Alladin, Donica, Pinkins & More Complete ENCORES! THE WILD PARTY Cast — Page 6

It is sad when productions like this come along and we don’t get that rare cast recording. And I’ll echo again what was said, that this didn’t feel like just another Encores show. I went to the final show yesterday afternoon (i didn’t even know it was the final show, I figured there was an evening performance) and was just amazed again at what they were able to pull off in that short time. Productions like this almost aren’t fair to anything else that comes after it - “La Cage” has got some big heels to fill in a couple months. 

Kad said: "Unfortunately, Encores cast albums happen rarely. The question is: who would be generous enough pay for it? They're expensive to produce and basically guaranteed to lose money. The instances they do get produced tend to be for shows by artists with strong estates with a vested historical interest in preserving the score."

For a while there they seemed to have a deal with DRG to record them--that's how we got the handful of excellent Rodgers and Hart Encores recordings--but is DRG even still around?  It's too bad, because there certainly have been a number of shows where the Encores would have been the perfect excuse to finally get a proper recording...

I assumeThe Wild Party isn’t going to transfer but glancing at clips of the show on YouTube reminded me of how much I enjoyed it. I was curious about the musical and excited (justifiably, it turned out) about the cast. As many others have said, Jasmine Amy Rogers is a star - and her early scene with a threatening Jordan Donica sold me on the twisted dynamic of their relationship even before the main action starts. Adrienne Warren, who I haven’t seen since her performance in Shuffle Along, was as good as I expected. The one-two punch of Kate’s ‘Black is a Moocher’ followed by the Queenie and Black’s gorgeous duet, ‘People Like Us’ was a highlight of the musical. Tonya Pinkins isn’t Eartha Kitt but I thought she was excellent too.

The Wild Party isn’t a perfect musical but it is ambitious, interesting and had a great cast. It seems like the ideal Encores! show - not likely to be revived but performed at a high level. It crossed my mind later that shows like this only reinforce what is special about theater: Every show is different and it’s gone before you know it.

Updated On: 4/5/26 at 01:37 AM