The Wild Party: Lippa vs LaChiusa- Page 2

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 1:32am

LaChiusa's score is one of the most complex, important scores in the last 20 years. His use of era specific sounds is remarkable. In addition to this, the original cast gave top notch performances.

As for Lippa, his songs are great, they just don't fit the period. They are broader and less complex than LaChiusa's, less challenging for the listener (which is probably why his is more popular amongst the younger set). But while I adore many of his melodies, his lyrics are quite negligible. And I don't think his use of modern sounds fits this particular work. If you go to the original source material, period plays such an important part in the story, and LaChiusa's use of sounds they would be hearing at the party, is appropriate and thrilling.

And Too Darn Hot, you're once again making an assumption in hopes of stirring the pot. Generally, at least on this board, LaChiusa's is favored. The Wicked/Rent sent (not being insulting, but it is generally true) love Lippa's for its broadness, the screechy belting that their ears seem to crave, and Idina (who I think is pretty awful on the recording). Murney's Queenie was quite thrilling, as are James and Diggs.

But listen to "Lesbian Love Story (a one joke song that gets old quickly; but features a fun performance by Alix Korey) and pair it next to "Like Sally", which captures that characters motives and ideas without resulting one note, unsophisticated humor.

I also feel LaChiusa is slightly more respectful of the characters. He takes them on a journey. Lippa's ideas, or lack of, are cloudy and unfocused. I often feel like he dug into his trunk of songs and pulled things out. He lost me once those damn electric guitars came in. I'm a fan of modern music, but only when appropriate. And with the original staging so period specific, the music felt that much more out of place.

But it's easier for the ear, unlike LaChiusa's rich, layered work that features melody on top of melody. It just feels so much more important than the Lippa work.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 2:15am

"As for Lippa, his songs are great, they just don't fit the period."

Really? The thing I like most about his version is that I think a lot of the songs completely fit the period. He captured what I imagine NYC in the 1920s was like.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 2:18am

Umm. Electric guitars and rock styled music does NOT fit the 20's era.

[broadwaybaby086]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 10:29am

Yeah, Elphaba. Check out LaChiusa's.

I bought that CD when I was 13 or 14 after having seen a number on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. It took a little while to warm up to all of the songs, but it really opened my eyes to what theatre music could be. It's just so freaking brilliant. I loved it then and still love it now!

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 12:42pm

"Really? The thing I like most about his version is that I think a lot of the songs completely fit the period. He captured what I imagine NYC in the 1920s was like."

BWAH! Really? Have you heard any music from the era?

[Jon]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 2:04pm

I never saw the Lippa version, but I can't imagine Taye Diggs giving a worse performance than Yancey Arias, who played Black in the LaChiusa. Tonya Pinkins was also a disappointment.

Toni Collette, Mandy Patinkin, Marc Kudisch, Eartha Kitt, Sally Murphy, Norm Lewis, Jane Summerhays, Leah Hocking all gave amazing performances. The staging was brilliant.

...and I hated it.

[stupidbeans]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 2:06pm

sonce I'm an Idina fan, I'm going with lippa

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 2:33pm

Lippa, talented as he is, knows that he wasn't writing a period accurate score. I think he was going with a more contemporary sound to give the show a less period, more modern-day feel. I liked his version, but thought that it was really hurt by the staging of the opening number, which seemed derivative of the then current Cabaret and Chicago revivals.

The LaChiusa version is the one that really stuck with me, though. So many odd moments, disturbing visuals, jarring and uncomfortable numbers and some striking staging, particularly the way the set started to breakaway as the evening went on. I think the score pays off in repeated hearings and I'm sorry I didn't go back to see it a second time before it left. It really was a bit of a one-of-a-kind evening.

Updated On: 8/31/08 at 02:33 PM

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 5:58pm

BobbyBubby, of course I've heard music from the 1920s. I just think Lippa captured the vibe of the '20s and modernized it. As I said, I haven't yet listened to LaChiusa's version so I have nothing to compare it to.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 8/31/08 at 6:42pm

With regards to the musical sound...it's easy to quibble about the appropriateness of the sound but what you're really arguing about is orchestration. The only issue I had with Lippa's orchestration was the electric guitar...only because it didn't seem as part of the score. I certainly don't think the musical period has to reflect the style of the music. It certainly helps but it's not set in stone. I'd be bored to death if a musical taking place in the renaissance only had lyres and lutes and madrigal music.


I actually wanna go to the Little Fish Concert next week. Does Joe's Pub offer discount tickets? $30 plus a 2 drink minimum is kind of intense.

[designerguy]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 6:05pm

Agreed! Agreed!


Lippa's is significantly more sophisticated both musically and in the rawness of the story/characters.

Anyone can get a name (Mandy and Toni) to boost their show, but few can get the acclaim and talent that Lippa drew.

Come on people listen to the score closely. It is intricate and as finely woven as persian silk. It is a crisp, elegant romp into the the seedier side of life.

Lippa's is by far the more significant work. LaChiusa is juvenile and underdeveloped.

Lippa is my hero.

[CYAPollyanna]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 6:39pm

LaChiusa's version wins HANDS DOWN!!!

People that think Lippa's version is better are unsophisticated twinks that only think things are "Fierce" because there is high belting involved.

LaChiusa's version completely emobodies the tone of the orgininal short story...from the music to the staging of the revolving set where the characters never leave...

PLUS LaChiusa's score is INSANELY HARD....seriously..."Wild" has like 10 people singing completely different parts at the same time...so complicated.

The only reason the Lippa music is more popular is because it's way easier to play and is way more vocally show-ey.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 8:00pm

In the most recent incarnation of Forbidden Broadway (FB Goes to Rehab) there's a small segment with people arguing over this very question. And it makes me think of that. Because I really just can't imagine how anyone would prefer Lippa's rather pedestrian effort over LaChiusa's brilliant score. His Wild Party is touching, magical, complicated, and boasts remarkable performances from some of the best talent out there. Toni is outstanding as Queenie and in my opinion kind of deserved her own Tony (what a blow it must have been losing the Oscar and Tony for the same year). I know different people have different tastes, but I hold The Wild Party as one of the best modern scores and really think there's no comparison.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 8:35pm

LaChiusa. His rich and complex score not only captures the era, but it evokes the dangerous quality of a party that starts of wild, then spins horribly out of control. Lippa's score is nice, but it has a more generic quality with songs that could easily have been written for a variety of subjects and stories. LaChiusa's score sounds as if every note and melody had been painstakingly chosen for this one tale. I think it is incredibly brilliant and underrated. I have never understood how Aida got the Tony for score that year.

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 2:11am

Lippa's show sucks.

Sorry to be blunt, but it's just the God's honest truth and it had to be said.
The songs, by themselves, are really good, I like listening to them. And the production looked good, I like watching vids on "that site".
But it just LOOKED and SOUNDED cool.

Lippa's show couldn't be more schizophrenic in musical style. It's a story set in the 20s but he just stuffs it with the most anachronistic and disparate sounds. That might be okay somewhere else, but The Wild Party is deeply rooted in 1920s America. When doing a period piece, pick a genre and stick with it (see Parade, hell even The Wedding Singer).

Lippa's version is in no way authentic to me. I can't care about the characters as much as I do in LaChuisa's, the costumes/makeup, book and music destroy my emotional connection to the piece and it just becomes something beautiful and riffy to be entertained by. Which is how I would best describe the two shows.

Lippa's is entertaining. LaChuisa's is mentally and psychologically nourishing.

LaChuisa and Wolfe built a musical where every instance, every song and line flowed in and out of each other and drove the story together. The drama in the book is much more realistic and heightened. All the characters are sharply defined. The score is a musical mathematical formula; it's so intricate and lush. It sounds gorgeous when it calls for it, and sounds ugly and unsettling when needed. There are so many themes expressed in the show, racism, integrity and honor of ethnic background, fame, interracial relationships, the American Dream, drug abuse, excess, sexual depravity, youth corruption, homosexuality, abuse, mental instability. Lippa skims across some of these while LaChuisa delves deep into them (in only one act no less), sometimes too deep for comfort, which is what makes a great piece of art; something that forces you to think and participate, to be offended, disturbed or excited and thirsty to form a well rounded opinion.

Lippa made a cool show that has powerful vocals and is fun to sing along to. Yeah, the story has drama. But to me, watching Lippa's Wild Party is just watching four brats get drunk and whine loudly at each other while a bunch of other one-dimensional people who are obviously not original, personable or important enough to get more than four lines get just as drunk in the background.

LaChuisa wrote a theatrical masterpiece.

[mattporter17]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 1:21am

Bringing this back up, because of the production of Lippa's version that's happening soon. It seems pretty split. Any new thoughts on this thread?

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 1:43am

I really love both. There is plenty of room for them both to exist.

That being said, I feel as if Lippa wrote a musical rooted in the singular emotions of these characters, while LaChiusa wrote a musical rooted in character. Lippa's (IMO) really makes you feel for these characters with it's bold strokes, but half the time you don't really know what's going on. I didn't truly understand the story/original poem until I heard LaChiusa's version.

Both have some absolutely stunning moments: 'People Like Us' (one of the greatest songs ever composed for musical theatre) & 'When It Ends' from LaChiusa's, and 'Maybe I Like It This Way' and 'The Life of the Party' from Lippa's, just to name a few.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 1:59am

A year ago, I was almost completely unfamiliar with both versions, but now I have been lucky enough to see a production of each version in recent months. I much prefer LaChiusa's version. The score is grounded in the period much more, and it's a dream for a music geek like me. All the mixed meter, dissonant harmonies, and that one crazy moment with eight completely different vocal lines layered on top of each other... it really makes Lippa's score seem tame by comparison. Also, structurally, LaChiusa's version gives each of the minor characters more to work with, and they get slightly more focus, whereas Lippa's is really just about four characters while a bunch of other people happen to be there and occasionally take the spotlight just to fill time.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 2:07am

If you like 2 hours of belting and screeching from unlikable characters you don't care about, you'll love the Lippa version.

I'd indulge the concert production for the all star cast, and because, as stand alones, a few songs a quite good. However, I am not in the city for a while (had LaChiusa's version been performed, that would be a different matter)

I'll simply quote Variety as LaChiusa and Wolfe have no need for me to defend their show "LaChiusa and Wolfe’s “Wild Party” is superior in every respect to the previous version".

 

 

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 2:30pm

Lippa's Wild Party is another "modern" show that will be considered tacky and dated in a few years.  It doesn't have the timelessness that Lachiusa's score has.

Lippa's is a popcorn score.  It's incredibly pedestrian. 

Plus I don't want to hear Idina Menzel screech her vocal chords out.

[Actriz2]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 4:02pm

It honestly depends on your personal taste. I love both.

Lippa's score is more "alive" and I definitely agree that his score is filled with more stand-alone songs than story-driving songs. In essence, it's basically a score filled with great audition songs.

LaChiusa's score is more textured and challenging, and his songs are very well integrated into the plot. His lyrics are also much deeper and much more characteristic of the show.

I do think that the original production of LaChiusa's was superior to the original production of Lippa's (going to the Encores production in a few weeks, very excited) but both scores are quite amazing if you ask me.

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 4:05pm

I've never seen or listened to the whole album of both versions but I do hear Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party "The Life of the Party" sung by Idina Menzel all the time. So good!

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 4:18pm

I happen to prefer Lippa's, because while LaChiusa's is undeniably the artistic masterpiece, technically superior in most ways, it doesn't do what I think an adaptation of the Wild Party should do.

LaChiusa's musical is a brilliant and human take on bigotry and its trickle-down effects, using Moncure March's "The Wild Party" as a jumping off point to explore this sociological phenomenon. This is well and good, and perhaps deeply important. But to me, the reason I love the book "The Wild Party" so much is its grisly, decadent element of the grotesque. It's the jazz equivalent of an Edward Gorey sketch. With its tighter focus on Burrs's mad, somewhat self-created love triangle, and the creative decision to make the party guests sinister, vaguely repulsive cartoon characters as opposed to LaChiusa's deeply explored archetypes, Lippa's adaptation speaks to what I like about the work, more than it necessarily speaks to what makes "progressive musical theatre."

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 4:28pm

I prefer the Lippa version. I tried listening to the LaChusia version and the music was weird. Maybe I need to listen to it again. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/3/15 at 4:40pm

I didn't see either staging and have only heard the LaChiusa via download. But I was SHOCKED at how much I like it, even at first hearing! And it's obviously a score that reveals much more with each new listen.