Which is better...LaChiusa or Lippa's "Wild Party?"- Page 2

[magruder]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 4:38pm

Found a piece in Lighting Dimensions that talks a little bit about the physical production of the Broadway Wild Party. Some descriptive highlights:

"The war between illusion and reality is at the heart of this Wild Party. The revelers are desperate creatures, grabbing at any sensation to distract them from the knowledge of their authentic selves. Interestingly, Wolfe--aided by scenic designer Robin Wagner--has given the production a theatrical metaphor. The action takes place in an abandoned theatre. The stage is framed by a false proscenium dotted with tacky Tivoli lights. Certain scenes are staged in front of blatantly artificial painted drops. Queenie and Burrs' apartment is a skeletal arrangement of walls and furniture placed on a turntable at stage center, surrounded by large, imposing walls, with multi-paned windows and topped by a ceiling with a skylight. The effect is of a rehearsal set placed on the stage of an altogether different production."

...

"The Wild Party begins with stylized theatrical lighting (complete with footlights) for the opening number, then moves toward a flat, bright look for a scene of domestic discord between Queenie and Burrs, played, like a burlesque sketch, in front of a cartoonish drop. Once the action moves to the party itself, Fisher and Eisenhauer faced a new challenge: how to make the apartment expand and contract as necessary as the focus shifts from group scenes to smaller, more intimate moments. Another complicating factor: lighting positions were limited by the set, which has three walls and a ceiling."

...

"The orgy sequence is staged behind Kate, who sings the number "Black Is a Moocher," while rolling in bed with Burrs; behind them the half-dressed bodies of the party guests are revealed in a spinning blue light. Later, with most of the cast lying about, sexually spent, Sally sings the haunting "After Midnight Dies;" the walls and ceiling are removed, with the circular trusses flying out as well. ("There's just the back wall and a mirror," says Fisher.) This stripped-down look banishes any hint of the outside world, with the characters trapped in a psychological prison of their own making. Dolores performs "When It Ends" in front of the curtain, which then lifts to reveal the climactic sequence, the three-way showdown between Queenie, Burrs, and Black."
The Wild Party - Lighting Dimensions

Updated On: 3/28/05 at 04:38 PM

[BwayBaby18]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 6:39pm

I LOVE LaChiusa's....... it is so sexy and naughty...... lol .... also Ertha Kitt is amazing.... i think the thing that really drawls me in though is how simple Toni Collete's voice is... i men it isn't polished by any means but it is simple, it really makes her come across as the girl who did get mixed up in the prohibition era NYC and got hurt from it.....

"SMall town girls she coems to town
tin of rouge and strapless gown
dies alot before she gets to die"

[charliebrownkid]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 6:46pm

lippas hands down.... the musica is ALOT better.

[Justice]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 6:54pm

I am a HUGE Toni Collette fan. I saw this when it was on Broadway. I liked the show, but I wasn't crazy about the music. Still I bought the recording, and the more I listened to it, the more I liked some of these songs.
I recently bought Lippa's version, and I think it is more fun and hummable. The cast is wonderful.

They are both different, each in their own good (and bad) way. I recommend both of them, unless you have styling preferences. If you like Sondheim, go with LaChuissa. If you like typical jazzy musical theatre, get Lippa.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 9:42pm

La's is closer to the book (which is waiting for me to buy)

Lip's is more hummable indeed!

[WiCkEd BaCcHaE]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 10:26pm

I've heard a lot of people say that though usually a person won't like LaChiusa's version upon hearing it the first time, but once it's listened to more, many people like it better than Lippa's.

I wanted to get other opinions on this. Have any of you found this to be true? If so, why?

[LostLeander]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 11:14pm

I was a Lippa Wild Party junkie at first, then I got LaChiusa's just for comparison's sake. And I thought how boring.
"THERE'S NO HIGH BELTING!" Is one thought that crossed my mind.

But I listened to it more, and I realized that LaChiusa's Burrs, Queenie, Kate, and Black were actually REAL people. And their songs had a longing for human connection, and an urgency.

Yes, Lippa's is FUN.
But don't we want more than that?
In Lippa's version: Queenie is the victim.
Burrs is mad.
Black is sweet.
Kate is a whore.

And that's pretty much all to their characters. Those emotions aren't really explained and explored as well as LaChiusa's.

And Toni Collette is absolutely stunning. And I can feel the chemistry between her and Black on the OBCR.

Lippa is good times, but I feel like he lacks depth, and when he attempts it, you get lyrics like, "Maybe tomorrow it comes crashing down. / Maybe next week I'll find another clown".
I cringe.

Sure, he can write soaring melodies for high belters, but there's not much else he can do.

I think I'm through rantingh

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 11:18pm

"I've heard a lot of people say that though usually a person won't like LaChiusa's version upon hearing it the first time, but once it's listened to more, many people like it better than Lippa's."




well I think it's generally true. It's not for me I always like LaChiusa's stuff right off the bat. But I liken it to a painting. Take Sunday afternoon on the island of Grand jatte, the painting used in Sunday in the Park with George. If you look at it you think ohh ok. But then you look closer and look often and you see that there are the different dabs adding up to make the whole. It's not Purple but it's dabs of red and orange adjacent to each other.

I think LaChiusa's like that. you come back and say ohhh this makes sense or ohhh I didn't realize that before. Ohh this is what that meant. the more you experience it, the more you find.
Lippa's while it is very good and more excessible (That's way more accurate than hummable). It immediately sounds good to the ear. You get what the song means and what the subtext says, but it doesn't seem to do much more. You can take it and put it in your CD player and not worry about the stories and tap you foot and groove to it. I personally think you can do that with LaChiusa's too but I'm kinda odd.


Lippa's is more contemporary jazz-pop, while LaChiusa's is Prohibition jazz. LaChiusa's is much more dissonant and a little more work to listen to if you're not used to it. But that doesn't mean it's any less hummable. It really just depends on what you like to hum. I prefer to hum LaChiusa. i hope this makes sense and isn't a foolish ramble. Someone else take over...
Updated On: 3/28/05 at 11:18 PM

[Demitri2]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 3:35am

I can't remember the last time I was as dazzled by a score in the theater than when I saw La Chiusa's "Wild Party". My seat was in the first row and I was totally engulfed by the sound. It was REALLY loud and seemed non stop with little pause for applause after numbers. It just soared into the next melody. There were moments where though dissonant, the music was glorious and just transcended me to such a surreal place. I remember thinking at the time I hope I hope they record this so I can experience this music again. As for the cast, Toni Collette won me over in the first five minutes she was on stage by dropping her costume to her waist. The visuals of seeing her half naked accompanied by this jazzy driving music was truly overpowering. It was the first time I ever enjoyed Eartha Kitt. Never got to see the Lippa version but listing to it I was intrigued by the overall difference in sound and style.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 7:56am

La Chiusa

Posted: 3/30/05 at 1:19pm

I adore Lippa's to death, and I think that musically, it's superior, just to my taste.

But LaChiusa's, when it comes down to brute storytelling, is a much better show, the characters are stronger, and more fleshed out, and c'mon... who can argue with Mandy Patinkin?

Don't get me wrong, I love d'Arcy and Julia and Idina and listen to that one a helluva lot more, but as a show, LaChiusa's just works better.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 1:24pm

Jazzy Suite, great analogy!
I also have issue with a production that supposedly takes place in the 20s and has the main character singing a song with the anachronistic title of "Raise the Roof."

[apdarcey]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 1:29pm

they really are just too different in my book to compare. if you're just listening to the score (as on cd) then lippa's is more fun, more accessible. but theatrically, lachiusa's takes the cake. for real. it evokes the 20's and the vaudeville area. it is the better written score for this show. that being said, i think the lippa is better on disc. but the lachiusa better live, on stage.

[LostLeander]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 1:40pm

And who doesn't want to see Marc Kudisch as a bisexual?
MM.
Imagine the possibilities.
*Imagines them*.

Well, I should, er, uh, go.

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 5:45pm

I am very torn on this topic. I think I like the Lippa version more because it is a lot more fun to listen to. The cast is amazing and the music is amazin. But if you are looking for which is a better show, I would have to say LaChiusa. His version has a lot more depth, and the cast is just as good.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 7:10pm

The staging of the LaChiusa version was brilliant - you had an entire apartment- living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom - on a turntable, so whereever the main action was happening would revolve downstage, but you could still see activity in all the other dimply lit rooms.

Other beneifits of this version: Toni Colette and Sally Murphy topless, and Marc Kudisch bare-assed. (Although his character is attempting to rape a 14-year old girl at the time, so it aint a "sexy" scene - unless you're into that.)