{"id":8236,"date":"2023-07-10T04:49:35","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T08:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevillagetrip.com\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=8236"},"modified":"2023-07-22T11:45:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-22T15:45:33","slug":"wonderful-town-walk","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.thevillagetrip.com\/event\/wonderful-town-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonderful Town<\/em> \u2013 A Walking Tour with Jamie Bernstein"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t

A truly unique walking tour with author, broadcaster and filmmaker Jamie Bernstein. The Maestro\u2019s daughter will lead you on a fascinating ramble through the crooked streets of Greenwich Village which inspired Leonard Bernstein\u2019s great 20th-century musical Wonderful Town<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tour will end at the historic Washington Square Hotel, on Waverly Place at MacDougal Street. Betty Comden and Adolph Green were regulars at the Hotel\u2019s North Square brunches. Why not follow Jamie Bernstein in for a relaxing chat and a refreshing happy hour libation and perhaps a bite to eat in the intimate North Square Lounge. (Not included in the tour price.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Meet at Northwest corner of 14th St and 7th Ave, New York, NY 10011<\/h4>\n

4-5.30pm\u00a0 (assemble 3.45pm)<\/p>\n

Writes Jamie Bernstein:<\/strong>
\n\u201cCome along!\" booms the tour guide in\u00a0<\/em>Wonderful Town's opening number, \u201cChristopher Street.\u201d This 1953 Broadway show \u2013 book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and score by my Dad, Leonard Bernstein \u2013 is a love letter to the ultra-bohemian good old days of Greenwich Village, as seen through the adventures of two sisters from Ohio. All these years later, I'm inviting you to \u201ccome along!\u201d as I retrace some of the Village spots that appear in the show, plus a few additional relevant points of interest.<\/em><\/p>\n

Based on the 1940 play\u00a0My Sister Eileen<\/em>\u00a0by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov, and\u00a0The Short Stories\u00a0<\/em>of Ruth McKenney,\u00a0Wonderful Town<\/em>\u00a0was Leonard Bernstein\u2019s second salute to New York City. As with the first,\u00a0On the Town<\/em>, Bernstein teamed up with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Villagers who as cabaret artists had been fixtures at the nearby Village Vanguard. Rosalind Russell, who had earlier starred in the 1952 film of My Sister Eileen<\/em>, was cast again for the Broadway version as Ruth, and a 25-year-old Juilliard graduate and future TV star, Edie Adams, as the ingenue younger sister, Eileen. Bernstein wrote songs \u2013 including \u201cOne Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man\u201d and \u201cSwing\u201d \u2013 that played to Russell\u2019s strengths as a character actress not known for her vocal prowess. The original Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.<\/p>\n

Oh, and by the way, Jamie recalls that her father wrote the musical to cover the cost of her baby clothes and diapers!<\/p>\n