Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Wild Ride

Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris casts a golden glow on the Roaring Twenties — Owen Wilson’s character cavorts with the likes of Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald at glamorous, champagne-filled soirées. Andrew Lippa’s take on the times in The Wild Party is decidedly different ... and darker. “It’s reckless, it’s about debauchery, it’s about decadence, jealousy, love,” says Erin Evarts, producer of Stowe Theatre Guild’s production. The jazz opera charts the rocky relationship between a vaudeville showgirl and her clown boyfriend as they host the be-all, end-all party. Emotions run high as the drinking leads to dancing and the dancing leads to ... well, you know. A six-piece band and an infectious score propel the eccentric cast of characters along to an ending worthy of the musical’s name.