As for "The Wild Party", i think of that as the death knell of what the Broadway musical might have become in the 21st Century, a bold, daring art form that pushed the boundaries of storytelling to expose something honest and uncomfortable about the American experience. But that wasn't what audiences wanted, and honestly never had.
It pushed the boundaries of storytelling? Don't you have to have a story to tell in order to do that???
Again, I think it's a tremendous score. THAT was the strength of the show, plus the cast. The shards of storyline, along with the seemingly endless parade of secondary characters we had to keep track of, stopped any real sense of clear storytelling in its tracks IMO. I think it's a wonderful song cycle with a theatrical flair. |
