Wonderful Town Review

Wonderful Town

(Tour - The Mayflower, Southampton)

Following Oliver I returned to the Mayflower to see Wonderful Town. Having heard how it was been well recieved at The Lowry, I was excited to see Connie Fisher again in this musical. I had never heard of this musical , but I was hoping to repeat my experience last year when I saw Crazy for You at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. I had never heard of Crazy for You but loved it which gave me great expectatiobs for this well recieved production.

The musical follows two sisters from Ohio, Ruth (Connie Fisher) and Eileen Sherwood (Lucy Van Gasse), who move to New York to start a new life. Whilst Eileen's beauty attracts every man in the city, Ruth is plainer in comparison and has a knack of repelling men. Both struggle to find work. Eileen wants to become an actress, whilst Ruth hopes to become a journalist. During her attempt to get a job at the Mad Hatter magazine company Ruth meets editor-in-chief, Bob Baker (Michael Xavier), and as the musical progresses the pair fall in love with each other.

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What the Royal Exchange Company produced was a diverse and energetic musical. One of the highlights was the sense of a community. From the opening song, Christopher Street, the musical showed how people from many different backgrounds could be found in Lower Manhatten. The supporting characters included Helen (Tiffany Graves) and gigantic American football player Wreck (Nic Greenshields), who were struggling to find a way to tell Helen's dissaproving mother, Mrs Ella Wade (Annette Yeo) that they were secretly engaged. Mr Appopolous (Sevan Stephan) is an artist who gives Ruth and Eileen his basement, formarly his studio and covered from top to bottom in paint. There is also a stammering chemist, Frank Lippencott (Haydn Oakley), a snobby club owner, Speedy Valenti (Michael Matus), and a slimy press editor, Chick Clark (Joseph Alessi).

The musical was also very comedic. Although the theatre was not full enough to generate a sense of hilarity around me, I was chortling along to moments such as Conversation Piece where the main characters are sitting together with no idea of what to say. What is more the end of the first act was the craziest I have ever seen, where a Conga with Rurh and the Brazilian Nazy soon turned into mass hysteria.

Amongst all these plot lines, the main story about two sisters struggling to make a living in New York was a great one to follow. What is more it manages to move at a steady pace and intertwine amongst everything else that happens, to the point where a lot of the scenes never felt forced. That being said the second act did feel a bit rushed by the end. Also the romance between Ruth and Bob Baker felt insignificant  compared to everything else, although Michael Xavier gave a commanding performance as the pragmatic editor-in-chief during What a Waste. I even felt that the fact that Eileen attracted every man made some events feel inconsequential, especially after the events at the end of the first act.

Connie Fisher seems to have come a long way since The Sound of Music. She may had to leave the tour because of her voice, but she has matured since then and is the best actress in this musical. Her energetic and unyielding acting was perfect for the plain yet strong-willed Ruth. Lucy Van Gasse was enjoyable as the attractive yet juvenile blonde. Together, despite their differences in character and vocals, the two are a great pair during such songs like the memorable Ohio. Praise must also be given to the supporting actors, especially Nic Greenshields as Wreck, who displayed the character's passion for football during his song Pass the Ball.

The set and costumes were very striking. From a street scene that reminds one of Avenue Q, except for the colorful windows and signs, to the avenues of New York that stretched off into the background. A bridge was also lowered at times to add dimension to the scenes, such as Ruth and Eileen's basement apartment that could be seen from the street above through the grilles. I particularly liked how the show used the same color on the costumes and lighting to signify the monotomous uniformity of people going to and from work.

This production is just as great as Crazy for You due to the passion that was put into this musical. Connie Fisher was brilliant as Ruth whilst the rest of the cast presented a diverse community in Lower Manhatten. The production team also did wonders in designing some striking sets and lighting. I would say though that Crazy for You is better since it focuses on a smaller number of characters and manages to end their arcs completely. Yet this musical was never boring, especially the end of the first act, and is recommended at a high Top Price