Wonderful Town is wonderful

by Meghan D'Souza

Gasps.

That was what I heard around me as we audience members made our way into Englert Theatre to choose our seats for ICCT's production of Wonderful Town. Before us was an extended stage with the silhouette of a whole orchestra sitting at the highest point of the stage, back lit by soft blue lights. Just this sight and the sound of the orchestra tuning up elicited our excited gasps as fellow audience members and I exchanged eager glances. If just entering the room got our hearts pumping, what were the next few hours going to bring?

How about a full transformation to the 1930s with believable acting, on-the-nose costumes, incredible set designs that appeared right from the ceiling, and fabulous props all the way down to Lilly, the real, living dog who made her acting debut. Not to mention the harmonious singing and jaw-dropping choreography, arranged by wife and husband choreographing team Jill and Doug Beardsley.

In short, all of these details were put together to tell a story of two sisters who moved from a small town in Ohio to New York City in the 1930s with hopes of making it big in the entertainment world, one as a singer and one as a writer. The musical follows their struggles, using humor throughout the story.

There were points in this musical when I was so entranced by the singing and choreography that I forgot to clap until the applause around me jarred me out of my state. Though the actors, from the many ensemble members to the lead roles, obviously had to work hard, they did not make the performance look like hard work. The dances were so mind-blowing that I wished I could DVR them back and play them over to take in every detail.

I really felt that everyone involved behind the scenes, from director Ben Bentler to set designer Michael Blake and scenic painter Catherine Porter knew that the sky was the limit when it came to what they could do to make this musical come to life before our eyes. I believe they used four different backgrounds that they creatively had the acting ensemble set up with props between scenes, distracting the audience with dance performances. These included an apartment set from the inside, a brick apartment set from the outside, a street set with skyscrapers in the background, and a naval base with a large picket fence.

It is hard to pin down just one actor that made this whole show work as well as it did. Angelique VanDorpe and Lauren Baker played the two lead roles, sisters Eileen and Ruth, impressively and, in my opinion, flawlessly. They had nearly three hours of lines, songs and dances to memorize and they did it believably. Neither actress overacted, nor overreacted, they simply became their characters, as did every other actor involved in the play. Everybody was believable, down to their hair.

Wonderful Town is a wonderful musical, a wonderful experience, and worth seeing this weekend.



Meghan D'Souza lives in Coralville with her husband and beloved dog. She is a University of Iowa graduate and works at the Iowa City Public Library. She has written for The Burlington Hawk Eye and is currently a freelance writer.