Queenie was a blonde,
And her age stood still,
And she danced twice a day
In vaudeville.
Queenie was a blonde,
And if looks could kill,
She would kill twice a day
In vaudeville.

            – The Wild Party

It's the greatest night they'll ever regret.

It was the roaring age of bootleggers, flappers, and talkies; the hard-won vote for women; widespread social conflict; and the birth of organized crime. As unprecedented prosperity and sweeping social change dazzled the public, the restrictions of the Victorian nineteenth century vanished, and many of the institutions, ideas, and preoccupations of our own age emerged. America became, for the first time, thoroughly modernized.

And, much like America in 2010, dangerously out of control...

New Line's 19th season continues April 22-May 15, 2010, with the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's raunchy, rowdy jazz musical THE WILD PARTY, based on the notorious 1928 poem about a decadent and deadly all-night party in 1920s Manhattan, about a community poised at the fiery peak of the Jazz Age, just a year before the Crash of 1929. With an unflinching eye, this high-energy musical centers on two desperate, damaged lives spiraling downward, two lives filled to the brim with meaningless sex, drugs, jealousy, betrayal, murder – all the things that will make a party wild.

A stylistic cross between Chicago and Cabaret, this is the story of a relationship scarred by vicious recklessness, between vaudeville dancer Queenie and vaudeville clown Burrs. Intent on hurting each other as publicly as possible, they decide to throw a party to end all parties, and as the guests arrive, we meet an assortment of people living on the fringes of society. After a long night of decadence, drugs, and drink, Burrs' jealousy erupts and a romantic double-triangle ends in tragedy. In the stark light of a new day, Queenie moves out into a brighter world, although not necessarily a brighter future, leaving the passed-out revelers in her wake.  

The New York Daily News called the show “sizzling, vital and groundbreaking.” The New York Times said, "Its strong suit is summoning the anxious restlessness behind the hellbent hedonism of the days of Prohibition." The legendary Beat writer William Burroughs said of the infamous original poem, "It's the book that made me want to become a writer."

The Wild Party won the 2000 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical, three Lucille Lortel Awards, and one Obie Award. It was nominated for twelve additional Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding New Musical. New Line is proud to present the St. Louis premiere of The Wild Party.

The cast of the New Line production includes Margeau Baue Steinau (Queenie), Jeffrey Pruett (Burrs), Deborah Sharn (Kate), Keith Parker (Black), Emily Berry (Mae), Mara Bollini (Delores), Mike Dowdy (Oscar), Zachary Allen Farmer (Eddie), Nikki Glenn (Madelaine), Joel Hackbarth (Phil), Theresa Hermann (Peggy), Macia Noorman (Nadine), Eeyan Richardson (Max), Michelle Sauer (Ellie), Troy Turnipseed (Sam), and Aaron VanderYacht (Jackie). The show will be directed by Scott Miller and Alison Helmer, with choreography by Robin Michelle Berger.