Review: THE WILD PARTY at Musical Theatre Southwest

 

You have to hand it to Musical Theatre Southwest – most community theaters play it safe, filling their calendar with Mamma Mia, Shrek and at least one production from the Golden Age of Musicals (Rogers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Lowe, etc.); MTS continues to dip their toes deeper into the repertoire with shows such as Next To Normal and Carrie: The Musical. Playwright Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party falls into this category – a challenging score and a less than savory group of characters might be a stretch for those expecting a toe tapper.

The action takes place during the era of Prohibition, where lovers Queenie (a very strong and glamorous Mary Brzezinski) and Burrs (played with menace by Tanner Sroufe) decide to throw a huge party in their New York dive of an apartment. Burrs is a volatile man with a big temper and a lot of jealousy directed towards anyone looking at Queenie, even though he himself mistreats and abuses her.

The cast of characters arrive, including Mr. Black (excellent vocals by Nick Goodwin) who grabs Queenie’s attention. Burrs’ ex-lover Kate (convincingly conniving by Jessica Ubiera) is with Black, or is she? She seems to be there to drive a wedge between the hosts and get back into Burrs’ life. A few others arrive with standout performances, namely from Jessica Osbourne as Madelaine the Lesbian, Nicholas Goodwin as Eddie the Thug and Brieann Gillespie as Eddie’s lover, Mae.

The party goes on with drinking, dancing, debauchery and romantic liaisons. But we never really get to wild – the action, especially among the ensemble members, seemed muted and sluggish on opening night. It was also unclear how they cast was receiving cues from the Music Director (Jenni Hipolito), which led to some muddled vocals. Equally muddled were sound effects, including a gunshot quiet enough to make the audience wonder if the gun went off. ON the plus side, it was refreshing to have a live band for the production, and the challenging score was executed with panache.

Perhaps opening night jitters were at play and the cast will gel more in the coming weeks, as is the case with many community productions. The score has enough good moments to outweigh the bad, although with a show that has multiple fights, sexual trysts and romantic moments, it’s surprising that no Fight Captain or Intimacy Coordinator was listed in the program. This production could have benefitted from both.

Finally, one minor detail that took us out of the action – Burrs’ hair. It’s long and very contemporary in a time where polish is key – it looks like, between the makeup and hair, he’s going for a Joaquin Phoenix in Joker look. It would be better to have that mane back in a slick ponytail. Otherwise the costuming, hair and makeup (designed by Rachel Capener) were excellent, as was scenic (Gloria Goodman) and Lighting (Linnea Mae) design.

The Wild Party was an Off-Broadway gem that garnered an array of industry accolades, including Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Obie awards. Based on Joseph Moncure March's 1928 narrative poem of the same name. Kudos to MTS for continuing to push the envelope and bring lesser-produced shows to New Mexico. The show runs through October 19. Support local musicals!

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