Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's "Wild Party?"
Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's "Wild Party?"
#0 Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's "Wild Party?"
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:38pm
I might be opening a "Pandora's Box" here but the other day I purchased LaChiusa's version of "The Wild Party" and I really love it. But before I decided on LaChiusa I was debating on getting Lippa's version instead but went for LaChiusa b/c of my deep respect for George C. Wolfe, Mandy Patinkin and Tonya Pinkins.
My question then is... what's the difference between the two? Is there a difference at all? Which show do you like better and why? Should I eventually get a copy of Lippa's?
"Truth is rarely pure and never simple."- Oscar Wilde
"If I could only do one thing before I died, it would be to swim with a middle-aged couple from Connecticut."- a dolphin
"If I could only do one thing before I died, it would be to swim with a middle-aged couple from Connecticut."- a dolphin
#1re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:40pmI'm listening to Lippa's right now...I got it last night, and LOVE it!
awkward.
"I think it was the Korean tour or something. They were all frickin' asian!" -Zoran912
#2re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:40pmWhich one has Idina? I was actually thinking of asking this question too.
And the other thing about the Phantom Lady was, Bert, she realized, in the city that never sleeps...
What did she realize, Kitten?
That all the songs she'd listened to, all the love songs, that they were only songs.
What's wrong with that?
Nothing, if you don't believe in them. But she did, you see. She believed in enchanted evenings, and she believed that a small cloud passed overhead and cried down on a flower bed, and she even believed there was breakfast to be had...
Where?
On Pluto. The mysterious, icy wastes of Pluto.
maybethistime
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/3/04
#3re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:40pmI honestly prefer Lippa's, but I think its a toss up.
queenie2
Understudy Joined: 1/20/05
#4re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:41pmI prefer the lippa version, altough I like the La chiusa version too!
Matt_G
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/1/04
#5re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:41pmLaChiusa's version is by far better, in my opinion. That's one hell of a show!
"Noah, someday we'll talk again. But there's things we'll never say. That sorrow deep inside you. It inside me, too. And it never go away. You be okay. You'll learn how to lose things..."
eslgr8
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/04
#6re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:47pm
I prefer Lippa's more "hummable" version. And check this thread which discusses more or less the same question you've just posed.
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=774966#776716
#7re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:50pm
La Chiusa's is far superior, in both music and actual show. Lippa's is fun, but captured none of the drama and grit that La Chiusa's did and was very evident in the original poem. There are a few okay songs on Lippa's, but La Chiusa's is amazing, and features a dazzling performance by Toni Collette.
If you only have Lippa's, you MUST get La Chiusa's!
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
JBSinger
Broadway Star Joined: 11/12/04
#8re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:54pm
I guess it just depends on what you want out of it. The Lippa does have more "hummable" tunes with big belting and finishes. Terrific cast too. However, I felt that the music is too generic and did not capture the mood of the time period (with rock guitars) or the piece.
The LaChuisa also boasts an impressive cast (Toni Collette come back to Bway) and though the music is more challenging, I feel that it was so evocative. Its that time period as filtered through La Chuisa's sensibility. There are stand-alone songs in this score as well with great belting and big finishes.
I find that while listening to the Lippa, it's just one blaster after another. The LaChiusa has more variety and character.
Just my opinion.
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#9re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:56pmI LOVE Lippa's. I think he's brilliant.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
#10re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 12:59pmTrue, JB I was going to say that. La Chiusa's music actually is time-period appropriate. Lippa's score is a 1990's pop score and does not fit well with the time period of THE WILD PARTY. I can't reccommend La Chiusa's enough...his score is so fantastic and there are even parts that remind me of some of Sondheim's stuff.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
#11re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:00pmSomeone asked...Idina was in Lippas. I prefer Lippas - though in honesty I haven't really listened to LaChiusa's too closely. I think Julia Murney's "How did we come to this?" is stunning.
There's always room for pathos - and jazz hands.
bjivie2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/04
#12re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:00pm
JB's comments are very accurate. It depends on what you want out of your theatre. If you like big belters, sex, and pop/rock music, then Lippa's version is for you. If you like densely layered music, subtle performances and nuance, then LaChiusa's is for you. Luckily, I like all of that, so I'm fans of both.
The thing for me is that I liked Lippa's version immediately, but it took me a while to like LaChiusa's, but now I think I lean a little towards LaChiusa's.
They've both got great casts. Lippa's got Julia Murney, Brian D'Archy James, Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, Jennifer Cody while LaChiusa's got Mandy Patinkin, Toni Collette, Eartha Kitt, Tonya Pinkins, Norm Lewis, et all.
Eeeeeeyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaannnnnddddd aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiyyyyyyaaaaaammmmmmmm teeeeeeeelllllliiiiiinnngg yyyyooooooouuuuuuuwwwaaaahh...
#13re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:02pm
Gotta go with LaChiusa on this one. I love Lippa's score to John and Jen but I think he drops it on this production. IT's very derivative and musically sounds like "Disney's The Wild Party."
It attempted to be sexy and evocative but comes off sounding like a half-baked Chicago (and Kander and Ebb arguably allowed the Kurt Weill influence to bleed over from Cabaret into Chicago, which makes it effective).
LaChiusa's score pays homage to the era, with vaudeville and jazz mixed into that LaChiusa sound (admittedly a hard sell for most theatre-goers; I tend to like everything he writes, with the exception of Marie Christine...). He even has a pop stand-alone, "People Like Us." (is that the correct title? It might be "Where Do We Belong")
bjivie2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/04
#14re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:04pmYes, it's called "People Like Us," but the great thing is that it's a pop stand-alone, but it's still distinctly LaChiusa.
Eeeeeeyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaannnnnddddd aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiyyyyyyaaaaaammmmmmmm teeeeeeeelllllliiiiiinnngg yyyyooooooouuuuuuuwwwaaaahh...
#15re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:06pm
Ah, LaChiusa! I love his version of The Wild Party. I musically directed it last fall and it's just so fascinating, so deeply layered and intricate, evocative and emotional. It definitely captures the tone and style of the original poem perfectly. Would have loved to see it on Broadway. And I agree, Toni Collette should come back to Broadway!
~Steven
Jazzysuite82
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/6/05
#16re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:08pm
I also say Lachiusa, although I do like the Lippa version. I found LaChiusa's more interesting. For instance Black is not just some black guy, you're not sure WHAT race he is. That alone to me seems to point at the show that makes the more interesting choices. I don't think Lippa's is more hummable at all. They both are pretty damn hummable. I think Lippa's might be a bit more poppy and perhaps accessible, but that shouldn't be synomynous with hummable because you can hum any tune in LaChiusa's work. I can and do.
Also the cast is far more varied and interesting. Mandy, Toni, Tonya have all been mentioned but I also want to point out Eartha Kitt who was magnificent in the show. I found the Lippa cast good, but I feel Idina and Taye riffed way too much without much thought or reason behind it. Brian D'arcy James was good also, but not nearly as scary as Mandy.
To rap this all up I see the Lippa version as a sort of color, vibrant cartoon (which isn't meant to sound as bad as it does) and LaChiusa's the feature film version. Both good for different reasons, with LaChiusa taking the cake for me.
Updated On: 3/28/05 at 01:08 PM
#17re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:12pm
Wow, that's a thought, LaChiusa's Wild Party as a movie? I'd see it.
~Steven
#18re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:29pm
Yeah you did, Jwei...
Well, I would say that both versions are excellent. I like Lippa's for the more enjoyable songs.
I have only hear clips of LaChiusa's - sounds good. Maybe I'll get it one day.
I just got Civil War and Blue Like That in the mail today!
WOOP
#19re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:42pmi am more of a fan of lippa's version mainly becasue of three songs...old-fashioned love story, life of the party, and wild, wild party. but i adore ertha kitt in lachiusa's cast recording.
#20re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:45pmI like Let Me Drown, and the ones you mentioned...
magruder
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#21re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 1:58pm
It depends on what music you prefer to listen to, as someone mentioned above - Lippa's version is more pop oriented, while La Chiusa's version has a refracted jazz era score. Personally, I always turn to the La Chiusa version.
If you are asking which show was better in the theatre, I'd also say La Chiusa's. There were some very enjoyable songs in the Lippa version, and both shows had terrific casts, but I found the La Chiusa version to be the more rewarding experience. The Broadway staging and design was hallucinatory, disturbing and stylized, from the vaudeville-styled olio backdrop of the early scenes, to the strikingly decayed set of the party that deconstructed, reconfigured and even disappeared, to the point that you no longer knew where you were. It was audacious and pretty unforgettable.
"Gif me the cobra jool!"
#22re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 4:21pm
Wow, I've never heard anything about the design of the Broadway production before. That sounds fascinating!
~Steven
#23re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 4:30pm
"Maybe I Like It This Way".
That's all I'm saying.
Suzanne: I never use catalogs. I'd rather go in the store and see all the salespeople groveling and sucking up to you.
Julia: Pardon me, I never knew they were so solicitous at the K-Mart.
#24re: Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's 'Wild Party?'
Posted: 3/28/05 at 4:36pm
La Chiusa's is more rewarding. the score is worlds above Lippa's. deserved more attention than it got...
"People Like Us"
that's all I'm saying...
Updated On: 3/28/05 at 04:36 PM
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