Photos: Inside Rehearsals for WONDERFUL TOWN with Aisha Jackson, Anika Noni Rose and More

Next up in the New York City Center Encores! season is Wonderful Town, directed by Zhailon Levingston. Music Director Mary-Mitchell Campbell will take audiences inside Leonard Bernstein’s score that captures the sounds and heart of New York City. Featuring memorable tunes like “Ohio” and “One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man,” Wonderful Town is a celebration of what makes New York the greatest city in the world—welcoming people from all over who come to fulfill their dreams. The show shares a unique history with New York City Center with previous productions in 1958, 1963, 1966, and the 2000 Encores! Production, which transferred to Broadway in 2003.

The cast will be led by Aisha Jackson and Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose as sisters Eileen and Ruth. The production also features Jimmy Ray Bennett as Officer Lonigan, Etai Benson as Frank Lippencott, Allison Blackwell as Mrs. Wade, DeWitt Fleming Jr. as Speedy Valenti, Jessie Hooker-Bailey as Helen, Javier Muñoz as Robert Baker, Fergie Phillippe as Wreck, John Rapson as Chick Clark, and Daniel Torres as Mr. Appopolous.

Wonderful Town will also include Jonathan Duvelson, David Foley Jr., Lindsay Roberts Greene, Marc Heitzman, Sarah Michele Lindsey, Kate Louissaint, Alicia Lundgren, Morgan Marcell, Robin Masella, Dario Natarelli, Michael Olaribigbe, Patricia Phillips, Renée Reid, Samantha Siegel, Phumzile Sojola, Nicholas Ward, Jacob Keith Watson, Annaliese Wilbur, and Richard Riaz Yoder.

In 1935, sisters Ruth, an aspiring writer, and Eileen, an aspiring actress, move from Ohio to Greenwich Village to pursue their artistic ambitions, overcome heartbreak, encounter an assortment of colorful characters, and ultimately find love.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski