This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Musical plays adapted from poems, much less banned poems, are hen's-tooth rare. Musical plays about parties? Not so much.
Andrew Lippa's "The Wild Party" fuses those two occurrences from opposite ends of the spectrum, taking a narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March as its inspiration, adding a healthy dose of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" for good measure. Lippa's play wowed some and vexed others in its 2000 debut Off-Broadway, then went on to the 2004 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The basic premise, set during the Roaring Twenties, is simple. Vaudeville actors, and lovers, Queenie and Burrs invite Manhattan's cutting edge to their apartment for drinks and all-night revelry. Both aim to make each other jealous. Queenie succeeds first, wooing a man named Black. She ends up falling in love. Burrs' jealously becomes a rage, and the end is not pretty.
It's Lippa's music and songs weaved throughout the proceedings—ranging from jazz to gospel to, of course, vaudeville—that make this a one-of-a-kind theater event. Don't let it pass you by, March 29-April 8 at Studio 115.
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Andrew Lippa's "The Wild Party"
When • March 29, 7:30 p.m.; March 30, 7:30 p.m.; March 31, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; April 1, 7:30 p.m.; April 4, 7:30 p.m.; April 5, 7:30 p.m.; April 6, 7:30 p.m.; April 7, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; April 8, 7:30 p.m.
Where • Studio 115 Theatre, 240 S. 1500 East, first floor of the Performing Arts Building, just west of the Campus Bookstore on the University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $5-$15. Call 801-581-7100 or visit http://kingsburyhall.utah.edu/performances for more information.