The Wild

Party
Brandon Weber

Production History
1997: Workshop at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center

2000: Off-Broadway

Washington, D.C.: The Studio Theatre was ahead of the curve with
its summer offering The Wild Party. The conceptual piece, directed
by Keith Alan Baker, dramatized Joseph Moncure March's dark verse
novel, which is providing the source material for two forthcoming
New York musicals, both slated to debut in early 2000. Music and
book for Manhattan Theatre Club's Wild Party are by Andrew Lippa;
in the Public Theater's adaptation, Michael John LaChiusa's score
will complement a book by LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe. March's
poem about decadence in the Roaring '20s was reissued by Random
House in 1994, with illustrations by Art Spiegelman.

1997: Chenoweth as Mae in the workshop

production
Debauchery isnt what it used to be onstage, anyway. When the cold-eyed chorus, clad
in next-to-nothing and radiating sleaze, slithers onstage at The Wild Party, you almost
want to give them a warm, welcoming hug. Arent these the same kids who gyrated so
seductively in Chicago, who leered to such potent effect in Sam Mendes Cabaret?
Comparisons to Broadways recent forays into divine decadence arent the only ones on
hand for Manhattan Theater Clubs Wild Party, of course. As all Gotham theater folk
know and audiences may be confused to discover this season will see two new

2000: Off-Broadway Original at The

Manhattan Theatre Club

musicals so titled, both based on the 1928 poem by Joseph Moncure March. The second,
produced by the Public Theater and various commercial partners, opens on Broadway in
April. So why does this first Wild Party evoke such a strong sense of deja vu?

2004: Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The NSTC has done it again! Their music theatre company rarely puts a foot wrong at the Fringe and The Wild Party continues the success story. Based, so it is said,
on the infamous Hollywood party which led to the arrest of Fatty Arbuckle, it tells a tale of excess, jealousy and murder. It is a sung-through musical and Andrew
Lippa's score, contemporary in style but capturing the mood of the time, drives it forward relentlessly.
With a cast of 23 and an onstage band of six, it's a very big show in Fringe terms and the directors Iain Ormsby-Knox and Nick Phillips make excellent use of the
very limited performance area. The four principals - Aimee Berwick (standing in for Jo Cook at the performance I saw), Stephen Fletcher, Siri Steinmo and Chris
Grahamson - are well supported by the rest. There is not a weak link anywhere.

2008: Brooklyn Premiere

Hats off from fedoras to cloches, from feathered caps to top

hats to The Gallery Players, for reviving the flamboyant
musical, The Wild Party. The production kicks off the New Year
in high theatrical style and stirs up a real musical tempest in
Brooklyn.

2010: St. Louis Premiere

New Line Theatre's current presentation of The

Wild Party is a deliriously engaging experience,
easily making it one of the best productions of the
year so far.
Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com
Imagine a strobe-light flashing rapidly; or a coin
flipping in the air, heads becoming indistinguishable
from tails as it spins. Likewise, the flashing strobe
creates an effect somewhere between bright light
and pure dark, as the transitions themselves
become a blazing, third state of energy. So it is with
Scott Miller's fantastic new production of Andrew
Lippa's The Wild Party. . . Don't miss this excellent
show.
Richard Green, TalkinBroadway.com
While highly melodramatic, sometimes to the point
of hysteria, a large number of fine performances,
spot-on, rapid-fire direction and plenty of sex make
the show fast-moving, highly entertaining and oh, my
goodness, bawdy and naughty.
Joe Pollack, St. Louis Eats and Drinks
The Wild Party takes you on a wild ride.
Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

2013: Houston Premiere

Direction by Colton Berry is phenomenal and easily the best he has
presented all season. For the entirety of the show, no matter where your eye
lingers there is something to observe. Once the party starts, the invited
guests and leading characters consistently interact with one another creating
gloriously staged images and an overwhelming barrage of visual information
that is more than anyone can take in and process in one viewing. Likewise,
the violence-whether it be Burrs' domestic attacks on Queenie, rape,
attempted rape, or Burrs and Eddie's brawl-is visceral and gripping.
Colton Berry stages these parts firmly in the audience's' faces, not letting his
cast or audience shy away from the savagery that pristinely assaults our
hearts, minds, and souls.

2015: Encores!

The essential difference between The Wild Party then (in 2000)
and now lies in its more explicit portrayal of Queenie as a
vulnerable woman trapped in an abusive relationship. As she flirts
with and falls for the gentlemanly Black (Brandon Victor Dixon)
who arrives with Queenies arch-frenemy, Kate (Joaquina
Kalukango) she comes to realize that she must take responsibility
for her own life.

The
Poem

Joseph
Moncure
March
Published in 1928
(Banned Nationwide)
*Rumored to be based on the
arrest of Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

in the
Poem/OffQueenie:
Broadway
Sexually Ambitious
Strong
Independent
Show Girl
Devious

Burrs:
Abusive
Overtly Sexual
Schizophrenic
A Clown
Passionate

Kate:

Black:

Sneaky
Bold
Adventurous
Calculated

Smooth
Suave
Gigolo
Brave

*Portrayed similarly in all versions of the

poem/show

The Film
(1975)

*Loosely based on the poem

*Poor Reviews
*Directors/Producers rarely use this film as Source Work

Links to
Articles
New York City Center: "I Was Gonna Do It Like CATS"
http://www.nycitycenter.org/Home/Blog/July-2015/Andrew-Lippa-Wild-Party
NY Times Review 2015 Comparison:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/theater/review-the-wild-party-with-sutton-foster-as-a
-louche-jazz-baby.html?_r=1
Muse Off-Broadway Review 2000:
https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/tj/summary/v053/53.1vogel.html