Tony Award Winner Anika Noni Rose and Aisha Jackson to Lead Encores! Wonderful Town

Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose and Aisha Jackson will lead the Encores! production of Wonderful Town as sisters Ruth and Eileen. The show will run at New York City Center from April 30 through May 11.

Rose’s Broadway credits include Caroline, Or Change (Tony Award), A Raisin in the Sun (Tony nomination) and, most recently, Uncle Vanya. On screen, she starred in Dreamgirls and voiced Princess Tiana in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. Jackson’s Broadway credits include The Notebook, Once Upon a One More Time and Frozen.

Premiering on Broadway in 1953, Wonderful Town features a book by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Zhailon Levingston (Cats: The Jellicle Ball) directs the new production, with Mary-Mitchell Campbell leading the Encores! Orchestra.

In 1935, sisters Ruth, an aspiring writer, and Eileen, an aspiring actress, move from Ohio to Greenwich Village to pursue their artistic ambitions, overcome heartbreak, encounter an assortment of colorful characters and ultimately find love. Featuring memorable tunes like “Ohio” and “One Hundred Easy Ways,” Wonderful Town is a celebration of what makes New York the greatest city in the world: welcoming people from all over who come to fulfill their dreams.

The 2000 Encores! production of Wonderful Town, starring Donna Murphy and Laura Benanti, transferred to Broadway in 2003.

The 2025 Encores! series also features Urinetown and Love Life.