Wonderful Town

Composer: Bernstein, Leonard

Librettist/Text Author: Betty, Comden

Librettist/Text Author: Adolph, Green

Conductor: Blank, Larry

Orchestra: Toulon Opera Orchestra

Chorus: Toulon Opera Chorus

A client / A Policeman: Lange, Jean-Yves

A Man / Dancer: Garell, Gregory

Appopolous / 1st Editor: Verzier, Jacques

Chick Clark: Salvia, Julien

Eileen Sherwood: Cohen, Rafaelle

Frank Lippencott / Fletcher: Bertrand, Sinan

Helen: Constantin, Dalia

Lonigan: Lopez, Franck

Mrs. Wade: Landry, Alyssa

Policeman: Abello, Antoine

Policeman: Delobel, Jean

Policeman: Sabatier, Patrick

Policeman: Siccardi, Didier

Robert Baker: Alvarez de Toledo, Maxime

Ruth Sherwood: Roy, Jasmine

Speedy Valenti / 2nd Editor / Shore Patrolman: Emerson, Scott

Violet: Kempen, Lauren Van

Wreck: Boutilier, Thomas

Set Designer: Londiveau, Luc

Costume Designer: Olivier, Frederic

Lighting Designer: Vellutini, Marc-Antoine

Choreographer: Nus, Johan

Stage Director: Benezech, Olivier

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Date of Production: 01-2018

Venue: Opera de Toulon

Playing Time: 02:01:41

Catalogue Number: BAC158

UPC: 3760115301580

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For the first time in scenic version, and to celebrate Leonard Bernstein's centennial, the delightful Wonderful Town filmed during its French premiere at the Opera de Toulon!

With a keen sensitivity to the demands and specificities of the American "musical", and after the triumph of Sondheim's Follies in 2015, the Opera de Toulon once again embarked on a Broadway adventure with the French premiere of Bernstein's Wonderful Town, and brought back for the occasion stage director Olivier Benezech, a major connoisseur of the genre.

A true declaration of love to the city of New-York, 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 New-York, 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.

A story of love and swing with a touch of social satire, it is here revived with all the energy and the sparkle one could hope for: from the highly effective scenography by Luc Londiveau and Gilles Papain to the authenticity and thoughtfulness of Benezech's precise and vigorous direction of the cast. American conductor Larry Blank, well-known by the Broadway scene and therefore no stranger to the traps this falsely naive score can set, works wonders with the in-house orchestra, filling the hearts of the audience with a contagious cheerfulness that will not be easy to forget...