The Wild Party (LaChiusa) - The Other Palace

Not at all, jeanhunt - had I gone to this (I was on the point of booking until I listened to the samples online and abandoned my basket in horror) - I'd not only have needed the interval but would have used it to escape. Each to her own, and I do know that some have loved this, but if your striking (!) image of "being whacked around the head repeatedly with a jazzy baseball bat" is how I, too, would have felt, I'd have been driven either to retreat or retaliate.

The £5 offer for The Wild Party must have been a one off, I looked online at previews for the other shows coming up later in the year and the same seat where I sat on Saturday (A4) is priced at £20, don't know if I'd be as enthusiastic to see something at those prices, unless there was an actor or actress in it that I REALLY wanted to see.

I think they did only because they expected the stage to be very high, my ticket said that the view might have been restricted due to the height of the stage. Clearly it wasn't the case

"Tuneless as Sondheim"... OMG. Are we still back in the MT dark ages? Does every melody have to be bouncy and familiar and right down the middle of the road? Beauty comes in many guises - open your ears to it.

How very condescending of you.

I have to say that Whatsonstage.com review is pretty much what I thought of this.

jeanhunt, thanks for your good-natured reply. I can think of a dozen Sondheim songs just offhand that I would place among the most beautiful ever written so it touches a nerve when he is used as a touchstone for ugly music. As for Wild Party, it's rhythm heavy, not at all a ballad show, but there are beautiful songs in it... People Like Us is pretty much an MT classic now as the number of YouTube performances demonstrates. It probably helps if you like jazz!

More reviews...

Evening Standard: ****

www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/the-wild-party-theatre-review-gin-skin-sin-and-fun-opens-andrew-lloyd-webbers-new-palace-a3471796.html

Broadway World: ***

www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/BWW-Review-THE-WILD-PARTY-The-Other-Palace-20170221

West End Wilma: ****

www.westendwilma.com/review-the-wild-party-the-other-palace/

I sat in C1 (same price) which was really good I thought. I felt lower down you might not see everything because of the bed. Other people have sat there though and would be able to give their opinions.

Going to have to try to fit this one in somehow. Intrigued by the mixed reviews on here. It does sound like the sort of thing I will enjoy.

That's so true. As I said, I was in C1 and I was wearing a white shirt which was probably lit up in that light. Thank goodness it wasn't a UV light.

"I was born to ask, why was I born?" sings Queenie in her Act 1 lament, "Lowdown Down". It's a line any one of the partygoers could claim. They are desperate characters, most of them on the fringes of Vaudeville, with their better days behind them; all of them hiding behind painted faces or phony names or altered life stories or a kind of hysterical happiness that fools no one. It's hard to think of a darker, more intense musical than The Wild Party.

And yet it IS a party and amidst the darkness there is light. The gin flows, the raucous music blares, everyone is dancing and showing off. Old love affairs are being rekindled, new ones being born and a good time is being had by all - for a while. It's a show of many colours and moods but the storm clouds are always hovering and this production captures both the fun and the fatalism perfectly.

This is the 4th production of The Wild Party I've seen and it's by far the busiest; it has the most choreography (perfectly conceived and executed); it pays the most attention to the nuances and subtleties of the plot. For what seems like a loose collection of scenes is in fact a tightly structured drama with themes and motifs planted in Act 1 that return in Act 2 in moments of startling revelation. Drew McOnie, who directed and choreographed, has paid attention to these moments and given the show the shape that it needs. The frenzy is always under control.

The cast is excellent. John Owen-Jones is an amazing Burrs bringing more to the part than I thought was there. He's not just the maniacal brute we're used to - although the violence is always present - but a tormented man who, if we can't sympathize, we can at least understand. His "Wouldn't It Be Nice" routine in Act 1 is outstanding. Donna McKechnie's Dolores is stylish and funny in just the right way and her "When It's Done", near the end, is devastatingly poignant not just because of the way she performs it but because of who she is. VHB is wonderful as Kate, giving us the full sexpot. Her "Black Is a Moocher" in Act 2 is the hottest thing in the show.

Frances Ruffelle is a very good Queenie although she doesn't quite dominate things as she should. I don't think her age is a factor. She's in great shape - her dresses certainly don't hide anything - and she sings and dances well. If anything there's a bit of a discrepancy between her and VHB. They should be the same age and they're clearly not.

Ako Mitchell and Lizzy Connolly are a strong Eddie and Mae and Tiffany Graves is quite fabulous as Madeleine True. Special mention to Steven Serlin and Sebastian Torkia, hilarious as Gold and Goldberg - their heavily hungover "Movin' Uptown Blues" pretty much stopped the show.

I had a quibble with casting two women as the D'Armano Brothers. The ladies themselves were very good - amazing dancers! - but one wants to hear male voices in those roles and something was lost. Dex Lee was also unorthodox casting as Jackie but he nailed the part.

I understand why there are many who simply don't appreciate this show but, to me, it's a brilliant piece of musical theatre - utterly original, utterly compelling, like everything else Michael John LaChiusa has written. This production does it full justice, and then some.