Wonderful Town is a 1953 musical with book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Leonard Bernstein. The musical tells the story of two sisters who aspire to be a writer and actress respectively, seeking success from their basement apartment in New York City's Greenwich Village. It is based on Fields and Chodorov's 1940 play My Sister Eileen, which in turn originated from autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney first published in The New Yorker in the late 1930s and later published in book form as My Sister Eileen. Only the last two stories in McKenney's book were used, and they were heavily modified.
After a pre-Broadway try-out at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia, Wonderful Town premiered on Broadway in 1953, starring Rosalind Russell in the role of Ruth Sherwood, Edie Adams as Eileen Sherwood, and George Gaynes as Robert Baker. It won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actress, and spawned three New York City Center productions between 1958 and 1966, the 1955 and 1986 West End production and 2003 Broadway revival. It is a lighter piece than Bernstein's later works, West Side Story and Candide, but none of the songs have become as popular.
After a pre-Broadway try-out at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia, Wonderful Town premiered on Broadway in 1953, starring Rosalind Russell in the role of Ruth Sherwood, Edie Adams as Eileen Sherwood, and George Gaynes as Robert Baker. It won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actress, and spawned three New York City Center productions between 1958 and 1966, the 1955 and 1986 West End production and 2003 Broadway revival. It is a lighter piece than Bernstein's later works, West Side Story and Candide, but none of the songs have become as popular.
Full-Length Musical, Comedy
Book by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov
(Based upon the play My Sister Eileen by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov and the stories by Ruth McKenney)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Based on the hit play and film My Sister Eileen, Wonderful Town tells the comical and heartwarming story of two Midwestern sisters, newly arrived in New York.
(Based upon the play My Sister Eileen by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov and the stories by Ruth McKenney)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Based on the hit play and film My Sister Eileen, Wonderful Town tells the comical and heartwarming story of two Midwestern sisters, newly arrived in New York.
