Tony winner Anika Noni Rose (Caroline, Or Change) and Aisha Jackson (Frozen) will lead the upcoming New York City Center Encores! revival of Wonderful Town, set to perform at the Manhattan venue April 30–May 11 with Zhailon Levingston (Cats: "The Jellicle Ball") directing. Encores! music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell will conduct the Encores! orchestra.
Rose and Jackson will co-star as, respectively, Ruth and Eileen, two sisters who move to 1930s Greenwich Village from Ohio to make their NYC dreams come true. With music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Jerome Chodorov and Joseph A. Fields (adapted from their play My Sister Eileen, itself adapted from autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney), the 1953 musical includes such show-tune favorites as "Ohio," "One Hundred Easy Ways," and "Wrong Note Rag." The show was last seen on Broadway in 2003, a revival that also began in City Center's Encores! series, in 2000.
Additional casting, by The Telsey Office's Bethany Knox, is to be announced.
Levingston's creative team will include choreographer Lorin Latarro, tap choreographer Ayodele Casel, scenic designer Clint Ramos, costume designer Linda Cho, lighting designer Ben Stanton, and sound designer Megumi Katayama.
Rose, a Tony winner for her performance in the original production of Caroline, Or Change, is perhaps best known as the voice of Princess Tiana in Disney's animated The Princess and the Frog. She was last on Broadway in Uncle Vanya and received a Tony nomination for her performance in A Raisin in the Sun.
The revival will see Jackson returning to City Center after starring as Linda in the venue's 2023 gala presentation of Pal Joey. She was most recently seen on Broadway in The Notebook, with her additional credits including Once Upon a One More Time, Paradise Square, Beautiful, Waitress, and Frozen.
This year's Encores! season is currently opening with Urinetown, performing through February 16; and will continue with Love Life March 26-30 before Wonderful Town.
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