City Center's 24-25 Season: Ragtime, Urinetown, LaChiusa's Wild Party, Love Life- Page 21

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 12:20pm

Saw this last night as well with almost 0 knowledge of Wonderful Town and overall liked it.  I thought there were some great numbers and I loved a lot of the dance sequences, and I really enjoyed Anika Noni Rose and Aisha Jackson together.

It does seem like an Encores show where the actors were least prepared, so many people had scripts in hand (and they didn't even try to disguise them like they have in other productions), but I was kind of impressed at how tuned in their acting was even while glancing down at a script, and I think part of it was that I just found all of the performers rather winning and charismatic.  Though interesting to hear Eileen usually has more depth--I was surprised to see her billed as a co-lead as her role felt almost like set dressing to me, especially in the first act.

I think some of the storytelling could have been more clear--I agree the apartment was hard to visualize, and I really wasn't sure what was happening for Conga (Wikipedia says they all end up back in Greenwich Village while I thought Eileen and co. had come to Brooklyn to find Ruth), which led to a lot of confusion for me about how Eileen had gotten arrested.

I can see how a tighter show and sharper comedy would have made the show shine more but it wasn't something I had thought about while watching it.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 12:29pm

I’ve been seeing reports on Facebook which line up with many on here, one of the choicest being “They should have stayed in Ohio.”

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:46pm

2 star review from Steven Suskin: https://nystagereview.com/2025/05/01/wonderful-town-bernstein-comden-green-musical-in-not-so-wonderful-revival/

It's funny he mentions the orchestra off the bat because I actually thought the brass in particular sounded weak during the overture (thin sound and a few flubbed notes that thankfully didn't carry over to the entr'acte)

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 5:45pm

Not sold on Zhailon Levingston as director.  It's the biggest issue with Wonderful Town.  At his best, Table 17, had GREAT actors (who were already coupled in real life with chemistry) but the staging wasn't terribly thought out.

 CATS: The Jellicle Ball was a co-direction -- and primarily directed by Bill Rauch (AD at the Perelman) who has years of experience directing shows and many successful Broadway shows and Artistic leadership.

Wonderful Town is half baked, under thought and lacking solid strong performances with some great vocals (the best part).  Agree with previous poster in  it feels the least rehearsed and solid of the Encores shows.  As bad as the redone version of The Life was (poorly directed by Billy Porter), this feels the same somehow. Livingston doesn't seem to have the vision for this one.

Really looking forward to hearing about the new Artistic leadership for Encores and their 24-26 season announcement. 

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 05:45 PM

[Ensemble1698878795]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 5:52pm

CoffeeBreak said: "Not sold on Zhailon Levingston as director. It's the biggest issuewith Wonderful Town. At his best, Table 17, had GREAT actors (who were already coupled in real life with chemistry) but the staging wasn't as fluid or particularly thought out.

CATS: The Jellicle Ball was a co-direction -- and primarilydirected by Bill Rauch (AD at the Perelman) who has YEARS of experience directing shows and many successful Broadway shows and Artistic leadership. As we understand it Livingston was the Assistant with good billing.

Chicken & Biscuits transferred to Broadway from a tiny production in Queens as theaters were searching for productions just out of the pandemic. The night we saw it there were 75 people in Circle in the Square all in masks. It was average with a cute enough script.

Wonderful Town feels, once again, half baked, under thought and lacking solid strong performances with some great vocals (the best part). Agree with previous poster in it feels the least rehearsed and solid of the Encores shows. As bad as the redone version of The Life was (poorly directed by Billy Porter), this feels the same somehow. Livingston doesn't seem to have the vision or experience for prime time.

Really looking forward to hearing about the new Artistic leadership for Encores and their 24-26 season announcement."

Do you get personal enjoyment from coming on here and posting such thorough disdain? You’ve made this an entire personality and usually share these kinds of sentiments when it comes to work by POC. Even with a hit like Cats, you still try and discredit his entire resume. 

Babe, you need a life. And not don’t say: “oh we just didn’t like.” Blah blah blah. You have a vendetta and it’s glaringly obvious. I would love to see anything you direct, but it feels like your most incredible credits are coming on here and belittling people who actually work in the industry. Jesus Christ!  We get it. You hate everything that isn’t your taste. It’s Tony day. Can’t ya take a breath? 

[always bway]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 5:59pm

Saw it last night. Anika is so woefully miscast and both she and Aisha are clearly undirected, wandering around the stage during scenes and not landing any jokes. The black and white set design concept was drab and confusing. The Swing dance was wowza! Those dancers were amazing. The sexy nightclub dance sequence was stunning.The score is wonderful and the orchestra sounds great. The ensemble is the reason to see it. They shine in the dance numbers and in character songs like What A Waste and Darling Eileen. Fergie Phillippe who plays The Wreck is also a delight, and Javier Munoz has really grown into a leading man. 

 

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 05:59 PM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 6:19pm

Sounds like The Life 2.0

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 6:22pm

The balcony looked about 25% full last night.

[OceansJenny]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 6:57pm

TotallyEffed said: "The balcony looked about 25% full last night."

I have the same seat every show (balcony) and it’s definitely the most empty I’ve experienced (joined 2019).

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 06:57 PM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 7:11pm

Probably gonna be much less full after these initial reactions. The reviews are deadly. 

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 07:11 PM

[toetapper2]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 7:46pm

Directing a musical comedy like Wonderful Town does require someone with more than a modicum of experience in tackling this particular art form. Just because you've got a drivers license doesn't mean you should be handed the keys to a formula 1 race car.

[Ensemble1698878795]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 8:06pm

toetapper2 said: "Directing a musical comedy like Wonderful Town does require someone with more than a modicum of experience in tackling this particular art form. Just because you've got a drivers license doesn't mean you should be handed the keys to a formula 1 race car."

Totally agree! 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 10:13pm

Do you get personal enjoyment from coming on here and postingsuch thorough disdain? You’ve made this an entire personality and usually share these kinds of sentiments when it comes to work by POC. Even with a hit like Cats, you still try and discredit his entire resume.
 

Hilarious.  It has nothing to do with POC - but I see that's how you like to discredit our opinion.  We LOVED Jelly's Last Jam at Encores created by a FANTASTIC director we follow around town, and company. Purpose was one of our favorite plays this season and Jacob-Jenkins is brilliant. etc etc.  Good is good. This just was not it --  Again, an opinion - and I am hoping their next project is a massive hit we love.  No one wins them all - and the reviews coming out agree on this one.

 

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 10:13 PM

[Ensemble1698878795]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 10:29pm

CoffeeBreak said: "Do you get personal enjoyment from coming on here and postingsuch thorough disdain? You’ve made this an entire personality and usually share these kinds of sentiments when it comes to work by POC. Even with a hit like Cats, you still try and discredit his entire resume.


Hilarious. It has nothing to do with POC- but I see that's how you like to discredit our opinion. We LOVED Jelly's Last Jam at Encores created by a FANTASTIC director we follow around town, and company. Purpose was one of our favorite plays this season and Jacob-Jenkins is brilliant. etc etc. Good is good. This just was not it -- Again, an opinion - and I am hoping their next project is a massive hit we love. No one wins them all - and the reviews coming out agree on this one.

You can say you don't like his work, but your three paragraph dissertation to try and discredit/ question his artistry is in poor taste. When he's nominated for a Tony next year for Cats I wonder how you'll spin that as a failure too. Wonderful Town may be bad, I've heard it isn't good. But let's stay on topic. 

 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 10:32pm

Sure, Jan.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 10:32pm

CoffeeBreak said: "Really looking forward to hearing about the new Artistic leadership for Encores"

I might be misreading you, but if you're hoping for an announcement of a new Encores AD, that's not happening: Jenny Gersten (Lear D's boss for the past several years) was already announced to be overseeing Encores as part of her City Center "Musical Theatre VP" role, and Mary-Mitchell Campbell is staying on as Music Director.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 10:39pm

oh!  Thank you - news to us. Looking forward to what shows are on the way next season with Wild Party.

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 10:39 PM

[Huss417]

Posted: 5/2/25 at 1:04pm

CoffeeBreak said: "oh! Thank you - news to us. Looking forward to what shows are on the way next season with Wild Party."

We shouldn't have to wait much longer as it usually is right after the final show of the season is finished. 

[Mark Waltz]

Posted: 5/2/25 at 3:52pm

I got a message that Anika is not performing the Sunday evening performance and I could get a credit through Today Tix for another performance or towards my account for another show. With the reviews, I thought for a minute of getting the credit, but then said I'm never going to hear this score live in a theater again and just decided to go anyway. I saw Donna on Broadway, and of course the Roz TV production, but I would love to go back in time to the 60's when City Center did two week runs of shows and had Nancy Walker, Kaye Ballard and Elaine Stritch in this role, or maybe the 1965 with Eve Arden in the valley in SoCal or 1975 with Nanette Fabray.

Someone up thread mentioned Leslie Uggams as a should have been Ruth, and she would have been perfect, probably like she was as Mrs. Sally Adams in "Call Me Madam" at Papermill. I'm figuring I enjoyed Love Life so maybe I'll enjoy this production in spite of the documented weaknesses. The thing about Ruth is that she underestimates how attractive she is, and ultimately, I think she's a better catch than her sister because she may be formidable, but she's not shrewish or domineering, just in control of her own life, and regardless of when this is set, that makes her fascinating. She's the type of woman who would be a buddy as well as a lover to whoever she's with, and that makes her more desirable as a life partner. That's why I've always loved this show because it's a great part, and you don't have to be a typical leading lady to play it. Wondering if anybody saw the tour with Lauren Bacall.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/2/25 at 3:59pm

toetapper2 said: "Directing a musical comedy like Wonderful Town does require someone with more than a modicum of experience in tackling this particular art form. Just because you've got a drivers license doesn't mean you should be handed the keys to a formula 1 race car."

Thank you! I thought I was hallucinating when I saw this the other night. It was SO terrible in EVERY possible way. Huge miss which is a shame since I love this show. 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/2/25 at 5:12pm

Sutton Ross said: "toetapper2 said: "Directing a musical comedy like Wonderful Town does require someone with more than a modicum of experience in tackling this particular art form. Just because you've got a drivers license doesn't mean you should be handed the keys to a formula 1 race car."

Thank you! I thought I was hallucinatingwhen I saw this the other night. It was SO terrible in EVERY possible way. Huge miss which is a shame since I love this show."

"The choral work is up to the high house standards. But except when it dances, the staging, by Zhailon Levingston, is shaggy and leaden and fatally lacking in laughs." - NYTimes
They should've called Bill Rauch in for this one too.

Updated On: 5/2/25 at 05:12 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 12:05am

Woof.

This is a star vehicle musical comedy, yet the star did not deliver and the comedy wasn’t there.

I started wishing halfway through that this production had Aubrey Plaza or Renee Goldsberry or Ayo Edebiri or Kara Young or Bonnie Milligan…and a severely cut down & sharpened book. Heck, I’d have preferred Anika as Eileen and Aisha as Ruth. Or maybe the director was the big problem and Anika would be ok with another person at the helm, she’s ideal casting on paper. 

I have always subtextually viewed Ruth as a lesbian, which could have been another 2025 angle to explore by the right director and star. 

Some directors are not made for a 2-week rehearsal process, and some directors cannot elevate middling material. This might not be in Zhailon’s wheelhouse. 

Given how terribly this and LOVE LIFE sold, I fear we might not see relatively obscure 40s-60s musicals at Encores anytime soon…

Updated On: 5/3/25 at 12:05 AM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 1:38am

The NY Times review

Review: In ‘Wonderful Town,’ a Party for Writers and Weirdos

An awkward Encores! revival of the 1953 musical celebrates the bohemian life of Greenwich Village in the years when oddballs could still afford to live there.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/theater/wonderful-town-review-encores.html

"though his feel-good update is more easily accommodated than you might expect, it does not itself make “Wonderful Town” wonderful. Rose’s way with a throwaway line, and Jackson’s delightful bubbliness are too often undercut by pictorial vagueness and weird-pause pacing that leave you wondering what’s happening and whether the next thing will ever arrive. Even when the sisters dig into the haunting harmonies of Bernstein’s “Ohio” with palpable longing for an easier if emptier life, the weirder-than-usual sound design makes it seem like they’re singing about a home on Mars, not in the Midwest.

I won’t take you through the painful details. In any case, what’s most painful is something large: the way the presentational deficits of the production reveal the underlying material to be ickier than I’d imagined. Its satirical portrait of Ruth’s ambition to be a writer — her stories, read aloud and performed as vignettes, are deliberately terrible — feels merely meanspirited now; its entirely flippant treatment of the wolfishness of the men attracted to Eileen steps over the border of sexual harassment."

[Melissa25]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 4:37am

Gesundheit.

[Stagestrucklad2]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 6:54am

Jesse Green‘s review was, if anything, kind. I thought the choreography was not great, and this was the first “Conga” I’ve ever seen that was not a showstopper. Billy Porter’s THE LIFE still holds the record as Encores’ worst production, but I thought this WONDERFUL TOWN was among the bottom five. And I’ve seen every Encores show.