STAGE REVIEW : Too Relaxed ‘Town’ Has Its Moments

The Brea Theatre League’s “Wonderful Town” is often too leisurely for its own good, belying the near-feverish, cosmopolitan energy of New York City that the 1953 musical is meant to evoke. But it does have enough of a screwball sway and a punchy performance by Carole Ball in the key role of Ruth to be diverting.

Based on the popular 1940 stage laugher, “My Sister Eileen,” the Leonard Bernstein/Adolph Green/Betty Comden show doesn’t try for much more than setting up the gag that two sisters can get into lots of trouble and meet lots of peculiar people in the big city. The songs are wrapped around this premise not like a fur coat, but like a good wool jacket--functional but not exceptional.

The kicks come not so much from the score but from watching Ruth and Eileen (Christine Martin) move from one scrape to another, whining about going back home to Ohio but (of course) being thrilled by the jaw-dropping charm of Manhattan, especially Christopher Street, where artists, beatniks and other eccentrics gather like strange fauna.

Director Kent Johnson goes at all this with a relaxed gait, never quite pumping up the action to reflect the chaos the girls encounter. Roberta Kay’s choreography is reasonably imaginative and generally well-performed, but it too has a processional pace to it.

Still, Johnson does manage to locate the daffiness of “Wonderful Town” even though it’s a blurred sort of daffiness. His best moments come when Ruth, a writer with a Hemingway bent, is asked to act out some of her stories and when Ruth, again, gets entangled in a Conga line with a gang of amorous Portuguese sailors. Did I mention that this is a very silly musical?

Ball gets much of the credit for making these scenes work. Her voice doesn’t soar, but she does understand what acting in a musical is all about. It’s a fully inflated but entertaining turn.

As the prettier, more naive Eileen, Martin has a difficult time keeping up with Ball, but she doesn’t really have to. Everyone here is suppose to support Ruth, and Martin keeps up her end, especially by bringing the best voice to the production.

There are dozens of wacky characters scattered through “Wonderful Town,” the most interesting being the dim ex-jock Wreck (Gary Gibson), magazine editor Bob Baker (Steve Williams), newspaper hack Chick (McCullon Smith), painter Appoplous (Fred Valencia) and ever-ready hooker Violet (Laura Sellers).

‘WONDERFUL TOWN’

A Brea Theatre League production of the musical, with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music by Leonard Bernstein and book by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov. Directed by Kent Johnson. With Christine Martin, Carole Ball, Steve Williams, Gary Gibson, Fred Valencia, McCullon Smith, John Wilson, Dana P. Crouch, Robert Sholty, Alan Bernath, Greg Burks, Elan Abrams, Laura Sellers, Diane Schley, Tom Leary and Michael O’Connor. Choreography by Roberta Kay. Lighting by Emory G. Johnson. Musical direction by Tim Nelson. Plays Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Brea Civic Cultural Center, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea. Tickets: $8.50 and $10. (714) 996-6283.