Track Listing

1. Overture
2. Christopher Street
3. Ohio
4. Conquering New York
5. One Hundred Easy Ways
6. What A Waste
7. Little Bit Of Love, A
8. Pass The Football
9. Conversation Piece
10. Quiet Girl, A
11. Conga!
12. My Darlin' Eileen
13. Swing!
14. Ohio (Reprise)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18850 in Music
• Released on: 2004-03-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks

Amazon.com
Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green's 1953 collaboration in Wonderful Town doesn't lack for recordings, including two good studio casts from 1998 and 1999. Yet the uncommonly funny show hadn't received a proper Broadway revival until this 2003 production. As Ruth Sherwood, a role created by Rosalind Russell, Donna Murphy gives a glorious five-star star performance, and nowhere is it more obvious than on "Conga!" and "Swing," the latter a delirious spoof of 1950s Greenwich Village hipsterisms. As Eileen Sherwood, Jennifer Westfeldt doesn't have the crystalline pipes of Audra McDonald (from the 1999 album) but she gives a warm performance that comes across well on CD. The rest of the cast is studded with pros who take obvious delight in the show, and music director Rob Fisher polishes Bernstein's score to a gleam. Truly, Broadway doesn't get much better than this. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Not Wonderful
Jennifer Westfeldt hits all the notes required for the role of Eileen, yet her voice isn't my favorite. Donna Murphy's voice is not great either. The real talent there is Gregg Edelman, but I honestly prefer him along Brooke Shields and Jennifer Hope Wills.

Wonderful Town (2003)
Frankly, I got this album for one song..."A Hundred Ways to Lose a Man", which I heard on the Braodway station of our digital cable network. I was extremely entertained by the song and loved the style portrayed in this album's particular rendition of it. I got it in order to perform the song myself for a benefit performance. I am very pleased to have it in my collection. As far as the rest of the album is concerned...one has to be "in the mood". It can be a bit annoying at times. Not my favorite Leonard Bernstein...doesn't compare to West Side Story...rather fluffy in comparison and silly, but that's what was intended.

Good Piece
This show is nice, very broadway. The music is nice, lyrics fun, and whole show a nice piece. It isn't something I would listen to over and over which is why it's only getting three stars, but it isn't something that I won't play from time to time. Of the two recordings I have (this one and the 2004 revival) there are MINISCULE differences, but I would say this is the better of the two. I like Donna Murphy's character over Brooke Shields. Good CD for collectors and new broadway listners alike. Fav Song: "Conga"