4 years late but... Wild Party Appreciation Thread (offbroadway version)

I just got Wild party and ..oh..my...god. I fell in love.

It's soooo wonderfully fantastic! The songs, gah! Andrew Lippa is a genius and the cast! what can i say? Julia Murney's voice is sooo captivating and excellent. I've fallen in love with Brian D'Arcy James too.

You really get to hear Taye Digg's beautiful voice in this, you can't really capture it in RENT, but you hear it in this. AH! Idina Menzel also f***ing awesome, I'm sorry but she is the only one I know that can belt for 15 seconds with no words but "yeah" at the end during the Jaugernautt.(sp?)

so yeah, what does everyone else think about it?
and also, what's your favorite song?

P.S.- my friend and I were trying to figure out what happens at the end of the Jaugernautt (sp?) since we are unable to actually watch the show. Can anyone explain this please? :)


-Amanda H.

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Was it the veiw I was watching the other day, when Vanessa Williams was talking about how she origianted one of the roles, cant remember the characters name. Should I have known that?

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yes, the Broadway virsion sucks and wicked is the best musical ever... I love this fantasy world you live in... actually I don't but I admire your imagination...

Updated On: 12/6/04 at 01:56 AM

I've been listening to Wild Party for a while and just finally saw it performed at the Boston Conservatory few weeks ago.It's an amazing show... great music and cast

Vanessa Williams was supposed to play Queenie in the Broadway Wild Party.

The Off-Broadway version has some very attractive songs, and has a really talented cast, but after a while of watching the set move around in circles, a monotony set in for me. The staging of the opening number, which looked like a cross of the Cabaret and Chicago revivals, was especially damaging, and Ben Brantley ended up spending far too much time on it.

In the endless debate, I thought the Broadway version had the more interesting score, staging and generally, cast (though Taye Diggs was much more dynamic than his Broadway counterpart, Yancey Arias). George Wolfe staged the early scenes in this heightened, stylized fashion, with starkly lit olio drops for the vaudeville and "Dry" scenes leading up to the party. Patinkin in blackface is a sight I won't soon forget. The ballroom set's disintegration was also very striking. It was a resolutely downbeat show, moreso than the Off-Broadway version, but for me, the more memorable evening.

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well, based on the cast recordings alone, Lippa has the far stronger score IMO. The Broadway version has a good cast, and Lord knows I love me some Mandy Patinkin, but, the music just didn't do anything for me. That, and the fact that I can't stand Eartha Kitt's voice, made me regret buying the Broadway version. Lippa strayed farther from the original poem (which is also AMAZING) but, his music is just more "accessible" or something. Oh well, to each his/her own!

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Give the LaChiusa version another spin or two every now and then, EverythingisRENT. It sometimes helps to appreciate a score that you don't love on first hearing. Lippa's is definitely more accessible and ear-pleasing, so I can completely understand your difficulty with the LaChiusa version.

And indeed, my screen name is an Anyone Can Whistle reference, WickedFan. Glad you caught it!

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the lachiusa version is about a hundred million times better... i really like both scores, and listen to both often... but... lippa's version is more accessible because it is what your ear is used to listening to today... lachiusa's version actually brings together the sounds of the 20's and 30's during the vaudeville age... the whole score is just so much more period... which i think is necessary for this show... also, the sung through aspect is key because the poem is told in one long stream of conciousness for a reason, so to keep that single vision the show has to keep on one track... that is the brilliance of the lachiusa show... i've obviously heard people i like better than mandy patinkin... but i'd say he's the weakest link... and toni collette has such an edge on julia murney... god how i hate her voice...

Lippa's version is terrific on the first exposure, but subsequent listens reveal big time flaws...especially in the lyrics (Some of which have been ripped off wholly from Jerry Herman and Don Henley, just to name two). I'm still holding out for Lippa, the kid's got potential...but LaChiusa's score blows him out of the water.

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another sloe eyed vamp, Lippa is currently working on composing the music for Asphalt Beach, Kristin Chenoweth's new movie musical, and he also did the songs for the recent Little Princess musical :)

Also, what didn't you like about John and Jen? I've been contemplating buying it (I heart Carolee Carmello), but I'd like to hear other opinions.

Julia Murney is art! What a voice she has. That girl has got serious talent.

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Love Wild Party! my favorite song is People like us.

Can we just make it clear, we are talking about the good version:
Andrew Lippa's, not Micahel John LaChuisa's 2nd best attempt.

This is my favourite musical, just from the soundtrack.....its is amazing isnt it!!!?? It is my ambition to sing Make Me Happy and Poor Child on stage!

John and Jen is good, but all the songs are kinda good and towards the end it seems to just be Carolee Carmello and while she is one of my fav performers, its still a bit like it was made for her and they just chucked in a guy.

I love andrew lippa for his work though, The Wild Party is just amazing, and brian,julia,idina and taye really make it!!!!

oo yeah and i cannot wait for Asphalt Beach, ive been looking forward to iot since i heard of it coming out last year!!!!!

oooo bring on lippppaaa!