Wonderful Town

Based on the five-time Tony-winning 1953 musical, LA Opera's semi-staged production of the classic "Wonderful Town" is buoyant, thrilling and wonderfully silly.

With a book by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov (based on Chodorov's 1940 play "My Sister Eileen," which was in turn based on autobiographical stories published in "The New Yorker" by Ruth McKenney), lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Leonard Bernstein, the story of two Ohio sisters attempting to make it in the Big Apple is slight but it embraces that slightness, resulting in a fun -- but not hollow -- night at the theater.

Conducted by the LA Opera's own Grant Gershon, the story is told essentially as a staged reading. Gershon and the orchestra are all on stage and the actors, all dressed in black, sit in a row of chairs facing the audience and approaching a string of microphones when it's their turn to perform. Behind them, charming animations in muted paint-by-numbers colors play on a screen, depicting backdrops, the city, streets, buildings, dialogue, even battleships! It's soothing art and, paired with the music, it captures a real sense of NYC, specifically Christopher Street in Greenwich Village (back when it was actually affordable!).

In addition to many LA Opera members, "Wonderful Town" employs the talents of some big-hitting Broadway talent, including Tony winners Faith Prince ("Guys and Dolls") as serious older sister Ruth, who wants to make it as a writer; Nikki M. James ("The Book of Mormon") as effervescent younger sister and aspiring actress Eileen; and Roger Bart ("You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown") as the narrator and countless supporting roles, who is having the time of his life. He effortlessly slips into each new persona, whether he's sleazy, ribald or pointed.

Bernstein, Comden and Green previously worked together on "On the Town," and their compatibility is apparent in these songs, which are all solid, stand-outs including "My Darlin' Eileen," sung by several love-drunk Irish policemen; "What a Waste," performed by Marc Kudisch, as Ruth's foxy editor love interest, and his associate editors; "Conga!" in which Ruth gets to dance with a line of sexy Brazilian sailors; and, of course, "Ohio," the amusing and wildly catchy duet in which Ruth and Eileen question their decision to leave home.

Despite the spare production and lack of props and sets, there are still some dance sequences displayed (the troupe of back-up dancers is spot-on in every type of dance they're called on to perform). The orchestra members clearly have fun with the light-hearted material (even the lovely ballads are fluffy, considering the stakes are never that high in a confection such as this) and the male and female choruses, which flank the stage, are vibrant and full.

The heart of the characters and the story as staged by director David Lee and performed by the musicians and actors is what lifts and keeps the production afloat. While the story is predictable, it is also rich and multilayered and one of the best nights you could hope for at the theater.

"Wonderful Town" played December 2-4 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012. For more information, visit http://www.laopera.org