With the pop-based “Moulin Rouge” and recent
box-office hit “Chicago,” it’s easy to see the
audience of musical theater is changing. However, John Hall,
producer and director of the UCLA Musical Workshop’s
production of “The Wild Party,” shows his regard for
tradition.
“The Wild Party,” which makes its West Coast
Premiere in Schoenberg Hall this Friday, is based on Joseph Moncure
March’s narrative poem about one night in the lives of
vaudevillian losers. Andrew Lippa, who wrote the book, music, and
lyrics, revives the traditional breed of musical theater which
faded away in the 1980s and 1990s, an act of loyalty that Hall
admires.
“The younger composers now realize the value of a good
tune. That’s one of Mr. Lippa’s strengths: he can write
a tune,” Hall said. “A lot of the composers today are
criticized as wanna-bes. Melody has taken a backseat to the drama.
I think that with this show, (Lippa) is looking for a new
direction.”
However, tradition in no way necessitates being boring. The sexy
musical is set during the Roaring ’20s at a party thrown by a
vaudeville starlet named Queenie and her lover Burrs, an abusive
clown and scoundrel.
A heated love rectangle forms between the couple, their friend
Kate and her date Black, a gentleman whose upper-class shine draws
attention from the rest of the sullied revelers. Stale alcohol is
passed from one hand to the next and bodies writhe against each
other.
The musical presents flashy, show-stopping tunes. A particularly
sexy number called “Raise the Roof” drips with
sensuality and a tango beat.
The anti-prohibition, pro-alcoholism song “Look at Me
Now” sung by Monica Quintanilla, a third-year theater
student, instills the party with a raw energy.
The chilling “Poor Child” sets a solemn mood as the
four lead characters weave their voices into a sophisticated,
operatic quartet. Mentally separated from the frenzied atmosphere,
Queenie, Burrs, Black and Kate are able to express their angst,
anger, fascination and sorrow in a song as complicated as their
love lives.
Lippa’s musical arrangement is fast-paced. Because there
is very little dialogue, the end of one song often directly segues
into the beginning of the next, leaving the actors ““ as well
as the audience ““ out of breath.
Ben Makino, the musical director for “The Wild
Party,” confirms that providing instrumental music for the
entire length of the play is no easy task.
“We’ll have this really hot number with only two
seconds in between the next number, or it will go straight onto the
next number, which is hard,” Makino said. “We have to
find our levels and our balances and everything. It’s an
endurance piece.”
The robust music is provided by a somewhat motley group of
instruments. The jazz big-band is the core sound, but a piano is
also a prominent presence in the score. With the addition of the
electric guitar, which provides almost jarring but equally sensuous
licks to accompany the big-band, the music shows a freedom for
creativity in interpretation, departing from the Roaring ’20s
jazz experience.
“It’s the way he uses (the instruments) that makes
it sound more ’70s or gospel-type swing numbers,”
Makino said. “(The musical) takes huge liberties.”
Because the entire cast is onstage for the majority of the play,
much of the background movement is improvised by the students.
Choreographer Bill Szobody, who performed on Broadway in the
original cast of Cabaret and other musicals, allowed the students
to have a lot of input in the choreography.
“A lot of the background is their own stuff. I can’t
totally be a dictator and tell them how to move every second.
It’s sort of experimental,” Szobody said.
Lippa’s musical is one of two different versions of
“The Wild Party” that premiered in 2000. The rival
production of John LaChiusa differs greatly from Lippa’s
rendition because LaChiusa’s version focuses more on the
historical background of the time period. Its jazz-laden score is
often preferred over Lippa’s signature musical numbers that
include the wailing of an anachronistic electric guitar.
LaChiusa’s version sets a serious tone some critics say is
more reflective of 1920s Manhattan.
“I know a lot of people who’ve heard this say
“˜I like it until the guitar starts sounding like
Aerosmith,’ but I like that. I think it sounds cool,”
Hall said.
Along with the electric guitar, Lippa is criticized for the
over-abundance of show-stopping numbers in the score, which lacks
the subtlety of LaChuisa’s version. However, the barrage of
such powerful songs is just another element Hall accords to
traditional musical theater.
“They’re meant to get applause, they’re meant
to get audience reaction and meant to please immediately,”
Hall said. “I’m old fashioned enough to like
that.”
Performances of “The Wild Party” are tonight and
Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. at Schoenberg Hall.
Tickets are $20 for general admission, $10 for students and
seniors.