Leonard Bernstein: Wonderful Town staging in Japan
(September 2010)
The first Japanese production of Leonard Bernstein's hit musical Wonderful Town takes the stage in October, touring to Tokyo, Aichi and Osaka.
A new production of Leonard Bernstein’s Wonderful Town takes the stage in Tokyo on 23 October, introducing Japanese audiences to the hit musical. Following the run at the Aoyama Theatre, the staging travels on to Aichi and Osaka, amounting to 30 performances in all. Koichi Ogita’s production uses a new specially-commissioned Japanese translation, and the orchestra is conducted by Satoshi Uegaki.
Written 10 years after On The Town, this second theatrical collaboration between Bernstein and lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green proved to be another hit on Broadway with Rosalind Russell in the central role.
Set in 1950s New York, Wonderful Town tells of two small-town American girls from Ohio who move to a bohemian neighbourhood in Manhattan to pursue their dreams. Though down on their luck, they find the Big Apple soon works its magic through a breathless sequence of musical numbers, including Ohio, It’s Love and 100 Ways to Lose a Man.
The first Japanese production of Leonard Bernstein's hit musical Wonderful Town takes the stage in October, touring to Tokyo, Aichi and Osaka.