Not just at the Street: 'The Wild Party' hits 185 Nassau

Punctuated with the black bottom, bare breasts and a spectrum of sexual escapades, "The Wild Party" certainly lives up to its title. Directed by Natasha Badillo '03, "The Wild Party" is a seductively dark romp in the Manhattan of the 1920s. Based on Joseph Moncure March's epic poem, LaChiusa and Wolfe's musical rollicks with the taboos of "Gin, Skin and Sin" in the age of jazz and prohibition.

Attended by vaudevillians, playboys, might-be's and has-beens, "The Wild Party" captivates its audience from the first chord to the final note. Smoky spotlights illuminate the characters' scandalous gyrations of drunken debauchery, and the magnifying glass of liquor amplifies their deviant and wildly depraved behavior.

As Queenie and Burrs find their careers as vaudevillian performers fading, they decide to raise their spirits with other spirits – such as good company and bathtub gin. Rather than brood, they corral their friends for a violently madcap evening.

An eclectic collection of 1920s singers and dancers assembles to revel in their shared disdain for the restraints of the age. Under the musical direction of Ryan Brandau '03, the song and sound of the jazz age is scintillating and powerful, and there is no shortage of talent in the Matthews Acting Studio at 185 Nassau Street.

The more soused with bathtub gin the party-goers become, the more the motion of the play spins out of control. The black bottom is replaced by an even darker dance, and as the characters embrace the taboo of gin, they become more enmeshed in the trap of the forbidden.

As their evening progresses, the characters at "The Wild Party" are overcome by their own secret desires, and what began as a simple escape becomes a feverishly complicated orgy.

Olivia Wills '04 gives a compelling performance as Queenie, who attempts to hold onto sanity while those around her embrace their intoxicating insanity. Wills' performance gives a delightfully voluptuous tint to Queenie's poignant internal struggles.

Complemented by senior Nathan Freeman's spellbinding and macabre performance as Burrs, the host and hostess entertain their guests as well as the audience with the glamour of their party and the drama of their relationship.

Katherine Grim '04 gives a brilliant performance as Sally, the strange date of the renowned lesbian stripper, Miss Madelaine True. Sally is roused from her morphine-induced stupor just long enough to do more than justice to two hair-raising and breathtaking arias.

Jackie, a devoted playboy played by Joseph Cermatori '05, is a dashing and devious hedonist who won't take no for an answer. Cermatori dazzles the audience with a performance of bewitchingly naughty singing and diabolical verve.

The entire cast is an assembly of gems that compliment one another impeccably well. All of the performances are beautifully crafted. No attention to detail is spared.

The party-goers create a raucous parade of their obsessions, and their attempt to get away from the unhappiness of life during prohibition backfires. Though they try to escape their troubles, the bathtub gin they thought would help them only hinders them, leading to new troubles.

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In their quest for fun and entertainment, the partiers are forced to question not only the friends they thought they knew but also themselves.

The atonal musical score is powerfully rendered, summoning the rhythms and melodies of the 1920s. The blare of trumpeting voices and jazz syncopations are still haunting long after the act is over.

The taboo is made mesmerizing through the lavish set and costumes, ominous lighting, and mirthfully dark personages. Through mastery of these elements, Badillo's version of "The Wild Party" strikes a Kubrickesque chord, playing to an artistic fascination with the sordid and sexual.

"Gin, Skin and Sin" is by no means faulty advertising. Scandals abound and, if you sit in the right spot, they might even wind up in your lap. Not for the faint of heart, "The Wild Party," promises to be a rowdy and enjoyable evening.