Alladin, Donica, Pinkins & More Complete ENCORES! THE WILD PARTY Cast- Page 3

[mrgd55]

Posted: 3/10/26 at 7:36pm

I'm so excited for this.  I saw the original twice. If you're not familiar with the score and you don't mind spoilers, I would recommend listening to the score before you go in.  It's a complex one and for my amateur ears, it didn't catch the first time.  I remember thinking I have to hear this again after the first viewing.

I'm just wondering what the Encores subscriber base is going to think of this.  It's DARK and not exactly full of hummable/mummable melodies (although there are some gorgeous ones).  I think it will be best if there is no intermission.

Plus I love the cast especially Jordan and Amy.  I think Jordan will surprise alot of people.  He was magnificent in Sunset.  He gave a heartbreaking detailed performance.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 3/10/26 at 7:56pm

This has long been my top pick for Encores, so I’m unbearably excited. First production I’ve ever purchased two separate tickets for in advance.

Updated On: 3/10/26 at 07:56 PM

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 3/10/26 at 8:18pm

I saw the obc three times. Loved it! So crazy

This looks well intresting …Oh Tonya 

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 12:51pm

Anyone going tonight? 

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 2:13pm

I don’t want to comment on a dress rehearsal, but I’m going to anyway.

It was FABULOUS. One of the best dress rehearsals I’ve been to at Encores. And that’s an outrageous statement when you think about it, because this score is not easy. The cast rehearsed for 10 days and brought us THAT level of performance?? Mind-blowing.

Donica is the stand-out here. They’re all incredible. The talent on that stage is insane.

It is not really a show that would sell well with a long run on Broadway, so I can’t imagine it would transfer. If anyone is on the fence about this…GO. If you enjoy theatre and TALENT, GO!

[Kad]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 2:40pm

Thrilled to hear that! I'm going tomorrow and I am counting down the minutes. 

Although a cast recording or transfer are pipe dreams, at the very least I hope this brings the show the attention and acclaim it's deserved for a quarter century. 

Updated On: 3/18/26 at 02:40 PM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 2:45pm

Kad said: "Falsettolands said: "Have there been any murmurs of Lachiusa touching the show at all? Minor rewrites? Curious to know if anything if getting spruced up."

The only thing I could see them revising is the use of black face in the show. I hope they don't, though."

They don't revise the black face.  It's still there via Donica etc.

Updated On: 3/18/26 at 02:45 PM

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 3:01pm

Thank you for this! I’m in town over the run and was hesitant after High Spirits, but I think I have to make this work! 

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 3:16pm

Going Sat. It's a long time since I've been so excited for a show... very happy at that early report. It's quite a piece of material... hope this cast and team can do it justice! 

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 10:15pm

Any reports? 

[bfreak]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 11:27pm

I saw the show tonight and thought it was excellent! Very well directed and paced. The entire ensemble is giving layered, lived-in performances. This had the energy of an opening night but the confidence of a tight show that’s been running for months. No one on book, you would never believe this is a production that had around 2 weeks of rehearsal.

Jordan Donica brings a calculated menace, Jasmine Amy Rodgers is touching, charming, and sensual, and Tonya Pinkins absolutely brings the house down at the end. Adrienne Warren and Jelani Pinkins are also standouts. Everyone’s voices are stellar. This was my first time ever seeing this work, so I’m still reeling from the material as well as the production, but I really think this is a great staging and a must see. I think that with the right theatre and marketing this can absolutely transfer to Broadway if the production has the opportunity.

[tjjster]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 11:30pm

I’ve been excited for this production for more than a year. Planned an entire trip to nyc around it. Had high expectations going into tonight’s performance. 

It’s been a while since I’ve seen an encores production and so after the show I turned to my friend and asked if all the encores shows are this good nowadays. His reply: this may be the best encores production I’ve ever seen. 

To quote the show, “what a night, indeed…”

Jasmine Amy Rogers is brilliant as Queenie. It’s shocking she’s been able to build such a nuanced, fully lived character while still performing Spelling Bee. She is sexy and coy and wild and childlike and bold and afraid. All her solo moments were fantastic but the desperation brought to People Like Us with Alladin was beautiful. 
 

I don’t have any delusions about this show transferring, but if it did…give Jordan Donica all the awards. Donica obliterates any memory of previous Burrs. The role is fully his and it is beautiful and scary to watch a man descend into the brokenness where Burrs insecurities take hold. 
 

It’s great seeing Tonya Pinkins on stage and she delivers her lines with dry wit. You can tell her Delores is in control of any room she walks into, but satisfyingly drops the mask for a rousing When It Ends. 

In fact, I could continue to sing the praises of the rest of the cast. Mostly everyone far exceeded whatever expectations I had going in. Only one performance I could have swapped out had I been casting/directing. 
 

I was shocked that the entire cast performed without binders.  for a score with this much music, and music with this much complexity, being off book with full staging/choreograohy/and character is astonishing within the abbreviated rehearsal schedule  

The set and costumes were more than I expected and fit the show well. 
 

nitpicky thing, I wish the lighting was better at drawing your eye to who was speaking/singing. Even knowing the show, It’s easy to get lost with most of  cast onstage the whole time.

 

I echo what someone posted above, if you’re on the fence…go!
 


 

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 11:35pm

I knew the cast album a bit but had never seen the show. I’m glad I saw it and I’m glad Encores did it, but it left me wanting so much more. 

There is a lack of focus in this production. And yes, it’s a concept musical about a night of dizzying intoxication, but there was something sort of rudderless. Which is deadly when your runtime is two intermissionless hours. 

The cast is a mixed bag. Some good, some average, some that might improve over the next week and a half — or would have been good with better direction. Above all I wanted more out of Tonya Pinkins who felt so right on paper but there is something missing.

The stage feels too vast for a show that is contained to an apartment. It has an attractive enough scenic design, but not great costumes, sound and lighting. Felt like everything needed to be pulled 5 feet closer to the audience.

Updated On: 3/18/26 at 11:35 PM

[jazzicat]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 6:11am

Went last night and echo sentiment about the performances. If you are at all on the fence.. Go. Tonya Pinkins was my standout by far and I went to see the others. 

Also, I did bring my teen daughter who can usually handle mature content and she was definitely the youngest in the theater last night. She is a dancer and singer so the overall value of the production outweighed some of the more adult themes… for anyone on the fence with a teen or tween there was a lot of cocaine use and black face as someone said that was probably the hardest for me to explain. Everything else was very well-orchestrated and some things went over her head. I would definitely follow the rules and not go lower than a mature 12.

My only comments are really operational. Is the “no intermission” a City Center thing or a production thing? I absolutely hated it and I am never someone who has to go the bathroom during a show. It makes the show feel so long, and perhaps it is not to disrupt the production value… but I think it’s an error. People  need a break. Or the option of taking one with a show this intense. My tickets were selected for me so I had no idea if I was on an aisle or not (I wasn’t). 

Plus City Center attracts an older crowd- I saw people running out and never returning. It’s horrible to spend an entire show feeling like you can’t escape. I think it actually detracted from the show in a major way as there is no easy way out if you absolutely have to go.

i would seriously reconsider this to be kinder to the audience- who wants to spend a show (as wonderful as it is) worried about if you might need a bio break. I thought it added stress to an amazing evening  and there were a few natural breaks in the show. If it’s a City Center policy, I’m not sure I will attend a show there again. Why rough it? I am the biggest supporter of not disrupting the flow…. But it is really uncomfortable (and I know other shows do it) but given this theater and the more mature content. I am sure on the flip side that some people loved the no intermission and the earlier night home :)

Plus… the merch is glorious. Save money for that- fun and beautiful and a great selection. I think they would sell more with an intermission. 

 

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 06:11 AM

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 9:54am

The lack of an intermission is a structural choice made by the creative team to maintain the show's momentum, not a NYCC policy. A break would kill the tension they’re building. FWIW, it’s noted in the Playbill and mentioned by ushers as you’re being seated. Don’t let it put you off the venue altogether; almost all of their other productions have traditional intermissions.

On a separate note, I just saw on the website that Jordan Donica is out of the show next Wednesday, 3/25, with his standby - Curtis Bannister - on as Burrs. I’ll be there tonight and next week, so it’ll be interesting to see both.

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 09:54 AM

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 10:38am

Idk this seems off to me Jasmine doesn’t have the spunk/presence Queenie should be in the videos. Maybe I was blessed seeing Toni three times. Just something is off 

yeah and this show should NOT have an intermission 

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 10:38 AM

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 4:34pm

Incredible - an embarrassment of riches! Thankfully I didn't have to go to bathroom because I wouldn't have wanted to miss anything. I had never seen a prod. of this & only knew of the Lippa take on it thanks to ENCORES 11 yrs ago. Unbelievably I sat taking this in not knowing that I was watching the same artists that I had seen in Camelot, Boop & Caroline or Change. I totally thought I was watching Leslie Uggams instead of Tonya Pinkins & surprised at how I could see nothing from these musical theater stars 'Lancelot' or 'Betty' that could have clued me in to what else I had seen them in. After HIGH SPIRITS it was so nice to see such a full out performance & appreciated the design choices which utilized stage back corners in a way I have not quite seen at City Center mainstage before. (The only thing that bothered me were the role of the 14 yr old girl & some of the Black mens hair (buns, ponytails) that just didn't seem period to me. Meghan Murphy as Madeline True was a standout in a company full of standouts. All in all, an exciting, ambitious & challenging piece of performance art that raises the bar for Encores. 

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 5:31pm

NYT review --- Helen Shaw (gift link)

Critic's pick. Many notes of admiration, and a couple really interesting caveats... so well-written, and what a reminder that Shaw is just the best critic working today. What a gift to have her at the NYT. 

SO excited to see this! 

[east side story]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 6:42pm

Bought a ticket for tomorrow based on this thread, and very much looking forward to seeing the show. Love Donica, he was wonderful in Sunset last summer. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 9:53pm

Is this the best Pinkins has ever sounded?

 

This felt extremely long without an intermission but was a very strong showing.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 10:03pm

Wowie. What a night.

It’s hard not to be biased, since this very well may be my all-time favorite score, but (other than maybe Into the Woods) this was the best, most sure-footed Encores production I’ve seen. I have some quibbles with the sound balance and lighting, and poor Lesli Margherita’s voice sounds shredded to bits, but I just loved this. Michael John LaChiusa’s score is a modern masterpiece, in my opinion - dark, sexy, twisty, gorgeous, often a blast - and this cast more than does it justice.

That said, it’s not for everyone. I heard a lot of befuddlement leaving the theater, lots of Playbill- and watch-checking, and a group of maybe 50 high school students left en masse after “Black is a Moocher” (which, in all fairness, is staged pretty explicitly). In the musical canon, it’s less tiki cocktail and more shot of something that stings all the way down. But for folks who like their theatre dark and unvarnished, this is as good as it gets.

Bravo especially to Jordan Donica, who gets better every time I see him, and Jasmine Amy Rogers, who I hadn’t seen onstage before tonight and absolutely blew me away. You would truly never know these two have theoretically only been working on this material for less than two weeks. Remarkable stuff.

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 10:03 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 10:33pm

NY Stage Review

 

The Wild Party: Midnight Special

By Michael Sommers

March 19, 2026

★★★★☆ Jasmine Amy Rogers, Jordan Donica, and Tonya Pinkins lead a terrific ensemble in Michael John LaChiusa’s musical of Roaring ’20s madness

https://nystagereview.com/2026/03/19/the-wild-party-midnight-special/

[Kad]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 10:33pm

Have to echo the praise here. The show has some shagginess and lack of focus, but only because it wants to focus on so much. George C. Wolfe’s influence is all over it and I find it hard not admire a show that sets such a high bar for itself. Although may not totally clear that bar, it grazes it constantly and still comes out a mature, intelligent piece of musical theatre artistry.

This is really a showcase for some rising theatre talent. Donica is giving a bravura performance here; it’s hard not to imagine him a strong contender for awards if this were a full production. And Rogers - wow. Watching this star rise in real time over the last year has been thrilling. Warren is a force here as well. Pinkins acquits herself well and sounds great, but this is nearly an impossible role for anybody who isn’t Eartha Kitt reincarnate. The role is so clearly tailored to that singular talent and personality that it lingers on every line and note like old perfume. Shoutout to Meghan Murphy, Claybourne Elder, and Andrew Kober & KJ Hippensteel, as well.

(also, of note, Eddie’s “Golden Boy” has been cut. I understand why it would be, but I always kind of liked it as a peek into the racism that’s shaped his life and relationship. It seems to be the only cut to the score)

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 10:35pm

Vulture is mixed

https://www.vulture.com/article/theter-review-encores-wild-party-lachiusa-wolfe.html

"Brown’s conception gives this revival a sturdy thematic thrust. In execution, though, she and her team haven’t found their footing. The Wild Party is an ambitious project for a limited Encores! run, with a significant amount of ensemble choreography (by Katie Spelman) and (unlike February’s shaggy and charming High Spirits) nary a script binder in sight. Everyone is high on enthusiasm and limited in depth, not having had the chance to ruminate on LaChiusa’s murky score—particularly Rogers herself. She’s a gifted whirligig of an ingénue tackling a part that requires her to sprint through two intermissionless hours where she’s almost always onstage. Rogers carries off Queenie’s energy, and is particularly good later in the show when the character allows through some of her youthful optimism, but she’s never really convincing at playing louche and sultry. Some of her Betty Boop peppiness is still on display, and it’s hard to imagine her Queenie being cynical or remotely past her prime. She’s still a thing with feathers, when the part calls for scales. Donica, across from her, is on sturdier ground, fearsome to the point of awe-inspiring in the sustained fury of his fermatas, though his considerable force as a performer longs to be shaped more cleanly. He builds to erupt, then builds again. The Wild Party has presentational bones, with Queenie’s guests arriving and introducing themselves one-by-one, each with their own ditty in its own genre (you could probably subtitle it The Jellicle Ball if you wanted). That format can really stall the action if we don’t feel the deeper current under it. Brown and her creative team have gotten caught up in adornment without capturing a deeper undertow that strings it all together. Which is to say, Spelman’s choreography doesn’t miss a chance to have an actor arch their butt while hitting a lyric about anal sex, and Justin Townsend’s lights remain all the way up for far too much of the action. Then those lights flick off abruptly, dropping us into the dark like an elevator glitching down a floor, instead of delivering a creeping descent to hell."

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 11:26pm

(also, of note, Eddie’s “Golden Boy” has been cut. I understand why it would be, but I always kind of liked it as a peek into the racism that’s shaped his life and relationship. It seems to be the only cut to the score)
 

This makes complete sense to me. But I do mourn losing the little bit of the Brothers D'Armano in that number --- them singing "A Little Mmm" but instead of an easy jazz 4 it's somehow a swing waltz (without rewriting the vocal!). My personal favorite musical "trick" of the evening...