Today in 2000, Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe's The Wild Party opened at Broadway's Virginia Theatre (now the August Wilson, currently home to Cabaret). Though it was not the only musical called The Wild Party to open that year.
Based on a poem by Joseph Moncure March, The Wild Party centers on a 1920s apartment party thrown by vaudeville performers Queenie and Burrs. Like all good parties, this couple decides to throw the bash after a violent, almost fatal quarrel. As the liquor flows, a large band of characters joins the scene, from a lesbian stripper to a prize fighter and more. The evening gradually descends into an orgy that ends, in true Chekhovian fashion, with a tragedy the opening fight prepares us for. Along the way, the show explores "the masks that we wear culturally and the removal of those masks over the course of the party," .
LaChiusa, who had made his Broadway musical writing debut the year prior with Marie Christine, had intended for Queenie to be played by Vanessa Williams, but a pregnancy rendered her unable to star when the production happened. She was replaced by Australian film star Toni Colette, who would make debut in the role鈥攚hich would eventually earn her a Tony nomination.
But Colette was just at the head of what was overall a very starry cast. She starred opposite Mandy Patinkin as Burrs, with the cast also featuring Eartha Kitt, Yancey Arias, Marc Kudisch, Tonya Pinkins, Norm Lewis, Nathan Lee Graham, Michael McElroy, Jane Summerhays, Adam Grupper, Stuart Zagnit, Leah Hocking, and Brooke Sunny Moriber. Wolfe directed, also co-writing the book with LaChiusa. Joey McKneely choreographed.
The show had just a brief run on Broadway, sticking around for 68 performances. But the work earned seven 2000 Tony nominations, including for Best Musical.
However, The Wild Party might be best known to theatre fans for the infamous coincidence of being one of two major stage musical adaptations of March's poem, both titled The Wild Party, to hit the New York stage in the same season. Just two months before LaChiusa's version began its Broadway run, a different musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Andrew Lippa opened Off-Broadway via Manhattan Theatre Club. And though this version might have had less movie stars in its cast, its company was still pretty starry, boasting Julia Murney as Queenie and Brian d'Arcy James as Burrs with Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, and Alix Korey co-starring.
The dueling adaptations made some fans feel like they had to choose camps. Lippa's musical was rumored to have Broadway transfer potential, which may or may not have been affected by the already-set Broadway plans for LaChiusa's. Fortunately for both, the musicals are incredibly different takes on the story, with Lippa's living more in contemporary theatre land versus LaChiusa's jazzier, art song-adjacent style. Both have continued to be performed since premiering in 2000 and neither has become the "dominant" adaptation. LaChiusa's is scheduled to get a New York return staging via New York City Center Encores! in 2026, and the Lippa got its own revival from New York City Center Encores! Off-Center in 2015.
To learn about the other theatre happenings that occurred on April 13, visit the 半岛体育 Vault.
Take a look back at both Wild Partys in the gallery below.
The Wild Party 半岛体育 January 2000
