If you ask me…
-Tom Holehan
So you say you’re up for a cheerful, toe-tapping musical that will slap a smile on your silly face? So go to Goodspeed and see the fluffy Gershwin hit, “Crazy For You”. If you are up for a bigger challenge, however, check out a rare revival of “The Wild Party” currently on the boards at Playhouse on Park. This is a difficult, audience-divider of a musical that is getting a fairly solid production in West Hartford right now. This ain’t Rodgers and Hammerstein, folks!
With book/music/lyrics by Andrew Lippa, “The Wild Party” is based on a narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March. Set in 1927 in a dingy New York City apartment, the musical details one long bacchanal fueled by drinking, drugs and uninhibited sex. It is there that Queenie (Mollie Downes) resides with her abusive boyfriend Burrs (Trevor Bunce). Attempting to make Burrs jealous, she plans the party and invites a
cross section of friends typical of the Roaring Twenties. They include party girl Kate (Maddi Bowman), her lover, Black (Cory Simmons), lesbian stripper Madelaine True (Kathleen Cameron), Black prizefighter Eddie (Caleb Barton), his white wife, Mae (Lily Bucko) and her underage-sister, Nadine (Sophia Cantin).
This is a strong company of actors with leads Downes and Bunce the only Equity members. Lithe and leggy Mollie Downes is a stunning Queenie literally raising the roof singing “Raise the Roof”. She struts in
Micah Ohno’s barely-there period costuming with wild abandon and though she strains for some notes here
and there, she is still clearly a force of nature. Bunce is, at times, an overwrought Burrs but his vocals are powerful throughout. Speaking of power, Bowman commands the stage singing and proving she is “The Life of the Party”. Also memorable, in what is mostly a dour musical, is Cameron’s very funny gender-bender song, “An Old-Fashioned Love Story”. Cory Simmons has a quiet authority that sometimes is too low-key, but he sings the haunted ballad, “Poor Child”, with meaning and purpose.
Much credit to the supporting company here who, under Darlene Zoller’s non-stop choreography, really shine. Artistic Director Sean Harris successfully paces the show which runs nearly two hours without intermission with a cast that seems in constant motion. Kim Zhou’s seedy apartment setting sits under a
constant haze of cigarette smoke which Matt Weisgable’s moody lighting highlights effectively. Intimacy
Director Dr. Kathryn Moncrief was kept busy during this show and I credit how the cast rose to the occasion for what must have been, at times, uncomfortable behavior to depict onstage.
The plucky Playhouse deserves praise for tackling this challenging musical. I found an uncomfortable
but polite audience at the sleepy, half-filled matinee I attended. It makes me question why the theatre would take a chance on this material which garnered polarizing reviews during its brief Broadway run in 2000. It will be a hard sell. That said, an “A” for effort goes to POP for this hard-to-love but worthy musical.
“The Wild Party” continues at Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road in West Hartford, Connecticut through August 16. For further information and ticket reservations call the theatre box office at 860-523-5900 Ext. 10 or visit: www.playhouseonpark.org.
Tom Holehan is one of the founders of the Connecticut Critics Circle, a frequent contributor to WPKN
Radio’s “State of the Arts” program and the Stratford Crier and Artistic Director of Stratford’s Square One Theatre Company. He welcomes comments at: tholehan@yahoo.com. His reviews and other theatre
information can be found on the Connecticut Critics Circle website: www.ctcritics.org.
