Miraculous Wild Party Tonight in L.A.--Eslgr8's Review

[eslgr8]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 2:18am

Julia Murney’s Queenie may be a hard act to follow, but the extraordinary Tami Tappan Damiano proved herself every bit up to the challenge as she triumphed in Musical Theater Guild’s one-night-only “concert staged reading” of Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party at the Alex Theatre in Glendale tonight.
“Staged reading” cannot begin to describe this miraculously almost fully staged production, directed by the brilliant Nick DeGruccio and choreographed by the always stunning Lee Martino. Equity rules may insist that actors carry scripts, but since this musical is almost sung-through, rules were bent quite a bit tonight as the divine Tami T.D. performed almost entirely off book! (And the entire production was mounted (per Equity rules) with only about 2 dozen hours of rehearsal.)
Tami Tappan Damiano is a truly marvelous singer and actress. I’d seen her as “herself” in the Charles Strouse benefit concert two weeks ago. I scarcely recognized her tonight as she transformed herself into the tragically self-destructive Queenie. What a rich and powerfully expressive voice! Her renditions of Out of the Blue, Maybe I Like It This Way, and How Did We Come To This were among the dozen plus numbers receiving extended cheers from the dazzled audience.
Her co-stars were more than up to the challenge of performing opposite her. Eric Anderson was sensational as Burrs, Misty Cotton dynamic and sexy as Kate, and David Engel sang perfectly and ignited the stage as Black.
And then there was the supporting cast! Beth Malone an adorably funny Madeline True on a quest for a perfect Lesbian Love Story; Sam Zeller and Jennie Fahn as the comically mismatched pugilist Eddie and his “two-feet-shorter” girlfriend Mae; oh so cute Jeffrey Christopher Todd and Joseph Sark as gay lovers Oscar and Phil; and superlative dancers Shell Bauman and Yvette Tucker. The entire cast deserves mention: Brandon Alameda, Kristi Holden, Richard Israel, Bets Malone, and Larry Raben had smaller parts but did them sublimely.
The orgy scene had me gasping!
I sat next to two a couple who’d seen the LaChiusa version in New York and were astounded at how much “better” this one was. I’m not sure if “better” is the word; I’ll have more to say on that after seeing LaChiusa’s this summer. But try as I might, I just can’t get into M J L’s (for me overly) complex and discordant music. On the other hand, Lippa’s songs are each and everyone a showstopper; he has created a truly memorable score.
The entire ensemble of tonight’s performance deserves credit for their professionalism, total commitment to the project, and the truly amazing results of their labors. This is what pros can accomplish!
And it was an exciting night for me to be surrounded in the auditorium by many of the most talented musical theater performers in the Los Angeles area. Lucky me, to be able to greet a number of them (Roger Befeler, Teri Bibb, Elizabeth Ward Land, Kirsten Benton Chandler, Stuart Ambrose, Bryce Ryness, Alvin Ing, William Martinez, Kevin Earley, Eileen Barnett, and others) and tell them how much I have enjoyed their work.
What a shame this party was one night only.
It was a night to remember!




Updated On: 6/7/05 at 02:18 AM

[Popular]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 2:22am

Awww, I'm sorry I missed that. Are you going to see Jason Robert Brown this coming weekend? I think the thread I started on that was buried...

[Aigoo]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 2:48am

Ahhh...sounds great.

[Sheri]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 3:18am

Awww! Misty's first show in LA in a long time and I had to miss it! Especially since it was directed by my all time favorite LA director!

Glad you had a great time, Steven - thanks so much for the recap! I wish I'd been there to see it.


The Misty Cotton Site

[eslgr8]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 3:27am

Saw and greeted Kevin, and said you were sorry you couldn't make it. Congratulaed Nick on his triumph. Saw Julie Dixon Jackson from afar. Misty was a dynamo!!!

[Sheri]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 3:34am

Gah! All three of my favorites (four if you count Nick) were there? Why do I have to live so far away?? *SIGH*

Did you get to speak with Misty after the show?

[eslgr8]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 11:29am

There were so many musical theater celebs in the audience that I knew the stars of the production would be surrounded by friends, so I was satisfied just to have spoken to many of the audience members. I wanted to say hi to David Engel, and others, but I'll have to do that at a later date. I would have loved to congratulate Misty. Hope I have a chance to do so at a later date.

[Songsstresss]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 1:18pm

UGh I can't believe I had to miss this. I just did Ragtime with Eric Anderson and he is AMAZING. Would have loved to see him and this cast. Are they doing it again? Usually MTG does two performances of their readings.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 1:20pm

I feel like Lippa's is raunchier and for a younger crowd/cast while LaChiusa's is raunchy - but more civilized (so to speak).

[GaLiNdaFied]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 6:39pm

I completely agree with your review, eslgr8, the show was absolutely amazing, and Come With Me rocked the house (I believe I heard a 'that made me want to touch myself' after it) For the sake of anyone in LA that missed it, I hope that they bring it back 'by popular demand' later on.

[Aigoo]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 6:40pm

Civilized raunchiness. What a way with words you have, Nardy.

[Cyndy]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 8:18pm

I saw Misty play the narrator opposite Max von Essen's Joseph in "...Dreamcoat" a couple summers ago at music circus. She has quite the voice. Would have liked to have seen this show and her in it. Thanks for the report.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 8:26pm

I've not heard of MTG doing a production a second time, but... I doubt they've every done anything as triumphant as this was. If this doesn't convince someone to star Tami Tappan Damiano in a HUGE part, then something is seriously wrong with the theater. Let's hope that a full production will be mounted. If they can do this much with a few days' rehearsal, imagine what a few weeks would do!

[Thenardier]

Posted: 6/7/05 at 9:13pm

"Civilized raunchiness. What a way with words you have, Nardy."

Thanks