Wonderful Town

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 11/19/03 at 9:03am

I saw the show last night and thought it was fabulous. Donna Murphy was excellent (gave me some nice memories of playing Ruth myself in high school) and gave a wonderful performance, though she looks frighteningly gaunt at times. Jennifer Westfeldt is a lovely Eileen, and though her voice isn't the greatest thing ever, she is still extremely likeable. Gregg Edelman must take me home with him. Wonderful Town is not to be missed!

[MusicMan]

Posted: 11/19/03 at 9:17am

I saw it last night as well. An excellent production. However, I feel the comic energy needs to be juiced up a bit in Act One. Some of the one-liners and Murphy's One Hundred Ways to Lose a Man didn't get the laughs they deserve. Perhaps the company was tired. Ms. Marshall needs to rally the troops and remind them they're in an old-fashioned musical comedy and sell it!

[WOSQ]

Posted: 11/19/03 at 11:46am

There's no news like nice news about a show.

Donna Murphy quite possibly looks gaunt because she has had the killer flu for over a week. That will take it out of you.

As for Mr. Edelman going home with anyone, you may have to speak with Mrs. Edelman (a/k/a Carolee Carmello) about that....

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 11/19/03 at 12:45pm

She's the only thing keeping me from attacking him I think she's too fabulous to steal her hubby from her. Did I phrase that correctly? heh... Updated On: 11/19/03 at 12:45 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/19/03 at 5:50pm

MusicMan: Since I'm not seeing WT since mid-Dec, I was hoping you'd elaborate a bit. I've enjoyed your strong POV on other shows, and would love to hear more of them re this show, about which I know next to nothing. Saw the City Opera production 10 years ago (?) which made zero impression. This week, I've been listening to the Sony studio recording from 58, which is great aside from the bizarre (bad day?) singing of Sydney Chaplin. It's not a score I grew up listening to; now, every hearing reveals (by today's standards?) levels of sophistication. I'm not jazz or swing-savy, but Bernstein's use those motifs really makes it feel time/place specific. And listening to Russell, so wry and sharp-tongued, I see how "dark" (Brantley) Murphy might be right on. The role can't tolerate even a whiff of anything precious. I see why, once the City Opera production lost Tyne Daly, it lost its center.

Updated On: 11/19/03 at 05:50 PM

[skingdom]

Posted: 11/19/03 at 7:50pm

Music Man, what did you think of te Into the Woods revival?

[MusicMan]

Posted: 11/19/03 at 8:51pm

Skingdom, I didn't see the recent revival of ITW. But,I must confess, I'm not a fan of the show. I find it extemely gnarly and dubious as an entertainment and a lesser Sondheim effort across the boards. Give me Sondheim's middle period (1970-80) any day of the week. Since Sondheim has nothing to prove to anyone but himself, I can still appreciate the master's continual efforts to expand his horizons even if they fail as audience-pleasers. I do feel, however, his determination not to be commonplace prevents him from communicating in universal ways. And, let's face it, if you can't communicate in show business, you're not in business.
Auggie, Bernstein is my lodestar as audience member and writer so I'm happy to elaborate on WT. I didn't see the City Opera revival but by all accounts (coincidentally regaled to me last night during intermission at WT), it stunk. Needless to say, the score bears many of the signatures of Lenny's pen: syncopation, tritones, lyricism, dissonance, jazz, pure animal energy. As I understand it, one of the reasons LB wanted to write the show (which, by the way, he did in some ridiculously short amount of time, something like 6 weeks or something, replacing Leroy Anderson as composer) because it took place during the musically vibrant time of the 1940's. Personally, I find ON THE TOWN, WEST SIDE STORY and even 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE more consistently interesting musically (I am a trained musician) but there are still many felicities in the score, particularly CHRISTOPHER ST, WRONG NOTE RAG, CONVERSATION PIECE and the incredibly infectious, CONGA!
I was surprised last night to realize how old-fashioned WT is for a mid-1950's musical. I mean, the action stops and people come down stage center and sing! When ANNIE GET YOUR GUN was already considered a throwback in the mid-1940's, I have to conclude the "moderne" (for its time) NYC setting of WT and its jazz and classically-influenced score went a long way in making its form seem more au courant for its time.
I DID grow up listening to the Sony Television soundtrack and Mr. Chaplin, I confess, has always seemed an anomaly to me as a leading man. His vocal bleating always gave me pause. But, apparently, he had great sexual charisma for audiences of his day (and apparently, his leading ladies as well--he reputedly had affairs with Judy Holliday and Streisand during the runs of Bells Are Ringing and Funny Girl, respectively). As for Ms. Murphy, she captures the dry and acerbic tone of the dialogue perfectly. Physically, she is glamorous yet not afraid to indulge in low-crotch comedy when necessary, just like Roz and Lucy. I feel that Roz probably exceeded audience expectations in ways that elude Ms. Murphy only because RR's essay into musical theatre was such a revelation after 20 years of dramatic and comedic roles on film, comparable to Bacall's appearance in Applause, I imagine. Ms. Murphy, of course, has called musical theater home since the beginning of her career.
As I wrote earlier, it's a very good production. But they could use the ministrations of George Abbott (with whom I had the good fortune to work and who was not above giving line readings till he was satisfied) to punch up the comedy. I feel everyone is playing truthfully which is to be commended. But the time has come for the company to kick it up a notch and sail it over the footlights.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/19/03 at 9:53pm

Thank you, thank you, MusicMan. A keeper. So glad I asked. Wonderful talk about a wonderful show.