroline, Or Change, is perhaps best known as the voice of Princess Tiana in Disney's animated The Princess and the Frog. She was last on Broadway in Uncle Vanya and received a Tony nomination for her performance in A Raisin in the Sun.
The revival will see Jackson returning to City Center after starring as Linda in the venue's 2023 gala presentation of Pal Joey. She was most recently seen on Broadway in The Notebook, with her additional credits including Once Upon a One More Time, Paradise Square, Beautiful, Waitress, and Frozen.
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