There is an incredible array of top talent assembled – powerful singers, athletic dancers and intelligent actors – but The Wild Party lacks the wit and humour of Chicago so that its effect is limited because the book is so thin.
THE WILD PARTY – The Other Palace
Drawn from Joseph Moncure March’s 1928 poem of the same name the show is an unrelenting tale of bastardry in 1920s New York. Frances Ruffelle’s Queenie and her husband Burrs are a pair of fading Vaudeville artistes.
THE WILD PARTY – The Other Palace
This revival of Michael John LaChiusa’s musical The Wild Party unfortunately lives up to its original reception. Dripping with sex, booze and jazz, there are some great tunes but little substance.
THE WILD PARTY – The Other Palace
March’s jazz-age tale of a tempestuous couple holding a gathering to end all gatherings allows for a real parade of vivid caricatures to come passing through in search of gin, blow, sex and some defining characteristic or other.
FEATURED SHOW: The Wild Party at the Hope Theatre, ★★★★★ reviews are in!
Have you seen the myriad five- and four-star reviews for our Featured Show, Mingled Yarn Theatre’s two-hander play with music based on Joseph Moncure March’s once-banned 1928 poem THE WILD PARTY? Here’s a selection of some of our favourite review quotes.
THE WILD PARTY – Hope Theatre
A poem performed as a 65 minute play and in the most innovative and inviting way imaginable, as a nifty two-hander interspersed with postmodern jukebox-style songs. Joey Akubeze and Anna Clarke made a stunning job of engaging the audience in Joseph Moncure March’s piece.
THE WILD PARTY – Hope Theatre
First published in 1928 (having been banned and rejected for its sheer filth) this adaptation embraces the rhythm of the Joseph Moncure March narrative poem and of the time but whilst Anna Clark and Joey Akubeze give the 16 characters they play between their all there is something that makes this production feel a bit disjointed.
THE WILD PARTY – The Hope Theatre
Sin, seduction, sex and jazz are brought into sharp focus in Mingled Yarn’s production of Joseph Moncure March’s narrative poem. Set across one evening, Rafaella Marcus’s electrifying production has plenty to offer in terms of energy, pace and solid cast but as it builds momentum is in danger of getting slightly carried away.
THE WILD PARTY – Hope Theatre
Cheeky, quirky, full of fun and fruit, The Wild Party gives you an intimate taste of the ’20s in a way you’ve never quite experienced before. Two actors adorn the stage. One is a lithe temptress who oozes charisma, the other is her offbeat sidekick who lurks in the shadows.
The Wild Party: Rhyming & raunching onstage
Poetry dramatised: for me, the real strength in Mingled Yarn Theatre’s staging of The Wild Party is in providing a platform for Joseph Moncure March’s full, unadulterated poem.
THE WILD PARTY – Hope Theatre
Joseph Moncure March’s narrative poem managed the remarkable feat of having two musical adaptations thereof running in the same year in New York, one of which – by Michael John LaChiusa – will be the first show in the newly rebranded The Other Palace next month. Getting in early though is Mingled Yarn Theatre Company with their own cabaret-influenced interpretation of The Wild Party, running now at The Hope Theatre.
THE WILD PARTY – Hope Theatre
The Wild Party, a simple and to-the-point title, perfectly describes the show as well as the evening I experienced. There was so much to like about this performance. Adapted into a performance piece here by Mingled Yarn Theatre Company, The Wild Party was originally a book-length narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March in the roaring twenties.
INTERVIEW: Spotlight On… The Wild Party director Rafaella Marcus
The Wild Party started life as a long narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March published in 1928 – it was made into two musicals, which is how most people know it but they’re very loose adaptations – we’re going right back to the original text.
INTERVIEW: Producer David Ralf talks about Hope’s The Wild Party
Producer David Ralf explains why he was so drawn to book-length poem THE WILD PARTY, what audiences can expect and why The Hope is the perfect space to present Mingled Yarn’s refreshing take on this classic piece of literature.
The Year Ahead: 20 (non-West End) shows to look forward to in 2017
This list is looking a little further afield to shows I hope to get to throughout the year from Bolton to Manchester, Sheffield, Woking and several Off-West End and fringe venues.
NEWS: Hope Theatre stages new play version of The Wild Party
Before the St James Theatre relaunches as The Other Palace with Michael John LaChiusa’s musical of The Wild Party, Mingled Yarn company returns to the original source, Joseph Moncure March’s 1928 poem, for a brand-new two-hander play version staged at north London’s Hope Theatre.
NEWS: Donna McKechnie, John Owen-Jones & full The Wild Party cast announced
Full casting is announced today for Michael John LaChiusa’s THE WILD PARTY, which receives its first major London production at The Other Palace, playing from Monday 13 February to Saturday 1 April 2017, with a press night on Monday 20 February. THE WILD PARTY will be the inaugural production at The Other Palace, formerly St. James Theatre, when it reopens in February …
NEWS: Frances Ruffelle stars in The Wild Party, TICKETS NOW ONSALE
Michael John LaChiusa’s The Wild Party will receive its first major London production at The Other Palace, playing from Saturday 11 February to Saturday 1 April 2017, with a press night on Monday 20 February. It’s directed and choreographed by 2016 Olivier Award winner Drew McOnie and stars Tony Award winner Frances Ruffelle.
NEWS: Andrew Lloyd Webber relaunches St James as Other Palace, announces first season
Andrew Lloyd Webber today announces plans for The Other Palace, the newest addition to The Really Useful Theatres Group. The inaugural season, under new artistic director Paul Taylor Mills, will feature a range of musicals including: Michael John LaChuisa’s The Wild Party and premieres of Duncan Sheik’s Whisper House and Fellini adaptation La Strada.