Theater Review—

‘Wonderful Town’ Offers A Great Reason To Visit Richter

By Julie Stern

DANBURY — When I was about ten, my mother took me to see the movie My Sister Eileen, starring Rosalind Russell. A few years later, I read the book- a collection of short stories originally published in The New Yorker, in which Ruth McKenney recounted her experiences when she and her younger sister left Ohio to find love and fame in the big city. Together, the book and the movie gave me a goal in life: more than anything else I wanted to share an apartment in Manhattan with my best friend, while we struggled as creative artists and had adventures with interesting people.

Set in 1935, the book was first made into a play by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov in 1940. The movie followed two years later, and then in 1953, it was turned into a hit Broadway musical called Wonderful Town, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, again starring Russell as Ruth.

The plot entails the relationship between the acerbic, witty Ruth, an aspiring writer, and her bubbly, innocently flirtatious kid sister, Eileen, a would-be actress, who attracts men like flies. Arriving in Greenwich Village at the height of the Depression, life in their basement apartment is continually interrupted by dynamite blasts from the subway tunnel being constructed underneath, and visits from drunken clients of Violet, the prostitute who was the former tenant.

While shy Ruth makes a tentative connection with Bob Baker, the assistant editor at Manhatter magazine, to whom she submits her first stories, Eileen happily makes friends with the upstairs neighbor Wreck, an out of season pro football player; and his pregnant girlfriend; the waiters at the Italian restaurant next door; the landlord, Mr Appopolous; the cop on the beat; Frank Lippencott, the besotted manager of the 42nd Street Walgreens, who gives her free lunch; and Chick Clark, a seedy newspaperman with even seedier intentions.

In order to get Ruth out of the way so he can move in on Eileen, Clark sends Ruth on a wild goose chase to the Brooklyn Navy Yard on a supposed human interest assignment. When she returns home followed by a squadron of non-English-speaking Brazilian naval cadets doing a conga line, all kinds of exciting things happen: An international incident is created, Eileen gets arrested, Bob loses his job, Ruth is hired to publicize a strip club called the Village Vortex, owned by a sleazy character named Speedy Valenti, and the sisters have to decide on matters of the heart.

Musicals at Richter is giving the show a splendid revival. As directed and staged by Kyle Minor, the Danbury company makes the most of a large ensemble cast to convey the joyous spirit of the wacky Bohemian life through an assortment of delightfully staged production numbers.

Beginning with “Christopher Street,” a tableau of village types on display for a group of gawking out-of-town tourists, and followed by “Conquering New York,” a vision of the fast moving big city lifestyle as seen by heartlanders (including a wonderful subway rush hour), it moves on to a hilarious dramatization of the first stories Ruth submits to the magazine — a clearly derivative compilation of pseudo-Hemingway, pseudo-Fitzgerald, and pseudo-someone else (prompting Bob to advise her to write about “what you know” — which in turn leads to the Eileen stories.

The first act ends with a wildly infectious conga scene, in which the harried would-be reporter Ruth is pursued by the amorous Brazilians.

The second act begins with Eileen in jail, arrested for disturbing the peace (because of the conga episode) where she soon turns the entire station house into her devoted servants. Despite her telling them that her mother is Swedish and her father is Scotch, they insist that (like them) she must be Irish, and they do a catchy piece called “My Darlin’ Eileen,” which makes the most of Comden and Greens’ cleverness.

In between are the solos and duets, ranging from “Ohio” (as in “Why-o-why-o-why-o, did I ever leave Ohio?”), “One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man” (Ruth’s lament about cleverness being a mood-breaker) and “Pass the Football,” in which Wreck explains how he managed to get through college without ever learning to read and write.

There are lots more, but you get the idea.

Jessica Smith and Bridget Krompinger do a bang up job as the two sisters, amply supported by Tom Morris as Bob, Matthew Farina as Frank, and Mensah Robinson as Wreck. Under Mr Minor’s direction, everyone gives a crisp, snappy performance, but for me what really makes it work is the ensemble.

Aurora Greaves’s wonderful costume design enables them to change character completely, as they switch from cops to sailors to village denizens to tourists to nightclub dancers to subway riders. The changes are so complete that it is hard to believe that you are looking at the same two dozen performers.

If you want a fun evening out, take your picnic and go to Richter.

(Performances continue Thursday through Sunday evenings though July 26; curtain is 8:30 each night. Tickets are $21 adults, $16 seniors, and $13 students and children.

Musicals at Richter performances are on the outdoor stage at Richter Arts Center, 100 Aunt Hack Road in Danbury. Call 748-MUSE [6873] for reservations and additional information.)