Anika Noni Rose and Aisha Jackson to Lead Encores! Wonderful Town

Tony winner Anika Noni Rose (Uncle Vanya) and Aisha Jackson (The Notebook) will headline Zhailon Levingston’s new production of the classic musical Wonderful Town, a production of New York City Center Encores! running April 30-May 11.

Rose will play Ruth Sherwood and Jackson will play her sister, Eileen, in the musical, which has a score by Leonard Bernstein (music) and Betty Comden and Adolph Green (lyrics), and a book by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov. Wonderful Town is based on the stories of Ruth McKinney and Fields and Chodorov’s play, My Sister Eileen.

Wonderful Town is the story of two sisters trying to take New York City by storm in the 1930s. Seen at New York City Center in 1958, 1963, 1966, and 2000, that production, which originated at Encores!, transferred to Broadway in 2003.

Mary-Mitchell Campbell will lead the Encores! Orchestra. The production will have choreography by Lorin Latarro, tap choreography by Ayodele Casel, scenic design by Clint Ramos, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Ben Stanton, and sound design by Megumi Katayama.

Full casting will be announced in the coming weeks.