Review: The Wild Party

Hey readers!
It's time for my review of The Wild Party.
The Wild Party is truly 'something else'. I have never seen anything quite like it. It was very unusual and interesting, which made for a nice change. The show comes across as being Chicago meets The Rocky Horror Show, having similar music and structure to Chicago and a similar story to The Rocky Horror Show. What really makes the show what it is, is its fabulous cast. The cast consists of top notch actors, including as Tony Award winners Frances Ruffelle as Queenie and Donna McKechnie. It also featured Basic Theatre Award nominee Ako Mitchell! The cast are absolutely outstanding I really don't think I would've enjoyed the show half as much without this cast. It is they that 'make' the show. They are all brilliant singers, which brings me onto the next point about the show... the score. The score is excellent, and as I mentioned, reminds me of Chicago. After listening to the Original Broadway Cast album twice, I have decided that I think the best songs are 'Queenie was a Blonde', 'Wouldn't It Be Nice?' and 'How Many Women in the World'. All the songs have something about them which are very catchy and memorable. The show is choreographed (as it is directed) by the excellent Drew McOnie. He choreographed In the Heights as well (which was amazing) and he was able to once again do a brilliant job. The Wild Party is playing at The Other Palace, where it is quite a small stage. However small the stage is though, they do wonders with it. I thought the orchestra on the upper part of the stage were well placed and the interaction between them and the actors worked so well. I also really liked the lighting design. I did think act two was a lot better than act one, due to the fact that act one is to get the story going and introduce everyone, whereas act two really had a "meatier" story. I feel that act one could be made shorter and act two could be extended. The show seemed to gave quite a slow beginning. Apart from this though, I thought it was an excellent show and it was interesting to see something so unique.

The featured star of The Wild Party is, drum roll please... JOHN OWEN-JONES!

John Owen-Jones is a tour de force in the role of Burrs. It is a really strong cast, and yet I went away knowing for certain he was the 'featured star'. He has an amazing stage presence and there was a lot to his character which seemed to be very well thought out.

Now for my final verdict on The Wild Party. I give The Wild Party...

I give this rating because it was a show that is extremely different and unique to the average show. It did have a slow beginning, but it truly does have a phenomenal cast and wonderful music.

Think it should have got a higher rating? Agree with my rating? Think it should have got a lower rating? If so comment below.

Join me next time when I will be reviewing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

Thanks for reading!

-The Reviewer