Ruth McKenney

With a keen sensitivity to the demands and specificities of the American “musical”, and after the triumph of Sondheim’s Follies in 2015, the Opéra 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 Bénézech, 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.

Ruth Sherwood and her sister, Eileen, have moved to 1935 Greenwich Village. They're surrounded by colorful Village characters (including an out-of-work football player known as the Wreck, and Mr. Appopolous, a modern painter and their landlord) and embark on various New York adventures. Ruth, who's trying to make it as a writer, meets up with a sleazy newspaper writer named Chick and a kindly editor named Bob, both of whom take an interest in both her career and her.

Рут и ее красавица сестра Эйлин приезжают в «Гринвич Виллидж» в Нью-Йорке в поисках славы и удачи. Рут мечтает стать писательницей, а Эйлин — актрисой. Рут привлекает внимание издателя плейбоя Боба Бэйкера, когда тот решает опубликовать историю о ее сестре. Чтобы поддерживать к себе его интерес, Рут пытается убедить Боба в том, что она и Эйлин на самом деле один и тот же человек…

In 1906 in Connecticut, Elisha Hunt, the 55-year-old curator of a small government museum, marries Abigail, the 19-year-old daughter of a local farmer. In addition to the differences in their ages in this May-to-December union, Elizha is a man of culture while Abigail is uneducated. Bruce Edridge, young, handsome and wealthy, comes into her life, and they fall in love. Abigail is now faced with two choices; the chance of wealth versus her present mediocre circumstances, or her love for Bruce versus her loyalty to Elisha.

A psychology professor comes up with a theory that women have a desire to be subjugated. A newswoman, using a pseudonym, accuses him of advocating wife-beating. There is trouble, when he falls in love with her, unaware of who she is.

A woman reminisces about her teenage years in the 1920s, when she fell in love with her teacher.

A harried daughter tries to keep her wacky family together while trying to sell her eccentric father's latest invention, a collapsible life raft.

Сестры Рут и Эйлин переезжают из Огайо в Нью-Йорк в надежде построить собственную карьеру. Рут грезит о работе писателем, а Эйлин надеется добиться успеха на сцене. Но живут они в мрачной подвальной квартире в Гринвич-Виллидж, где никогда нет тишины и покоя. Им посчастливится встретиться с редактором журнала Бобом Бейкером, который лично заинтересован помочь им с карьерными планами.