The Wild Party (Broadway)

THE WILD PARTY with music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa opened on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre on April 13, 2000 and played through June 11, 2000 for 36 previews and 68 performances. Book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe; Based on the poem by Joseph Moncure March.

Produced by The Joseph Papp Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival, Scott Rudin, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Roger Berlind, Elizabeth Williams and Anita Waxman. NYSF Artistic Producer: Rosemarie Tichler; NYSF Associate Producer: Wiley Hausam

Directed by George C. Wolfe; Choreographed by Joey McKneely; Scenic Design by Robin Wagner; Costume Design by Toni-Leslie James; Musical Director: Todd Ellison; Music orchestrated by Bruce Coughlin; Lighting Design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer; Sound Design by Tony Meola and Hair Design by Jeffrey Frank.

Starring Toni Collette (Queenie), Eartha Kitt (Dolores), Mandy Patinkin (Burrs), Norm Lewis (Eddie Mackrel), Tonya Pinkins (Kate), Marc Kudisch (Jackie), Michael McElroy (Oscar D’Armano), Yancey Arias (Black), Nathan Lee Graham (Phil D’Armano), Adam Grupper (Gold), Leah Hocking (Mae), Brooke Sunny Moriber (Nadine), Sally Murphy (Sally), Jane Summerhays (Miss Madelaine True) and Stuart Zagnit (Goldberg)

Understudies: Adrian Bailey (Eddie Mackrel, Oscar D’Armano, Phil D’Armano), Jennifer Frankel (Kate, Mae, Miss Madelaine True), Jeff Gardner (Burrs, Gold, Goldberg), Jennifer Hall (Nadine, Sally), David Masenheimer (Burrs), René Millán (Black, Jackie), Dominique Plaisant (Queenie, Kate), Ching Valdes-Aran (Dolores) and Nicole Van Giesen (Queenie)

Assistant Choreographer: Marisha Ploski; Associate Scenic Design: Atkin Pace and David Peterson; Associate Costume Design: Veronica Worts; Assistant Costume Design: Bonnie McCoy; Associate Sound Design: Kai Harada.

General Manager: 101 Productions, Ltd.; NYSF Managing Director: Mark Litvin & Michael Hurst; Company Manager: Charles Underhill; Assistant Company Manager: Karl Baudendistel; Associate General Manager David Auster and Ron Gubin; Technical Supervisor: David Benken; Production Stage Manager: Gwendolyn M. Gilliam; Stage Manager: Rick Steiger; Assistant Stage Manager: Lisa Dawn Cave

Musical Coordinator: Seymour ‘Red’ Press; Conducted by Todd Ellison; Associate Conductor: Linda Twine; Piano: Linda Twine; Woodwind: William Easley, Jimmy Cozier, Steven Kenyon and Roger Rosenberg; Trumpet: Brian O’Flaherty and Kamau Adilifu; Trombone: Tim Sessions; Violin: Lesa Terry, Ashley D. Horne and Julien Barber; Bass: Benjamin Franklin Brown; Drums: Brian Grice; Percussion: Bruce Doctor; Guitar: Steve Bargonetti; Music Copying: Emily Grishman Music Preparation

NYSF Casting: Jordan Thaler and Heidi Griffiths, C.S.A.; NYSF Senior Director, External Affairs: Margaret M. Lioi; NYSF Press Representative: Carol R. Fineman and Thomas V. Naro; Marketing: The Karpel Group; Online Marketing: Toby Simkin / Theatre.com; Press Representative: Barlow-Hartman Public Relations; Assistant to the Director: Joy Tomasko; Dance Captain: Adrian Bailey; Fight direction by Luis Perez; NYSF Dramaturg: Wiley Hausam; Press Assistant: Joe Perrotta

As Founder and CEO of Theatre.com and BuyBroadway.com. The pioneer in moving the Broadway industry onto the internet. The theatre press branded me as “Toby is the man pushing theatre, kicking and screaming, into cyberspace.” What started in 1989 as a Broadway industry service called ShowCall via dialup BBS for members of the League of American Theatre Producers evolved onto the world wide web in the early 90’s, and shortly after this, the vast majority of Broadway shows (starting with my production of Victor/Victoria) and theatrical organizations followed. The “Super site of Broadway” became a publicly traded company, prior to my re-branding it as Theatre.com at the Minskoff Theatre.

Described by Variety Magazine as a “marketing powerhouse“, it was the single largest theatre community in the world with over 180,000 active members (in the 1990’s this was massive). From buying official Broadway tickets and souvenirs, providing detailed global show listings, interactive show study & educational guides, live streaming shows and events (including many Opening Nights live broadcasts), industry news from major theatre journalists, pictures and videos, games, messaging directly to Broadway cast’s backstage or even licensing a musical, theatre.com offered it all in a single, easy-to-use interface to theatregoers globally.

The Wild Party is based off of the 1928 Joseph Moncure March poem of the same name. The 1920s prove to be a rough time for Queenie, a Vaudevillian chorus girl, and her violent lover Burrs, a black-face Vaudevillian performer. When things start to get violent between them and Queenie pulls a knife on Burrs, Burrs suggests that they throw a party and invite all their friends to calm the fire. Queenie agrees and the party appears, complete with a collection of their rough and tumble chums: Queenie’s rival and friend, an “ambisextrous” drug addicted young man, a washed-up boxer, a black brother/lover duo, a diva, an ingenue, a lesbian actress and her morphine addicted girlfriend, and a mysterious escort who catches Queenie’s eye. The party slowly deteriorates from passion and pleasure-filled to its sobering tragic end. Illusions are stripped away as the guests find themselves back in the reality of who they are and what they’re facing in this world masked in glamour.