LaChiusa Wild Party — Page 5
#102
CMU did the LaChiusa in 2004, with Matthew (then "Matt") Scott as Burrs. It was great.
They just did the Lippa in March of this year, but I didn't see that one because Lippa.
Posted: 6/5/14 at 9:45am
CMU did the LaChiusa in 2004, with Matthew (then "Matt") Scott as Burrs. It was great.
They just did the Lippa in March of this year, but I didn't see that one because Lippa.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#103
Posted: 6/5/14 at 10:01am
Most productions of both versions seem to be done primarily by colleges. It makes sense as both have a lot of moments for numerous characters to take the spotlight for a few moments, as opposed to the pieces where you have to stick a lot of people in the chorus where they just blend in as one.
#104
Also, at CMU, Meg Hilty played Queenie, but it’s Lexy Fridell, who played Dolores, that is burned into my memory. It was a wonderful and – I don’t use this word lightly – fierce performance.
Posted: 6/5/14 at 10:07am
Also, at CMU, Meg Hilty played Queenie, but it’s Lexy Fridell, who played Dolores, that is burned into my memory. It was a wonderful and – I don’t use this word lightly – fierce performance.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#105
Posted: 6/5/14 at 11:38am
In May there was a production done at NYU Tisch by the senior musical theatre majors directed by Kent Gash, who also directed the CMU production in 2004.
#106
Posted: 6/5/14 at 3:55pm
They just did the Lippa in March of this year, but I didn't see that one because Lippa.
When I first saw they were doing the Wild Party, I got so excited because I thought it was the LaChiusa, but was very dismayed to see it was instead the Lippa.
I would love to see (or hear) Megan Hilty's Queenie! I wonder if anything is floating around of her performance.
When I first saw they were doing the Wild Party, I got so excited because I thought it was the LaChiusa, but was very dismayed to see it was instead the Lippa.
I would love to see (or hear) Megan Hilty's Queenie! I wonder if anything is floating around of her performance.
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#107
Posted: 6/5/14 at 4:46pm
Same here. I always thought that if they were to do a revival, Megan Hilty would make a great Queenie.
Anything regarding shows stated by this account is an attempt to convey opinion and not fact.
#108
I haven't turned up any footage, certainly not online. Even information about that production is pretty scarce. This site has some production photos:
http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Wild-Party/1625225
(I'd forgotten they'd cast a white Black.)
Posted: 6/5/14 at 5:10pm
I haven't turned up any footage, certainly not online. Even information about that production is pretty scarce. This site has some production photos:
http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Wild-Party/1625225
(I'd forgotten they'd cast a white Black.)
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#109
Posted: 6/5/14 at 5:15pm
Is Black written as, well, black in LaChiusa's show? I know his show is essentially about race, but I don't remember Black being racialized as much as all the supporting figures were.
#110
^ I’d be interested to know, if anyone has a script. Obviously, both original NYC productions used men of color in the role, and the character’s name is, well, Black.
Moncure’s poem describes him as “tall; dark; heavy of shoulder.” The only other character described as “dark” is Dolores, who’s also explicitly stated to be part African-American. However, the poem also describes Black thusly…
“His face was tanned, and his smile was white.
His features were sharply cut
And clean:
He looked sporting: he looked keen.
He made you think of squash-rackets;
Polo; and yachting;
And dinner-jackets.”
…language, which, to me, rings of white upper-middle class.
Posted: 6/5/14 at 5:31pm
^ I’d be interested to know, if anyone has a script. Obviously, both original NYC productions used men of color in the role, and the character’s name is, well, Black.
Moncure’s poem describes him as “tall; dark; heavy of shoulder.” The only other character described as “dark” is Dolores, who’s also explicitly stated to be part African-American. However, the poem also describes Black thusly…
“His face was tanned, and his smile was white.
His features were sharply cut
And clean:
He looked sporting: he looked keen.
He made you think of squash-rackets;
Polo; and yachting;
And dinner-jackets.”
…language, which, to me, rings of white upper-middle class.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#111
Posted: 6/5/14 at 5:37pm
Fun fact: Aaron Staton, the Black from the CMU production with Hilty, plays Ken Cosgrove on "Mad Men."
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
#112
Posted: 6/5/14 at 5:58pm
LaChiusa has mentioned that they wanted to cast (I think it was Wolfe's idea) to cast someone of mixed race in the role, for that very reason.
#113
Fun fact: He was horribly boring in THE WILD PARTY, easily the most lacking performance in the production.
Posted: 6/5/14 at 5:59pm
Fun fact: He was horribly boring in THE WILD PARTY, easily the most lacking performance in the production.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#114
Posted: 6/5/14 at 6:09pm
"I’d be interested to know, if anyone has a script. Obviously, both original NYC productions used men of color in the role, and the character’s name is, well, Black."
The script was published in an anthology with Rent, Floyd Collins, and Parade. Sadly my copy is locked away in a storage unit back in NY and nowhere near where I currently am in Vermont. I don't recall if it specifically mentioned that the character was African-American.
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-American-Musical-Anthology/dp/1559362006
The script was published in an anthology with Rent, Floyd Collins, and Parade. Sadly my copy is locked away in a storage unit back in NY and nowhere near where I currently am in Vermont. I don't recall if it specifically mentioned that the character was African-American.
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-American-Musical-Anthology/dp/1559362006
#115
Posted: 6/5/14 at 9:33pm
Both black and Kate are written as racially ambiguous, as is Queenie.
Edit: Queenie is mentioned as being blonde in the opening number, but LaChiusa himself originally wanted a black Queenie.
Edit: Queenie is mentioned as being blonde in the opening number, but LaChiusa himself originally wanted a black Queenie.
Anything regarding shows stated by this account is an attempt to convey opinion and not fact.
Updated On: 6/5/14 at 09:33 PM
#116
Posted: 6/6/14 at 1:40am
Wasn't Vanessa Williams at one point slated to play Queenie?
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#117
Posted: 3/15/15 at 2:22pm
I just finished watching a "version" of the show from the very first New York preview. The show is about half an hour longer and works a lot better. My comments about LaChiusa in the other thread got me thinking about this show. I personally think it is the only time LaChiusa's music actually works. The whole score is searing and sizzling, and though not exactly pleasant to listen to, it's quite good. In the first preview version, the song Need (my least favorite in the score) is cut and Black is a Moocher actually ends. The effect is much better. This is What it Is isn't in the show, and there is a different and less distinguished number in its place. The show still fascinates me, and I understand why people would hate it and love it. I still think Tonya Pinkins was miscast as Kate, especially as both the poem and script reference her as being a redhead.
#118
Posted: 3/15/15 at 3:38pm
Just giving a quick genuflection to Eartha - a divine presence in a sublime show!
#120
Posted: 3/16/15 at 1:02am
Fantod, In an interview, Tonya said the show greatly deteriorated throughout previews as Toni refused to work with any material she disliked, saying "If [blank] happened to me, I'd just leave" and such like that.
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
#121
Posted: 3/16/15 at 1:11am
That seems strange. Toni was a star at the time, but she wasn't and still isn't that big of a star (the show ran less than 70 performances and Eartha Kitt was the one who drew applause upon her entrance) so I wonder how she was able to make so many demands. I wonder what the show would have been like if Toni had done everything they wanted her to do.
#122
Posted: 3/16/15 at 1:22pm
I just saw a professional production in Toronto. I liked it, but it was so heavy. Every character was in emotional turmoil in every scene for the whole show. 2 hours without intermission was exhausting.
From the talk back I found out, the original Queenie was to be played by Vanessa Williams who was passing as white in the chorus and in a relationship with Burrs who plays in black face and explore the dynamics of that relationship. But, obviously that had to be changed when she got pregnant and replaced by Toni Collette.
Queenie in the Toronto production was played by a mixed race actress. Burrs was played by a black actor (with several scenes in black face) and Mr Black was played by a white man.
By the way, in the production of Lippa's The Wild Party I saw (a professional production), Mr. Black is the one killed and Queenie and Burrs survive.
From the talk back I found out, the original Queenie was to be played by Vanessa Williams who was passing as white in the chorus and in a relationship with Burrs who plays in black face and explore the dynamics of that relationship. But, obviously that had to be changed when she got pregnant and replaced by Toni Collette.
Queenie in the Toronto production was played by a mixed race actress. Burrs was played by a black actor (with several scenes in black face) and Mr Black was played by a white man.
By the way, in the production of Lippa's The Wild Party I saw (a professional production), Mr. Black is the one killed and Queenie and Burrs survive.
#123
Posted: 7/24/15 at 1:00pm
Bumping this because the recent Encores presentation of Lippa's reworked Wild Party made me finally give LaChiusa's the attention it deserves. I have to say, it's a ravishing score- possibly my favorite of LaChiusa's, a composer who I have a lot of trouble embracing for reasons not dissimilar to newintown's. But every song in this score works, at least on the recording, very well, and unlike Lippa's, this feels like a party. His pastiches of 1920s style are also pretty darn great, and utilized well to establish plot and character. It lacks the vocal powerhouse songs of Lippa's, but then again, a song like "Black is a Moocher" says a lot more about this incarnation of Kate than "Life of the Party" does for Lippa's.
If Lippa's recent extremely ill-advised revisions are preserved, I do wonder how the legacy of these rather inexplicable rival pieces will be affected.
If Lippa's recent extremely ill-advised revisions are preserved, I do wonder how the legacy of these rather inexplicable rival pieces will be affected.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
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