“Wonderful Town” Review

The York Music Department’s annual Practical Project has always been an exciting, vibrant affair, with concerts in the last few years spanning Bach to the world’s largest laptop orchestra. This year is no different, with Leonard Bernstein’s lively and colourful ‘Wonderful Town’. It was composed just four years before his more famous ‘West Side Story’, and set in similar urban New York surroundings, but tells the considerably more light-hearted story of two sisters who travel to the Big Apple in search of riches and romance, only to discover that the reality of city life is not quite what they had bargained for. Nevertheless, we see their progress towards landing the dream job and, more importantly, finding the dream man.

Last night we were treated to great performances by the soloists of the show. Special mention must of course be given to the two leading sisters, Ruth Sherwood (Lottie Johnson) and Eileen Sherwood (Amy Walsh), who somehow made their extraordinarily difficult vocal lines sound like a walk in Central Park. Their duet, ‘Ohio’, was perfectly balanced and full of longing for home. The audience’s collective heart was also warmed by the endearing Bob Baker (Jamie Wright), whose soaring declaration of ‘It’s Love’ was breathtaking.

The atmosphere of bustling 1930s New York is evoked brilliantly in this production by a dazzling chorus, who sang and danced impeccably. Credit must of course also be given to the large orchestra, who play a prominent role in this production. Last night they played with that hard-to-achieve mixture of absolute precision and flair, and combined with the chorus, were a joy to listen to in the ‘Wrong Note Rag’, and many other chorus numbers. Their role was perhaps too large at some points; maybe more space could have been given to the action on stage, particuarly at moments in Act I. However, the unforgiving acoustic of the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall hardly helped the singers – absorbing many of their lines despite their best attempts – and who can blame the band for playing Bernstein’s incredible score with enthusiasm?

Given the constraints of time and of the performing space, James Ball and the team of directors, producers, stage managers and conductors have pulled off an impressive feat. The direction and choreography of larger chorus numbers are to be applauded. The set was minimal but surprisingly effective; the simple addition of a balcony gave a welcome extra dimension to the staging (both literally and figuratively). In fact, the audience’s reception really didn’t do justice to the heroic efforts of those on-stage and backstage, with some of the more hilarious moments – such as the comic one-upmanship between Chick Clark (Sam Weatherstone) and Frank Lippencott (Fraser Moyle) – going by without so much as a titter from the majority of those in the crowd. You won’t regret going to the last night of ‘Wonderful Town’ tonight – just remember to keep your ears peeled so you catch every wonderful moment of it!