The Jazz Age is nearly always depicted as a time of extremes-extreme innocence, extreme decadence-and Michael LaChiusa's "The Wild Party" is all of that and more. In the 4th Wall's production, at Westminster Arts in Bloomfield, New Jersey, which I caught on June 4, Kate Swan's deft and sure direction and choreography has our ship of fools sailing into the sunset of what is likely, for most of them, only a canvas sky.
There have been several adaptations of Joseph Moncure March's epic poem of the same name. Originally published in the late 1920's, it was banned for several reasons, perhaps for the bathtub gin, the frank depiction of bisexuality and homosexuality, the domestic violence or the drug use. This particular treatment is a musical with lyrics and music by LaChiusa and book adapted by LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe. The themes are human and, regardless of time, it's a fight for love and glory and a conflict among titanic personalities. This is a passion play where everyone's passions are worn on sleeves or swimming in glasses that rarely leave hands or lips.
4th Wall's cast is a powerhouse of talent. Our main characters are Queenie and Burrs, two vaudeville performers played by Angela Sytko and James Lopez. Both burn in their own way-Queenie is made of ice and Burrs, of smoldering fire, but their interactions don't give off steam exactly. Both Sytko and Lopez live their characters like they are the musicians playing on the Titanic as it goes down. Their relationship is initially bolstered, then destroyed by their wild, wild party.
Matt Burns, remembered as Father Raymond in 4th Wall's recent production of "Avow," has made a complete, 180 degree reversal for his role as Jackie, the bisexual playboy. Burns puts the flame in flamboyant in his portrayal of this ne'er-do-well, who commits one of the most heinous acts in the play. Most tellingly, Jackie's laughter borders sometimes on the razor's edge of boisterous hysteria.
Michele Perkins and Mandy Feiler portray Miss Madelaine True and her companion. They are the, well, half-lesbian couple. Madelaine is a lesbian by her own demeanor and admission, Sally is human flotsam on the raging sea of life in the Big City, buoyed along by Madelaine's strength of purpose and sense of rescue. Madelaine exchanges urbane bon mots with the other guests, while Sally liquidly lounges from one divan to the next to the bed to the stairs to the floor, fluid and flowing among the guests as white and clear as the gin. Kohl-rimmed eyes peer 1,000 yards past whomever she may be speaking to and Sally's is the clear keening voice heard as 20th century counterpoint to especially somber moments. Madelaine and Sally never quite seem to meet, though Madelaine sees herself as Pygmalion, with Sally as her Galatea.
Next we meet Mae and Eddie Mackerel, with Marisa Cucuzza and Alan Leatherman as the retired chorus girl and the retired boxer, both standouts in personality and dress. Mae has brought along her 14-year-old sister Nadine, played by Lauren Kay. Nadine, from Poughkeepsie, is awed and astounded, not only by the city, but also by the glitterati of her sister's associations. How will you keep her down on the farm after she's tried cocaine? Mae and Eddie spar with one another in a muscularly emotional fashion. Cucuzza and Leatherman are both accomplished performers, stylized and synchronous in the ways that couples often ebb and flow with energy and emotion. Kay captures that insouciant charm of youth and the nascent womanhood, which teens of Nadine's age think they are ready for, but really haven't got enough preparation or leavening to accept. This sets the stage for one of the most tragic moments in the piece.
Phil and Oscar D'Armano, Timothy Avant and Daryl Stewart, play to and off one another's oily, knowing charm. They have some beyond-brotherly connection that's both interesting and naughty, and this fuels the creativity they have, separately and together, as songwriters and performers. Queenie and Burr's small flat is dominated, in one area, by an upright piano and, in another, by a victrola-performers must have music! And the talent of their friends is part of what drives the party.
Dolores Montoya, played to a tee by Bianca Sutlovich, is a once-famous actress and singer who is going kicking and screaming out the stage door. Growling and purring with echoes of Eartha Kitt-intentionally a tribute, since Kitt originated this role on Broadway-Sutlovich is the all-knowing Player who moves like the story's thread, sewing and sowing and giving tidbits of information. Sphinx-like, she knows much more than she tells.
Portrayed by Jeffrey Dobson and Louis Hoffman, Gold and Goldberg, theatrical entrepreneur-wannabes who own The Vaudeville-the theatre where Queenie and Burrs perform-have been invited for a purpose more business than pleasure. Burrs has heard that they are moving Uptown, and he wants to go with them. G&G are agog at the Xanadu around them and don't see the dark shadows until much, much later.
Our final party arrivals are Kate and Black, played by Vanessa Robinson and Craig M. Tiede. Kate is Queenie's bosom buddy and rival and Black is Kate's kept-man. Predictably, Black takes a look at Queenie and decides to make a change.
Markus Hauck's musical direction, with the musicians immediately adjacent to the stage, really provides the speakeasy feel so right for this production. Each of the cast of all-stars is featured vocally at different times, and the show has been compared to an opera for its themes, complexity and music. As in opera, most of the dialogue is sung and there are assonance and dissonance in abundance. Even if you didn't know the era from the costumes and sets, the strange harmonies of early 20th century music resonate through the score. Each vocalist is strong and deft and this elevates the show to great heights.
Dan Schulz's costumes give us vivid contrasts and effectively limn the characters, studies in contrast as well. The Brothers D'Armano are virtually identical and Jackie is dressed similarly. All are sharply defined as contemporaries and clotheshorses. Mae and Eddie are clad brightly and Eddie's suit is very flashy. Queenie, blonde and frosty in white, contrasts with an almost Daddy Warbucks-like Burrs. Black is fancy in white tie and tux, while Kate, as Queenie's friend and rival, is clad all in black, her hair raven. Bruce McCandless' set is in muted tones, almost sepia, overlaying the colors of the furnishings. Gwen Ricks-Spencer's lighting works in concert with sets and costumes, as characters emerge, at different times, like colorful hothouse flowers, to advance the story.
This play is not produced often and, in keeping with 4th Wall's mission to provide thought-provoking theatre, the play is disturbing in ways that won't be immediately apparent. Bits of it will be stuck in your brain as you begin to sort it out. Imagine seeing an entire season of "Friends" in two hours, but through a glass darkly, and you'll begin to understand how some things can go so terribly wrong while others are so terribly right.
Performances at Westminster Arts, at the intersection of Fremont and Franklin Streets in Bloomfield, are on Friday and Saturday evenings, June 5, 6, 13, 14, 19 and 20, at 8 p.m., with a Sunday matinee, on June 14, at 2 p.m. For tickets, visit 4th Wall online at http://www.4thwalltheatre.org/tickets.htm. Support live theatre for a little bit more than the cost of a movie. Group rates are available, so reserve early.
