Wonderful Town 2004 Broadway Revival Cast with Brooke Shields

Amazon.com

Wonderful Town is a terrifically fun musical, but do you really need this recording? The answer will be yes if you fall within one of these two categories: (a) You collect recordings of the show and must own them all or (b) you're a huge fan of Brooke Shields. The actress replaced Donna Murphy in the lead role of the 2003 Broadway revival, and did a creditable job bringing Ruth Sherwood to gawky life during her five-month run. Shields performs over the same instrumental tracks you can hear on the revival's prime recording. (Jennifer Hope Wills replaces Jennifer Westfeldt as Eileen Sherwood; the rest of the cast is unchanged.) From a purely vocal point of view, the switch wasn't an upgrade--Murphy is among Broadway's best stylists after all--though Shields is far from being an embarrassment. She may not have the technique, but her comic gusto is winning. Still, this CD remains for completists only. --Elisabeth Vincentelli