.gif)
The Wild Party (LaChiusa musical)
Encyclopedia
The Wild Party is a musical with a book by Michael John LaChiusa
and George C. Wolfe
and music and lyrics by LaChiusa. It is based on the 1928 Joseph Moncure March
narrative poem
of the same name
. The Broadway
production coincidentally opened during the same theatrical season (1999–2000) as an off-Broadway
musical with the same title and source material
.
The show is presented as a series of vaudeville
sketches, complete with signs announcing the next scene propped on an easel at the side of the stage. Its plot centers on a party - fueled by bathtub gin
, cocaine
, and uninhibited sexual behavior
- hosted by Queenie and Burrs, whose relationship is disintegrating. It quickly evolves into an orgy
that culminates in tragedy
. The guests include fading star Dolores; Kate, Queenie's best friend and rival; Black, Kate's younger lover, who has his eye on Queenie; Jackie, a rich kid who has his eye on everyone, regardless of gender; Oscar and Phil D'Armano, a gay couple/brother act; lesbian
stripper
Miss Madelaine True and her morphine addict girlfriend Sally; colored prizefighter
Eddie, his white wife Mae and Mae's underaged Lolita-like sister, Nadine.
(making her Broadway debut) as Queenie, Mandy Patinkin
as Burrs, and Yancey Arias
as Black. Although her role was reduced over the course of workshop
productions, Eartha Kitt
, returning to Broadway after an absence of more than twenty years, garnered notice for her performance as Dolores. The four were backed by a large ensemble cast, all of whom had a featured song or other moments to shine within the context of the main plot.
In 2001, LaChiusa said that the role of Queenie was written for the African-American actress Vanessa L. Williams
; when Williams got pregnant, she was recast with Collette. LaChiusa stated, "I don't think of it as something that was lost in the piece, but it would have been fascinating to see how an audience responded to a black Queenie. The show is all about the masks that we wear culturally and the removal of those masks over the course of the party. So it's all there...".
A cast album was released on the Decca Records
label.
of the New York Times called it "a parade of personalities in search of a missing party . . . what has wound up on the stage is a portrait of desperation that itself feels harshly, wantonly desperate." CurtainUp said, "Overall, it adds up to a polished theatrical entertainment, with a distinctive edginess," and Talkin' Broadway described it as " a dark, sensual, and glittering musical. LaChiusa has written several tuneful, witty, and character driven songs, which George C. Wolfe has expertly arranged and staged around the narrative provided by the source material; an interesting story gets told in appealing music and believable dialogue."
Promenade of Guests
The Party
After Midnight Dies
Finale
and Andrew Lippa
versions of The Wild Party are markedly different in their storylines. In Lippa's version, the plot is tightly focused on the central love triangle of Joseph Moncure March's poem, while the LaChiusa play, while also focusing on the love triangle, has fifteen characters, nearly all of whom are given story arcs of their own within the narrative. Within those individual stories, broader themes such as racism
, sexism
, bisexuality
, anti-semitism
, and the concept of the American Dream
are included.
There are major differences in the music and tone of the two shows, as well. While Lippa takes a more abstract, non-date specific approach to his compositions and orchestrations, the LaChiusa score is both more tradition
al in terms of musical theatre
conventions as well as more period
with regard to the Roaring Twenties
setting.
Michael John LaChiusa
Michael John LaChiusa is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for complex, musically challenging shows such as Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, and See What I Wanna See...
and George C. Wolfe
George C. Wolfe
George Costello Wolfe is an American playwright and director of theater and film. He won a Tony Award in 1993 for directing Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and another Tony Award in 1996 for his direction of the musical, Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk.-Early life and...
and music and lyrics by LaChiusa. It is based on the 1928 Joseph Moncure March
Joseph Moncure March
Joseph Moncure March was an American poet and essayist, best known for his long narrative poems The Wild Party and The Set-Up.- Life :...
narrative poem
Narrative poetry
Narrative poetry is poetry that has a plot. The poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be simple or complex. It is usually nondramatic, with objective regular scheme and meter. Narrative poems include epics, ballads, idylls and lays.Some narrative...
of the same name
The Wild Party (poem)
The Wild Party is a narrative poem. Written in the classical epic style, it is Joseph Moncure March's first published work.Upon its 1928 publication, the poem was widely banned, first in Boston, for having content viewed as wild as the titular party...
. The Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production coincidentally opened during the same theatrical season (1999–2000) as an off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
musical with the same title and source material
The Wild Party (Lippa musical)
The Wild Party is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Andrew Lippa. It is based on Joseph Moncure March's 1928 narrative poem of the same name...
.
The show is presented as a series of vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
sketches, complete with signs announcing the next scene propped on an easel at the side of the stage. Its plot centers on a party - fueled by bathtub gin
Bathtub gin
Bathtub gin refers to any style of homemade spirit made in amateur conditions. The term first appeared in 1920, in the prohibition-era United States, in reference to the poor-quality alcohol that was being made....
, cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, and uninhibited sexual behavior
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
- hosted by Queenie and Burrs, whose relationship is disintegrating. It quickly evolves into an orgy
Orgy
In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party where guests engage in promiscuous or multifarious sexual activity or group sex. An orgy is similar to debauchery, which refers to excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures....
that culminates in tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
. The guests include fading star Dolores; Kate, Queenie's best friend and rival; Black, Kate's younger lover, who has his eye on Queenie; Jackie, a rich kid who has his eye on everyone, regardless of gender; Oscar and Phil D'Armano, a gay couple/brother act; lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
stripper
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
Miss Madelaine True and her morphine addict girlfriend Sally; colored prizefighter
Prizefighter
A prizefighter is a boxer.Prizefighter may also refer to:*Don King Presents: Prizefighter, a video game by 2k Sports released in 2008*Prize Fighter, a video game by Digital Pictures released in 1994 for the Sega CD...
Eddie, his white wife Mae and Mae's underaged Lolita-like sister, Nadine.
Production
After 36 previews, The Wild Party opened at the Virginia Theatre on April 13, 2000 and closed on June 11 for a total of 68 performances. It was directed by Wolfe and choreographed by Joey McKneely. The cast included Toni ColletteToni Collette
Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
(making her Broadway debut) as Queenie, Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
as Burrs, and Yancey Arias
Yancey Arias
Yancey Arias is an American actor, perhaps most noted for his work on television crime dramas, particularly his roles as Miguel Cadena in the NBC series Kingpin and as Gabriel Williams in the FX series Thief.-Life and career:...
as Black. Although her role was reduced over the course of workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
productions, Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
, returning to Broadway after an absence of more than twenty years, garnered notice for her performance as Dolores. The four were backed by a large ensemble cast, all of whom had a featured song or other moments to shine within the context of the main plot.
In 2001, LaChiusa said that the role of Queenie was written for the African-American actress Vanessa L. Williams
Vanessa L. Williams
Vanessa Lynn Williams is an American pop-R&B recording artist, producer, dancer, model, actress and showgirl. In 1983, she became the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America, but a scandal generated by her having posed for nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine...
; when Williams got pregnant, she was recast with Collette. LaChiusa stated, "I don't think of it as something that was lost in the piece, but it would have been fascinating to see how an audience responded to a black Queenie. The show is all about the masks that we wear culturally and the removal of those masks over the course of the party. So it's all there...".
A cast album was released on the Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
label.
Critical reception
Ben BrantleyBen Brantley
Benjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
of the New York Times called it "a parade of personalities in search of a missing party . . . what has wound up on the stage is a portrait of desperation that itself feels harshly, wantonly desperate." CurtainUp said, "Overall, it adds up to a polished theatrical entertainment, with a distinctive edginess," and Talkin' Broadway described it as " a dark, sensual, and glittering musical. LaChiusa has written several tuneful, witty, and character driven songs, which George C. Wolfe has expertly arranged and staged around the narrative provided by the source material; an interesting story gets told in appealing music and believable dialogue."
Original Broadway cast
- Toni ColletteToni ColletteAntonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
. . . Queenie - Mandy PatinkinMandy PatinkinMandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
. . . Burrs - Yancey AriasYancey AriasYancey Arias is an American actor, perhaps most noted for his work on television crime dramas, particularly his roles as Miguel Cadena in the NBC series Kingpin and as Gabriel Williams in the FX series Thief.-Life and career:...
. . . Black - Eartha KittEartha KittEartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
. . . Dolores - Marc KudischMarc KudischMarc Kudisch is an American stage actor, who is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway.-Early life and education:...
. . . Jackie - Tonya PinkinsTonya PinkinsTonya Pinkins is an American actress and author known for her portrayal of Livia Frye on the soap opera All My Children and for her roles on Broadway, for which she won a Tony Award.-Biography:...
. . . Kate - Norm LewisNorm LewisNorm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway as well as in regional theatre.-Life:Lewis was born in Tallahassee, Florida and grew up in Eatonville, Florida...
. . . Eddie Mackrel - Nathan Lee Graham . . . Phil D'Armano
- Michael McElroyMichael McElroy (actor)Michael McElroy is an American musical theatre actor, singer and music director.Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, McElroy moved to New York City in May 1990 after earning his BFA in Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University. He made his Broadway debut in The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club...
. . . Oscar D'Armano - Sally Murphy . . . Sally
- Leah Hocking . . . Mae
- Adam Grupper . . . Gold
- Stuart ZagnitStuart ZagnitStuart Zagnit is an American character actor. He has worked in all areas including Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional, National Tours,television, films, commercials and voice-overs.-Theatre:*2011: The Merry Wives of Windsor - Brooklyn, NY - Sir John Falstaff*2009: How The Grinch Stole...
. . . Goldberg - Brooke Sunny Moriber . . . Nadine
- Jane Summerhays . . . Miss Madelaine True
Song list
The Vaudeville- Queenie was a Blonde/Marie is Tricky/Wild Party - Queenie, Burrs, Company
Promenade of Guests
- Dry - Burrs, Jackie, Madelaine, Sally, Eddie, Mae, Nadine, Brothers D’Armano, Dolores
- My Beautiful Blonde - Brothers D'Armano
- Welcome to my Party - Queenie
- Like Sally - Madelaine
- Breezin’ Through Another Day - Jackie
- Uptown - Brothers D’Armano
- Eddie & Mae - Eddie, Mae
- Gold & Goldberg - Gold, Goldberg
- Moving Uptown - Dolores
The Party
- Black Bottom - Queenie, Company
- Best Friend - Queenie, Kate
- A Little M-M-M - Brothers D’Armano
- Tabu/Taking Care of the Ladies - Oscar, Black, Company
- Wouldn’t It Be Nice? - Burrs
- Lowdown-Down - Queenie
- Gin - Burrs, Company
- Wild - Company
- Need - Madelaine, Company
- Black Is a Moocher - Kate
- People Like Us - Queenie, Black
After Midnight Dies
- After Midnight Dies - Sally
- Golden Boy - Eddie, Brothers D’Armano
- The Movin’ Uptown Blues - Gold, Goldberg
- The Lights of Broadway - Nadine
- More - Jackie
- Love Ain’t Nothin’/Welcome to Her Party/What I Need - Kate, Burrs, Queenie
- How Many Women in the World? - Burrs
- When It Ends - Dolores
Finale
- This is What It Is - Queenie
- Finale - Queenie, Burrs, Company
Original Broadway production
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... |
Outstanding Actor in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Mandy Patinkin Mandy Patinkin Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park... |
|
| Outstanding Actress in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Toni Collette Toni Collette Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish.... |
|||
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical was first awarded in the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has subsequently been awarded every year. In the 1993-1994 Drama Desk Awards the award was given under the name of Outstanding Supporting Actress - Musical... |
Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the... |
|||
| Theatre World Award Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:... |
Toni Collette Toni Collette Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish.... |
|||
| Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Musical Tony Award for Best Musical This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack... |
|||
| Best Book of a Musical Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible... |
Michael John LaChiusa Michael John LaChiusa Michael John LaChiusa is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for complex, musically challenging shows such as Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, and See What I Wanna See... and George C. Wolfe George C. Wolfe George Costello Wolfe is an American playwright and director of theater and film. He won a Tony Award in 1993 for directing Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and another Tony Award in 1996 for his direction of the musical, Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk.-Early life and... |
|||
| Best Original Score Tony Award for Best Original Score The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics... |
Michael John LaChiusa Michael John LaChiusa Michael John LaChiusa is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for complex, musically challenging shows such as Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, and See What I Wanna See... |
|||
| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival... |
Mandy Patinkin Mandy Patinkin Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park... |
|||
| Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Toni Collette Toni Collette Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish.... |
|||
| Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976.... |
Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the... |
|||
| Best Lighting Design Tony Award for Best Lighting Design This is a list of the winners of the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a play or musical, first presented in 1970. In 2005 the category was divided with each genre represented separately.-1970s:* 1970: Jo Mielziner – Child's Play... |
Jules Fisher Jules Fisher Jules Fisher is a lighting designer and producer. He is credited with lighting designs for more than 200 productions over the course of his 45 year career in Broadway and off-Broadway shows, as well extensive work in film, ballet, opera, television, and rock and roll concert tours... and Peggy Eisenhauer Peggy Eisenhauer Peggy Eisenhauer is an American lighting designer for both theatre and films. She has designed more than twenty Broadway shows and frequently collaborates with Jules Fisher.-Career:... |
|||
Comparison with the off-Broadway Wild Party
The Michael John LaChiusaMichael John LaChiusa
Michael John LaChiusa is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for complex, musically challenging shows such as Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, and See What I Wanna See...
and Andrew Lippa
Andrew Lippa
Andrew Lippa is an American composer, lyricist, book writer, performer, and producer. He is a resident artist at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City.-Biography:...
versions of The Wild Party are markedly different in their storylines. In Lippa's version, the plot is tightly focused on the central love triangle of Joseph Moncure March's poem, while the LaChiusa play, while also focusing on the love triangle, has fifteen characters, nearly all of whom are given story arcs of their own within the narrative. Within those individual stories, broader themes such as racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
, bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
, anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, and the concept of the American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
are included.
There are major differences in the music and tone of the two shows, as well. While Lippa takes a more abstract, non-date specific approach to his compositions and orchestrations, the LaChiusa score is both more tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
al in terms of musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
conventions as well as more period
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
with regard to the Roaring Twenties
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
setting.