A major new London production of the multi Tony-nominated Broadway musical THE WILD PARTY is to open at EartH Hackney, a new 680-capacity venue in Dalston.
EartH, originally built in the 1930s as a cinema, has undergone two years of restoration and now boasts jaw-dropping original Art Deco features and a state-of-the-art sound system.
THE WILD PARTY, with Music and Lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa, Book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe, based on the poem by Joseph Moncure March, directed by Dan Herd, will preview from Monday 12 August and run to Saturday 7 September.
Manhattan decadence provides the backdrop for this tough musical fable. Queenie, a vaudeville chorine, hosts the blow-out of the title with her vicious lover. The guests are a vivid collection of the unruly and the undone. The jazz and gin-soaked party rages to a mounting sense of threat as artifice and illusion are stripped away. When midnight debauchery leads to tragedy at dawn, the high-flying characters land with a sobering thud, reminding us that no party lasts forever.
Director Dan Herd said: “LaChiusa and Wolfe’s THE WILD PARTY is a bold explosion of a musical that transports us into the intoxicating dark side of the Jazz Age. It’s a thrilling journey through a booze-fueled night with characters, score, and text that are utterly exhilarating. Our production aims to match the creators’ daring writing; here, the grotesque and iconic guests at this party possess our cast, transforming them into the puppets of ghosts from an untamed past, creating a palpable sense of unpredictability. This summer in Hackney, we’re crafting a unique theatrical event: shadows will dance across the faded grandeur of our venue, the audience will become part of an immersive ghost story, and our brilliant creative team and top-tier cast will revive this landmark musical with exuberance and true wildness.”
Cast:
Laura Baldwin (Queenie). Laura’s West End musicals include playing Adele in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Dawn in Waitress (Whatsonstage nominee) and Cynthia Weil in Beautiful - The Carole King Musical. She also starred as Janey in Eugenius! and Story Sandra in Big Fish (both at The Other Palace).
Simon Anthony (Burrs). He was in the original cast of Guys and Dolls at the The Bridge Theatre. His West End credits include: Bonnie & Clyde, The Wedding Singer and Fame, and Crazy For You at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Bobbie Little (Kate) was Emily in The Witches (National Theatre), Connie in Standing at the Sky’s Edge, (Sheffield Crucible, National Theatre), Heather Duke in Heathers: The Musical (Theatre Royal
Haymarket).
Billy Cullum (Black) was in A Christmas Carol (Old Vic), Jesus Christ Superstar and Little Shop of Horrors (both Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and played Mark Cohen in the 20th anniversary tour of RENT (The Other Palace/UK tour).
Chumisa Dornford-May (Dolores). Her West End credits include playing the Alternate Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera, u/s Jenny in Aspects of Love, Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family (London Palladium) and Mistress/ u/s Eva Perón in Evita at Curve, Leicester.
George Crawford (Jackie) was Alternate Jack Kelly in Newsies (Troubadour, Wembley).
Jade Kennedy (Eddie) recently played Joan in Fun Home (Gate Theatre, Dublin) and played Frida Kahlo, Sacagawea & Marie Curie in the original cast of Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World (UK tour).
Kirsty Foreman (Mae) is a recent graduate of Mountview making their professional debut
Christian Maynard (Phil) recently starred as Kid Pop in Rehab: The Musical at Neon194, and previously played Chris in Miss Saigon at Sheffield Crucible.
George Crawford, Jade Kennedy, Kirsty Foreman, Christian Maynard, Samantha Bingley Kyle Richardson,
Maddison Bulleyment, Lillie-Pearl Wildman, Ronan Quiniou, Ryan Wolpert, Jennifer Louise Jones, Amber Sylvia Edwards
Samantha Bingley (Sally) was Madame/‘Wardrobe’ in Beauty & the Beast (London Palladium/UK tour) and Rose of Sharon in To Wong Foo (Hope Mill).
Kyle Richardson (Oscar) recently played Simba in The Lion King (Lyceum). His other major roles include Tony in West Side Story, Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera.
Maddison Bulleyment (Nadine) was recently in 42 Balloons (Lowry), Witch Letitia in The Witches (National Theatre), Carolyn in Bridges of Maddison County (Menier Chocolate Factory), Anne Boleyn in SIX (UK tour).
Lillie-Pearl Wildman (Madelaine) currently in Standing at the Sky’s Edge (Gillian Lynne), her other West End credits include Sunset Boulevard (Savoy), Cabaret (Kit Kat Klub at Playhouse) and Newsies (Troubadour, Wembley).
Ronan Quiniou (Gold) played Toto in The Wizard of Oz and Beralde in Moliere’s ‘Le Malade Imaginaire’ (European Tour).
Ryan Wolpert (Goldberg) is a recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Music making their professional debut.
Jennifer Louise Jones (Swing and Dance Captain) was Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast (London
Palladium and UK tour), Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (Frinton Summer Theatre) and Alternate Tracy Lord in High Society (The Mill at Sonning).
Amber Sylvia Edwards (Swing) was in Tina The Musical, Mercy Lewis in The Good John Proctor (Jermyn Street Theatre), a Witch in Macbeth (Royal Shakespeare Company).
Creative team:
Director: Dan Herd
Choreographer: Alexzandra Sarmiento
Set and Costume Designer: Sophia Pardon
Lighting Designer: Adam King
Sound Designer: Russell Ditchfield
Musical Supervisor Ben Goddard-Young
Production Manager: Ian Moore for the Production Family
Casting Director: Richard Johnston for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting
Produced by DeeHampton Productions Ltd
THE WILD PARTY premiered on Broadway in 2000 starring Toni Collette, Eartha Kitt, Marc Kudisch, Norm Lewis, Sally Murphy, Mandy Patinkin and Tonya Pinkins, and was nominated for the Best
Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Musical Score Tony Awards.
Michael John LaChiusa – composer, lyricist and librettist
Michael John LaChiusa established himself as a powerful presence on the American musical theatre scene after winning Off-Broadway’s 1993 Obie Award for his musicals First Lady Suite and Hello Again. Six years later, LaChiusa was represented on Broadway during the 1999-2000 season by two more musicals, The Wild Party and Marie Christine, which together received 12 Tony Award nominations for the season – garnering Mr. LaChiusa two nominations for each production – Best Score and Best Book (along with George C. Wolfe on The Wild Party). He received his first Tony Award nomination for Best Book (co-written with Graciela Daniele and Jim Lewis) for Chronicle of a Death Foretold, produced on Broadway by Lincoln Center Theater Company in 1996. His musicals Giant, Queen of the Mist, Los Otros (with Ellen Fitzhugh), See What I Wanna See, Bernarda Alba, Little Fish, The Highest Yellow (with John Strand), Hello Again, First Lady Suite, The Petrified Prince and the one-acts Lucky Nurse...Break...Agnes...Eulogy for Mister Hamm have had their original productions presented by Williamstown Theatre Festival, Lincoln Center Theater Company, The Public Theatre, Second Stage, Signature Theatre (Virginia), The Dallas Theatre Center, The Mark Taper Forum, Transport Group and Playwrights Horizons, prior to subsequent productions across the United States and in London, Budapest, Melbourne, Stockholm, Seoul and other international cities.
George C. Wolfe - book
George C. Wolfe directed Caroline, or Change (nominated for six 2004 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Direction) and directed and co-wrote The Wild Party (nominated for seven 2000 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Book). He won the Tony Award for his direction of Angels in America: Millenium Approaches and the Tony Award for his direction of Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk. His other credits on Broadway include Topdog/Underdog; Elaine Stritch At Liberty; On the Town; The Tempest; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Angels in America: Perestroika and Jelly’s Last Jam (of which he is also the author).
Joseph Moncure March (1899-1977)
Joseph Moncure March wrote his daring, electrically charged poem “The Wild Party” in 1926, and saw it published two years later in a limited edition that became something of a success de scandal that was banned in Boston. The noted writer and editor Louis Untermeyer called “The Wild Party” “repulsive and fascinating, vicious, vivacious, uncompromising, unashamed and unremittingly powerful.” Famously, William S. Burroughs named it the book that “made me want to be a writer.”March, who died in February, 1977 at the age of 78, was a screenwriter and journalist as well as a poet. He began his career in journalism as the first managing editor of The New Yorker. He quit his New Yorker job in 1926 to work on “The Wild Party,” the work for which he is best remembered today.
DeeHampton Productions Ltd
present
THE WILD PARTY
Music and Lyrics by
Michael John LaChiusa
Book by Michael John LaChiusa
and George C. Wolfe
Based on the poem by
Joseph Moncure March
Directed by Dan Herd
12th August - 7th September
EartH
1-17 Stoke Newington Rd
Dalston
London
N16 8BH
Book online:
Tickets on sale from 10am Friday 24 May
Age recommendation
14+
