Wild Party @ Baldwin-Wallace College 10/28/09

Andrew Lippa’s Wild Party gets youthfully exuberant (and professionally slick) treatment by energetic and likable music theatre students under the direction of Victoria Bussert. It’s double cast with “Blonde” and “Brunette” casts. The “Brunette” cast on Wednesday shone as they evoked the fatally glamorous elements of the 1920s.

The story-line is thin, showgirl Queenie, (played with delightful authority by Devon Yates, dazzling in a blonde wig that deserves special billing) throws a wild party and various couples fall in and out of love. But the party is really just a great excuse to string a bunch of songs (Chicago-style) and wonderful dance numbers together. The alley stage sets off the considerable talents of the dance ensemble (as directed by Martín Céspedes).

The jazzy score is conducted by Brian Taylor, working with an ensemble perched above the stage. It’s an evening of theatre that’s just plain fun (unless you’re feeling prudish) and although anyone under 13 is not invited, it’s more for the bad example of sexual habits than for nudity. (Do you really want to explain during the show what a lesbian [or any other] madam is?)

Performances continue tonight through Nov. 7 at Kleist Theatre on the Baldwin-Wallace campus, 440-826-2240. BW.edu

Laura Kennelly is a freelance arts journalist, a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, and an associate editor of BACH, a scholarly journal devoted to J. S. Bach and his circle.

Listening to and learning more about music has been a life-long passion. She knows there’s no better place to do that than the Cleveland area.