Fabrizio O. Almeida

Take two sets of jealous lovers, infuse them with the libidinous sensuality and predatory cunning of the bed-hopping conspirators from "Dangerous Liaisons" and place them at the corrupted heart of a story involving jazz, sex and violence and you have "The Wild Party." Composer Andrew Lippa's musical adaptation of a 1928 poem of the same name is at once an ear-friendly tribute to the jazz-age sounds of 1920s Manhattan and its consuming passions and an attempt to dramatize a collage of complicated characters and their abrasive mores. Structurally, it's a challenging piece: the frenetic energy of a nonstop parade of first-act introductions and miniature musical character studies is noticeably missing from a second act heavy with ballads and scenes that try unsuccessfully to imbue the piece with a palpable sense of loss, one of the original source material's darker themes. Living up to their company name, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble has wisely played up the debauchery in a sexy and freewheeling Chicago premiere boasting impressive production values, high-caliber singing and probably the hardest-working supporting ensemble on a Chicago musical stage right now. Indeed, in portraying the pansexual libertines that round out the guest list--and as assisted by director Stephen M. Genovese's fluid, cinematic staging and choreographer Brenda Didier's stylized dance moves--a motley crew of white, ethnic, burly, waiflike and everything-in-between singer-actors have created distinct characters and personalities that are as intoxicating as anything their hosts could fix at the bar.

(2005-07-26)

Also by Fabrizio O. Almeida

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