The sleazy and the sleek: Blank’s ‘Wild Party’ and Paramount’s ‘Dreamgirls’
LJ Bullen and company. Photo by Zeke Dolezak.
There's no better venue to take in a production of Andrew Lippa's Wild Party than a snug storefront black box. The musical is entirely set within a grody and increasingly oppressive Manhattan studio apartment circa 1928, after all—what better way to keep people in their seats than a manic gaggle of performers doing the Charleston, like, two feet in front of them?
Other than socko vocals, natch.
Blank Theatre Company's take on The Wild Party, based on the epic poem by Joseph Moncure March and a favorite in the contemporary catalogue, makes a strong case for this tetchy material, a demimonde love quadrangle between Queenie (Karylin Veres) a two-show-a-day vaudeville chorine; Burrs (Dustin Rothbart), Queenie’s common-law husband, a clown whose jealousy puts Pagliacci's Canio to shame; Kate (LJ Bullen), Queenie’s bestie and an irrepressible good-time girl; and Black (Marc Prince), Kate's latest boy toy.
It does especially well by its women: Veres excels as a good little vamp in a very bad place, while Bullen is sensational as a cokey kewpie doll (and manages to make her own "The Life of the Party", that song that's lived in every belter's book since 2000). The men tend to fall behind for their own reasons. You can buy Rothbart as a tragedian, but not so much as a domestic terror. (Though, vis-à-vis abusers, maybe his unassuming nature makes him perfect for the role.) Prince, while not without bearing, is simply The Good Guy in a louche musical, one full of anti-charm songs about predatory lesbians and anti-gospel numbers about knocking back gin and roasting in Hell. In other words, in company this bad, Good becomes a wallflower.
For his part, Michael Leavens's dirty, dirty trumpet might be off to the side and behind a curtain, but it ain't no wallflower. Nor are Lippa's crunchy harmonies.
If you need a jazz wail to wake you up just before the world comes crashing down, Blank's got your wake-up call.
The Wild Party runs through September 25th at the Vaughn Theatre, 1106 W. Thorndale Ave. For tickets or more information, please visit blanktheatrecompany.org.
L to R: Mariah Lyttle, Naima Alakham, and Taylor Marie Daniel. Photo by Liz Lauren
If you’re looking for something less lowdown but not lacking for fireworks, Paramount’s go at Dreamgirls is a sizzler.
A sweeping decades-long panorama, it begins in the Sixties when girl groups were queen and Black music was still a niche interest as far as the white-driven industry was concerned. It’s in this context that the Supremes Dreamettes—Effie (Breyannah Taylor at my performance, alternating with Naima Alakham), Deena (Taylor Marie Daniel), and Lorrell (Mariah Lyttle)—meet Berry Gordy, Jr. Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Lorenzo Rush Jr.), a self-made manager determined to break the race barrier on the charts, and if that means some palm-greasing, so be it.
Payola, sweat, and tears ensue.
The lattermost, courtesy of Effie, the lead singer, when Curtis bumps her bluesy howl to back-up singing in order to front Deena’s Vegas-friendly purr. Not that she’ll admit to the tears; come her firing, her big number after all is called “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.” It’s passed into musical theatre legend for a reason, and Taylor does it proud.
Everyone does this Dreamgirls proud, really, and it begins with real affection for the history of R&B, still keenly felt in Tom Eyen’s libretto and Henry Krieger’s music. Director Christopher D. Betts is clearly an admirer of that history and this musical, and it cascades down from there into something explosive.
Effie aside, the other standout is Rush’s Curtis, a sober reminder that the devil isn’t always the guy with the red cape and pointy scepter; he’s just as likely the guy in fancy threads saying “We have to play the Man’s game.”
But, oh, the heavenly music that pours forth.
Dreamgirls runs through October 16th at Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd, Aurora, IL. For tickets or more information, please call (630) 896-6666 or visit paramountaurora.com.