25/02/2023
Over the past 70 years, Wonderful Town has delighted many a theater patron. Wonderful Town opened on Broadway on February 25, 1953 at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for 559 performances. The original production starred 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.
The musical shared the adventures and misadventures of two sisters who moved from small-town Ohio to the bohemia of 1935 Greenwich Village. With a glorious score of swinging tunes by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Wonderful Town was the quintessential New York musical comedy about pursuing dreams and finding love in unexpected places.
[📸 Center stage: Rosalind Russell (as Ruth) and Edith Adams (as Eileen) with cast in scene from Wonderful Town, 1952. Courtesy of the NYPL DIgital Collections.]
