Wonderful Town

With a keen sensitivity to the demands and specificities of the American musical and after the triumph of Sondheims Follies in 2015 the Opéra de Toulon once again embarked on a Broadway adventure with the French premiere of Bernsteins Wonderful Town and brought back for the occasion stage director Olivier Bénézech a major connoisseur of the genre A true declaration of love to the city of NewYork Wonderful Town tells the tale with a boisterous rhythm and vast amounts of jazzy tunes of two sisters from Ohio looking for success and glory in the big city Lighter in tone than later works like West Side Story or Candide its smart combination of the different musical traditions one could hear when wandering in the streets of NewYork its accomplished orchestral writing and colouring and its vivid sense of comedy earned it no less than five Tony awards when it premiered in 1953