★★★½☆ Warm and witty paean to smarts, arts and life in the Big Apple.

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
May 7, 2016

Leonard Bernstein wrote three musical love letters to New York: On the Town (1944), West Side Story (1957), and the less-frequently performed Wonderful Town (1953). Why the latter should be a relative rarity is a bit of a mystery – it’s as tuneful as its stable mates and it has a better story than its predecessor – so a chance to enjoy its warm-hearted script and sassy score is not to be missed. This sequel to last year’s highly enjoyable Of Thee I Sing from Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in tandem with boutique musical theatre company Squabbalogic, presents a nearly fully staged production with full orchestra (and even fuller chorus) that is ambitious and often accomplished.

In many ways Wonderful Town was ahead of its time. Based on Fields and Chodorov’s witty play My Sister Eileen, it tells the tale of two sisters who arrive in 1935 New York from parochial Ohio, determined to succeed as emancipated women. Eileen is a wannabe actress, pretty but slightly dim. Men fall...