2009 was a stupidly productive year. We opened the year by devising an entirely new and original work based on the prints of Warrington Colescott in a collaboration with Columbia College, and we closed the year by devising a play from scratch called Carnival Nocturne that went up in the DCASE’s Storefront Theater downtown Chicago. In between, we also participated in the Great Performers of Illinois project,
did some children’s theatre, and still somehow managed to produce a double header based on the work of Joseph Moncure March!
March wrote two narrative poems: The Set-Up and The Wild Party, which we ran in tandem, the latter inspiring our decade-long run of The Wild Party Variety Hour, or WPVH for short. The variety show was born to allow the large casts of both productions to showcase their talents, and for us to have this third late-night fare to help us with revenue to cover the $1000 a week in rent. Lol. Having that many shows running simultaneously does NOT help pack more audiences. We learned the hard way. But the Wild Party Variety Hour ended up being a gift that kept on giving as its run lasted years after both The Set-Up and The Wild Party.
The aesthetic was whar drew us into the work. While we were on tour in San Francisco, we made some friends who took us to some niche used book stores where we stumbled upon the eye-catching cover of The Wild Party, illustrated by Art Spiegelman. Yes, that Spiegelman.
Weirdly, March revised his books in the 60s, but Spiegelman went back to the original text for the version he would end up using to craft his stunning art.
There have been numerous versions of The Wild Party, both in spoken and musical form, with some using the Fatty Arbuckle rape scandal as a main element, but as far as we knew, no one had done it the way we imagined it: a single music man at a piano, telling the story, in word and in song, and a big agile cast acting it out live as he spoke.
The Set-Up had a similar framework, except it featured a live jazz band and a narrator, and on a rare occasion, the performers would pipe up too. Unfortunately, no video of The Set-Up has survived.
The Wild Party, itself, was a one-camera, one-shot deal that ended up being what you’re seeing above. But we had an absolute blast doing it. It was the late-night show, after The Set-Up, and as young as we were, we were getting sauced while doing it, along with our audience. The result was a loosey-goosey cabaret-inspired musical treat, and we hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed doing it.
While Joseph Moncure March was responsible for adding "Excuse me while I put on something more comfortable” into our cultural vernacular, his narrative poems packed a punch that will stand the test of time.
And finally, here’s the monthly round-up of the daily social media feed for our 20th year anniversary (click on the photo to read the caption):
Celebrate Silent Theatre’s 20th anniversary by subscribing or making a one-time tax-deductible donation to help kick-start our live presentations post-hiatus. You can also contribute in any of the ways below:
*cure for the common bore* *creating a universal language one gesture at a time*
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