In 1944 a trio of creative writers,  Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Leonard Bernstein, collaborated with choreographer Jerome Robins to create a very funny but very poignant musical based on the wartime situation the country had recently faced. In On the Town, three likable romance-starved sailors and three independently minded women find each other, and struggle to make some sort of meaningful connection before the men’s 24-hour leave has expired. Alternatingly hilarious and rueful, On the Town includes two very lengthy ballet sequences and a challenging musical score. The 1948 film version retains the basics of the plot, but sadly jettisoned most of the exquisite Leonard Bernstein score (for which there are at least two very good complete recordings).