Performance Overview

What was once a love match between Queenie and Burr that checked all the boxes — thrills, chills, and great sex — fizzles after a while. What better way to inject excitement and rekindle the relationship than with a wild party of the title, winner of the 2000 Drama Desk Award for outstanding musical for Andrew Lippa, creator of book, lyrics and music. The story, inspired by the Roaring Twenties epic long poem “The Wild Party” by poet and screenwriter Joseph Moncure March, gives us a crazy cast of characters who show up for the festivities, with moves and revenge moves by the principals and their friends.

Drinking, dancing and general chaos leads us to the big number of Act I, “A Wild, Wild Party,” based on, of all things, the story of Adam and Eve. This jazz tale of jealousy and violent rage reaches a terrifying climax in Act II. School of Drama assistant professor Cliff Odle directs this musical of emotions gone haywire that ends with a reflective song by Queenie: “How Did We Come to This?” How, indeed!