The Wild Party - The Blank Theatre

Performed in LA in 2005 I saw clips of the show from "that" website and while it's no where near the Broadway version the one thing that intrigued me was Valerie Petiford playing Queenie.

I've read the poem and seen both musical versions and I know Queenie is a white woman - but "...and she hid what she was with a mask of snow..." always made me think of a black woman in whiteface, trying to pass as white.

The levels of race, sex, gender set against the 30's is really amped up having Pettiford as Queenie - although Toni Collette IS Queenie for me and always will be.

**Speaking of Toni - she's a viable movie star so let's have a movie version of "Wild Party" come on - as long as Mandy is Burrs.**

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Many people interpret the poem to mean that Queenie is at least half black and does hide behind her "mask of snow." It is another reason she is hesitant to leave Burrs altogether because he knows her secret and if it came out, her career would be ruined.

I saw the Blank production too and it WAS wonderful. When Valerie Pettiford wiped off the white makeup and ripped off the wig in the final moment it was an apotheosis.

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