Alladin, Donica, Pinkins & More Complete ENCORES! THE WILD PARTY Cast- Page 2

[Kad]

Posted: 2/19/26 at 11:50am

It's clearly inexpensive social media teaser to show off the leads and begin promoting a 14 performance presentation, not a multimillion dollar marketing campaign for a commercial production. It's fine for what it is. 

Updated On: 2/19/26 at 11:50 AM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/19/26 at 4:08pm

Eh.  It doesn't have to cost millions of $ in NYC to be good.  There are tons of great talent in this city.  It's unimpressive even for a 2 week run considering it's Encores.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 2/19/26 at 4:32pm

Sutton Ross said: "WldKingdomHM said: "Lot666 said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "Jordan Donica as Burrs is very exciting to me. Have we seen him play anything other than “aw shucks” romantic leads before?"

He played Max in Sunset Blvd after David Thaxton departed, and there was absolutely nothing "aw shucks" about it. He had menace, passion, and a great rumbling voice that shook the seats. He got a standing ovation at the end of "The Greatest Star of All" that rivaled what Nicole got after "As If We Never Said Goodbye"."

He was stunning in Sunset"

He's stunning in everything he's ever done and I can't wait to see him here. Steven Pasquale was brilliant in the part the last time they did this, so I can't wait to see what Jordan can bring."

 

Pasquale was in a different Wild Party. So much about the two roles are wildly different, especially the vocal range and musical qualities. 

 

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 2/19/26 at 4:35pm

CoffeeBreak said: "Eh. It doesn't have to cost millions of $ in NYC to be good. There are tons of great talent in this city. It's unimpressive even for a 2 week run considering it's Encores."

Eh. Posts here don't have to be intelligent or contribute anything of worth, but we put up with you anyway.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 2/19/26 at 4:36pm

Oh, I didn't realize. What is the difference between the two roles?

[Merkin2]

Posted: 2/19/26 at 7:36pm

There’s 40% off at TodayTix happening 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 10:12am

I have not purchased a window card in a very long time but I have to give a shout out to Ben Wiseman for creating my favorite for this season. I cannot wait to purchase this. I just love it especially the lower eyelash. Just brilliant.

 

[Kad]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 10:30am

It’s really a gorgeous design. 
 

I’ll be going on the 19th. I haven’t been this excited for an Encores production in a while. The Wild Party is an underrated masterpiece of a score and I sincerely hope that this brings wider recognition of it. 

[AC126748]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 10:33am

Sutton Ross said: "Oh, I didn't realize. What is the difference between the two roles?"

Burrs in the Lippa Wild Party is portrayed as a real brute -- but as one with a lot of sexual magnetism. The Burrs of the Lachiusa Wild Party is much more psychologically menacing.

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 10:38am

The tone of the two pieces is completely different. Lippa's show is a rollicking, winking dark comedy that mixes 2000s Broadway pop with jazz sounds and film noir winks. It's an intentionally sort of sleazy, tacky "fun" show that leans into the more grotesque elements of the original novel: the characters are one dimensional stereotypes on purpose, because that's the kind of nightmare-party world Joseph M. March wrote about. It's a blast, sometimes intentionally offensive but not meant to be taken too seriously.

LaChiusa's work is a much more serious and three-dimensional piece, which expands and almost interrogates March's world. It turns the story from a melodrama into a mood piece about how racism is the rot at the heart of the American experience and it has its tendrils sunk into everything it touches. The characters aren't grotesque clowns like in Lippa or the original novel, they're more realistically portrayed and the score is a mix of period-appropriate sounds and LaChiusa's more challenging theatrical art music. It's generally considered a masterpiece.

Which version people prefer is a pretty personal thing: it depends if your tastes lean towards dark fun or serious social drama. 

[Kad]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 11:14am

Lippa's Wild Party was very popular with theater kids when I was in high school in the mid-00s. It's all this-feels-edgy and big feelings in big belty songs. It focuses tightly on Queenie-Burrs-Black while the other characters are one-song wonders and have little to no bearing on the show. (Most telling: Jackie and Dolores are in both shows, but are little more than ensemble roles in Lippa's with few, if any, lines, while in LaChiusa's both are principal roles and prominent parts of the action with Dolores even getting the 11 o'clock number). 

LaChiusa's takes a much wider scope. All the guests are given a clear thematic purpose and story arc and are generally well-integrated into the story. LaChiusa and Wolfe also widen the aperture to explore 1920s society a lot more- race, gender, sexuality, and class are all explicitly explored. 

Burrs in Lippa's version is a vaguely defined vaudeville clown who is a jealous, abusive drunk. LaChiusa's Burrs is specifically a minstrel performer- which by the 1920s was on its way out as popular entertainment- who is plagued by insecurity and inadequacy. He spends the first half of the show desperately trying to ingratiate himself with people who he thinks can help him move up in the world, then turns and bitterly tries to destroy the relationships of his guests. He's still jealous of Queenie and Black, but it comes from much deeper well than in Lippa's. It's a nasty but complex role. 

Updated On: 3/6/26 at 11:14 AM

[Melissa25]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 12:39pm

 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 12:41pm

 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 1:14pm

Thanks for the explanations guys, I didn't realize they were so vastly different. The cast just can't be beat really, so that's why I'm seeing it. Looking forward to the 25th, and I love that image too, Melissa. I hope they have a few items for purchase.

Updated On: 3/6/26 at 01:14 PM

[MidWestTheater]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 1:29pm

Love that Lili-Ann Brown is wearing "The Understudy" shirt...the Chicago Theatre Bookstore.

 

[Falsettolands]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 1:42pm

I don’t think I’ve been more nervous for an Encore’s show (Yes. Nervous.)

This is just one of those “you only get one chance” shows that I can’t imagine will ever get another revival in the city. A perfect cast recording. A very gritty, dark show that doesn’t conform. And I just really hope they stick the landing.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 1:48pm

Hated her direction of The Color Purple here in Chicago so curious to see what she does with this!

[Merkin2]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 2:59pm

It says the run time is two hours.  Do we know if this will be without an intermission? 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 3:03pm

Exactly that Color Purple was not good.  Her direction in the recent Play On! at DC Signature was poor too -  and cast strange (with a few exceptions).  The set design and show itself were both good- her directed production was not. amateur feel. 

We love WP and hope she isn't again using the same choreographer from DC or Chicago.

Updated On: 3/6/26 at 03:03 PM

[MidWestTheater]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 4:39pm

I enjoyed her production of The Color Purple, it wasn't in the seem league of John Doyle's production, but I enjoyed it. I really loved her productions of Eureka Day and The Hot Wing King. 

I'm so curious about her placing the production more in the Harlem Renaissance, and being inspired by the dark tower. 

Mostly I"m super excited to see so much Chicago talent on NY Stage.

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 3/9/26 at 4:15pm

There's a REALLY good deal going out for this with code BESTIE that is valid until (I think) noon tomorrow. A handful of orchestra seats for $97 that are normally $185... Side mezzanine for $60. 

Very happy about this, as someone who loves the orchestra at City Center but has of late been priced out of it (with pretty much every decent orchestra seat being $185). The sound is infinitely better there --- the sightlines from the front balcony are surprisingly good but sound not so much. (And the very back of the mezz, while being affordable for mezz seats, feels like you're on a different planet). 

Also, if you're an ACCESS member, there are some $28 seats in mezz and orch (usually just in balcony) for the Thursday 3/26 performance only. 

[Ensemble1698878795]

Posted: 3/9/26 at 4:16pm

iluvtheatertrash said: "CoffeeBreak said: "Eh. It doesn't have to cost millions of $ in NYC to be good. There are tons of great talent in this city. It's unimpressive even for a 2 week run considering it's Encores."

Eh. Posts here don't have to be intelligent or contribute anything of worth, but we put up with you anyway."

Daily and they are exhausting. 

[LoveIsMyLegs2]

Posted: 3/9/26 at 5:09pm

Merkin2 said: "It says the run time is two hours. Do we know if this will be without an intermission?"

They don't have one posted. The original B'way production ran just under two hours with no intermission. I'm hoping they stick with that here, as the piece really works really well when there's no chance break from the action.

[NakedMaid]

Posted: 3/10/26 at 6:35pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRqhlmMsarE

I just listened to this video and was surprised it hadn’t already been discussed here.
I'm really hoping the sound of the rehearsal room/filming is what's killing the harmonies (that you eagerly await). But NYCC is notorious for having bad sound for the run too.

(as usual, the thread has mostly turned into more bickering)

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/10/26 at 6:40pm

Three performances and some photos as well. Everyone sounds and looks incredible.

https://playbill.com/article/see-jasmine-amy-rogers-and-adrienne-warren-perform-best-friends-from-the-wild-party