City Center's 24-25 Season: Ragtime, Urinetown, LaChiusa's Wild Party, Love Life — Page 22

Well, this is a shame. I have my $30 ticket for the final performance, and there’s part of me that still might go because I’ve never seen a show at Encores, but I might be abandoning this to pick up a ticket to Dead Outlaw instead.

I have yet to see where they improved on the original presentation.

There was also Pal Joey which was LuPone's return to the NY stage after Sunset. City Center then did it in 2023. Not Encores per se but most people thought it was. The former was a perfect day in the theatre. The latter, not so much.

I guess count me in the minority here, but I really enjoyed this. I’d seen the musical about a decade ago in Chicago and fell in love with it, but the person I went with knew nothing of the show. We both walked out gushing about this.

Renée Reid was on for Ruth this evening and she was simply sensational—charming, funny, and a stunning voice. And she was completely off-book. Aisha Jackson was equally stellar and they were perfect foils for one another. The dancing was quite good with the tap moments and lifts being especially impressive. The best part was hearing this luscious Leonard Bernstein score with the 28-piece orchestra is simply unbeatable. The show is definitely not for everyone—it’s a little bit zany, off-kilter and episodic, but I find that to be the charm of the piece. I think it’s definitely worth a watch if you’re curious—maybe you’ll fall in love with this gem like I did.

i was there tonight too. and i will agree that Renee Reid did beautifully. We got an email saying Anika had a family emergency, and that Ms. Ried would be going on, which made me excited to see someone get such a scary opportunity, and she did not disappoint. A little creaky with some of the book, but totally confident and in wonderful voice. You'd think she and Aisha Jackson--also fantastic, the whole cast is-- are actual sisters.

But we left at intermission. I dont know how else to put this: the show is horrible. Not this production, the actual show/story- what was surely witty/interesting 50 yrs ago is miserable now. Yes, that Ohio number sounded lovely, the opening number was solid and the Conga was fun, but this story is impossible to connect with, and the characters impossible to care about. (The curtain came down on Aisha Jackson being walked off in handcuffs, and someone loudly said "what the " as the lights came up). Javier Munoz is reading a story about British people on safari while Aisha Jackson pretends to watch a lion maul someone, and you have to wonder if you're on LSD or if the actors are.

Im shocked that this worked in 2003, and sure maybe this production only exacerbates how unfunny and creepy the story is- but my god, I have never seen a show with one lead balloon missed joke after another. The first act was 90 minutes and it felt like many, many hours of horribly written jokes that either made no sense, or landed to awkwardly you had to wince. Seriously uncomfortable stuff. (Not to mention that the story turns on one sister being openly derided for being unattractive, while the other giggles her way through rampant sexual harassment? Lord help me.)

The mezzanine was empty- i mean, entire sections were empty. Audience reaction felt muted up there. Put all these talented actors--Aisha can sing anything, Etai Benson can sell any moment-- in almost any other show and I'd happily come back.

It is really a shame such a promising and exciting season landed with such a thud here. Encores desperately needs to find its footing again and become less focused on the brass ring of a Broadway transfer.

PipingHotPiccolo said: "i was there tonight too. and i will agree that Renee Reid did beautifully. We got an email saying Anika had a family emergency, and that Ms. Ried would be going on, which made me excited to see someone get such a scary opportunity, and she did not disappoint. A little creaky with some of the book, but totally confident and in wonderful voice. You'd think she and Aisha Jackson--also fantastic, the whole cast is-- are actual sisters.

But we left at intermission. I dont know how else to put this: the show is horrible. Not this production, the actual show/story- what was surely witty/interesting 50 yrs ago is miserable now. Yes, that Ohio number sounded lovely, the opening number was solidand the Conga was fun, but this story is impossible to connect with, and the characters impossible to care about. (The curtain came down on Aisha Jackson being walked off in handcuffs, and someone loudly said "what the " as the lights came up). Javier Munoz is reading a story about British people on safari while Aisha Jackson pretends to watch a lion maul someone, and you have to wonder if you're on LSD or if the actors are.

Im shocked that this worked in 2003, and sure maybe this production only exacerbates how unfunny and creepy the story is- but my god, I have never seen a show with one lead balloon missed joke after another. The first act was 90 minutes and it felt like many, many hours of horribly written jokes that either made no sense, or landed to awkwardly you had to wince. Seriously uncomfortable stuff. (Not to mention that the story turns on one sister being openly derided for being unattractive, while the other giggles her way through rampant sexual harassment? Lord help me.)

The mezzanine was empty- i mean, entire sections were empty. Audience reaction felt muted up there. Put all these talented actors--Aisha can sing anything, Etai Benson can sell any moment-- inalmost any other show and I'd happily come back."

While the show has flaws it is better than you give it credit for. The problems you cite are all on the director of this production. A really good production — which the Kathleen Marshall version was — felt very sturdy and was funny and fun. Plus it had Donna Murphy giving a master class (and Jennifer Westdfelt — I didn’t see Laura Benanti — was terrific as well).

Tuesday night seems well-sold (or well-papered) but the rest of the week is wide open.

We were there last night and this show (and maybe just this whole Encores season) was not for us. We didn't leave at intermission or anything.

Anika Noni Rose went up on a lyric in "One Hundred Easy Ways", and asked the conductor to go back, but it was actually pretty funny. Less funny, I thought was that she was clearly still using the script almost the entire time. Aisha Jackson was using her script as well, into the second act. I realize that there's a short rehearsal period, but this is the middle of the second week of performances.

I did think Javier Munoz was incredible, and well worth the evening.

Like I said, this whole season was pretty much a miss for me. Looking forward to new leadership next season.

Kind of fascinating how Encores has done multiple productions in the past few years that could and should be studied as “ways to absolutely ruin a musical”. I just don’t know how you can make “Wonderful Town” SO BORING and so lifeless. And I say this as someone who ends his nightly prayers with “and please bring Anika back to the stage”.

Updated On: 5/9/25 at 09:25 AM

Jordan Catalano said: "Kind of fascinating how Encores has done multipleproductions in the past few years that could and should be studied as “ways to absolutely ruin a musical”. I just don’t know how you can make “Wonderful Town” SO BORINGand so lifeless. And I say this as someone who ends his nightly prayers with “and pleasebring Anika back to the stage”."



Encores has just had a lot of mission drift in the last several years. I just don’t think their production model is conducive to either reimagining of material or presenting something that is always transfer-ready.

quizking101 said: "kdogg36 said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Was this director supposed to direct The Wild Party as well?"

I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe (without looking anything up) thatThe Wild Partywas to bedirected bySaheem Ali, who had a timing conflict due toGoddessat the Public."

This is correct.

Zhailon was brought on board as a last minute replacement director and the choice (per my source at City Center)was actually between WONDERFUL TOWN and WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. However, there werelogistical issues for the latter, and so NYCC went with the former. As I understand it, it was all very hastily arranged because of the fallout and so that is likely one contributing factor to its middling reception."

This makes sense as a choice then tbh. A redo of a show they've already successfully done vs a last minute half ass of a "new" (for them) show which was certainly going to come with a lot more expectation as a certain generation of people have been waiting for a VERGE revival of some sort since the day it closed lol.

What doesn't make sense to me is Wonderful Town with a new director. I obviously want to see Black directors working but wouldn't it have made more sense to restage Kathleen Marshall's take given the limited time?

Ke3 said:

“What doesn't make sense to me is Wonderful Town with a new director. I obviously want to see Black directors working but wouldn't it have made more sense to restage Kathleen Marshall's take given the limited time?"

So…restage an ENTIRE fully-realized Broadway production from 20 years ago in a matter of 2-3 weeks at best? Notwithstanding the fact that the elements of that production (set design, choreo, orchestrations) would cost additional money to use since it’s proprietary to the artist.