Rehearsals Begin April 14
Mandatory Rehearsals (including Tech Week): May 10 – 21, 2025
Performance Dates: May 22 – June 22, 2025
Performance Times: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays @ 7:30pm, Sundays @ 2pm or 6pm
The Wild Party is a Non-Equity production.
*All first round auditions will be via video submission*
Video Submissions Due by August 30
Callbacks: September 8 & 9, in person at the BLUEBARN
See link at the bottom of the page for audition requirements and submissions.
A steamy prohibition tale roars across the stage. Based on the widely banned 1928 narrative poem, this darkly brilliant show features one of the most pulse-racing scores ever written. Lovers Queenie and Burrs plan the party-to-end-all-parties to bring the spark back to their affair. Instead, Queenie’s wandering eye sends Burrs into a jealous rage. As the decadence reaches a climax, Burrs erupts. Gun in hand, Burrs turns on Queenie and her new lover.
Andrew Lippa, Book, Music, and Lyris
Andrew Lippa is a composer, lyricist, singer, actor, conductor, and producer. Broadway credits include: music and lyrics for Big Fish (directed/choreographed by Susan Stroman); the Tony®-nominated music and lyrics for the Broadway musical The Addams Family directed by Jerry Zaks, as well as the music for Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway play The Farnsworth Invention directed by Des McAnuff. Other musicals include the Drama Desk award-winning musical The Wild Party (book/music/lyrics); John & Jen (music/book, lyrics and book by Tom Greenwald); Asphalt Beach (music and lyrics); Life of the Party (a compendium of Lippa’s works/Menier Chocolate Factory); and You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (additional music/lyrics and arrangements).
Wai Yim, Director (he/they)
Wai Yim is an actor, director, choreographer, playwright, and the Managing Director of Chicago’s Token Theatre. He recently directed The Chinese Lady and The Great Leap at BLUEBARN. You may have also seen him digitally onstage in A Very Die Hard Christmas. His semi-autobiographical play, The Emperor and The Fool (Chronicles of the House of Yim) was workshopped at BLUEBARN and won OEAA’s Best New Script. Wai recently performed in A Christmas Carol at The Goodman Theatre. He was also in Mary Zimmerman’s The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (Goodman Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Old Globe). Chicago credits: King of the Yees, Postnation, The King of Hell’s Palace, and Mary Zimmerman’s The White Snake (Goodman Theatre); Chimerica (TimeLine Theatre); ZAC EFRON (Token Theatre). Regional credits: The White Snake (The Old Globe, McCarter Theatre, Wuzhen Theatre Festival in China); The Oldest Boy (Unicorn Theatre); Nomad Motel (Horizon Theatre Company). Film: North of the 10, Fatal Influence: Like, Follow, Survive. TV: Work in Progress, Power Book IV: Force, neXt, Chicago PD, The Chi, Patriot.
Melanie Epps, Choreographer (she/her)
As a theatrical choreographer, Melanie’s work has been seen in local productions of Spamalot, Shrek, School of Rock, Young Frankenstein, Mamma Mia!, Legally Blonde, Altar Boyz, Little Women, Caroline, or Change, Evil Dead: The Musical, The Producers, and Sister Act. As a performer, favorite roles include Eva Peron (Evita), Aida (Aida), Velma Kelly (Chicago), Cassie (A Chorus Line), Judy (9 to 5), Lucy Harris (Jekyll and Hyde), Mary Magdalene (Jesus Christ Superstar), The Narrator (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), and the Lady of the Lake (Spamalot). At the BLUEBARN, her choreography has been seen in productions of Dance Nation, Sunrise to Sunset, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, A Very Die Hard Christmas, and Indecent.
Queenie
Sexy. Looks a little older and more tired than her age would indicate. Afraid of being alone. Has become addicted to Burrs’ presence and ravenous sexual appetite.
Gender: female
Vocal range top: F5
Vocal range bottom: F3
Burrs
A professional clown. Dangerous and charming all at once. Sexually ravenous and drawn to Queenie like a moth to the flame. Hurts somewhere deep inside, and slowly descends into wild, rages of jealousy.
Gender: male
Vocal range top: A5
Vocal range bottom: G3
Black
Strong, poised without being posed. An enigmatic loner. Protective. No-nonsense kind of guy who cannot understand Queenie’s attraction to Burrs.
African American.
Gender: male
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: F3
Kate
A lush. Likes to be the “life of the party.” Always looking out for number one and is jealous of Queenie. Sexy, sensual, and confident.
Gender: female
Vocal range top: E5
Vocal range bottom: F3
Madelaine True
A tired woman with even more tired eyes and a cruel mouth. An announced lesbian. Sexually hungry. Blunt and very dry.
Gender: female
Vocal range top: E5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Eddie
Mae’s husband who is perhaps even more dim-witted than she is. A big oaf. Can be a lovable teddy bear but also a quick-tempered brute. Adores his wife.
Gender: male
Vocal range top: A5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Mae
Eddie’s wife. Sweet and beautiful, but not particularly bright. Adores her husband and dotes on him.
Gender: female
Vocal range top: D5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Oscar D’armano
Phil’s brother and lover who dresses as his twin. A composer and an entertainer in every sense of the word. Very flamboyant.
Gender: male
Vocal range top: B5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Phil D’armano
Oscar’s brother and lover who dresses as his twin. A composer and an entertainer in every sense of the word. Very flamboyant.
Gender: male
Vocal range top: A5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Nadine
The only minor at the party. Waifish and somewhat naïve. She is in over her head and trying to keep up.
Gender: female
Vocal range top: A5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Dolores/ Jackie
Dolores: A party-goer pitching ideas and hoping to score with Sam. A wild woman of the night.
Jackie: Sweet dancer
Gender: female
Vocal range top: A5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Sam/ Max/ Jackie
Sam: Busy producer and “attention whore.” Trying to avoid the outrageous pitches made by Dolores, until it becomes sexual.
Max: One of the party-goers and a member of the usual “gang.” He is full of life and energy.
Jackie: Sweet dancer.
Gender: male
Vocal range top: A5
Vocal range bottom: A3
1) Please include a SLATE: your name, height, and which character(s) you want to be considered for.
2) Please prepare a short song (no longer than 3 minutes) in the style of the show that showcases your vocal range (you may sing from the show). With accompaniment preferred. A capella accepted.
BLUEBARN Theatre acknowledges the historic exclusion and lack of opportunity for artists who identify as Global Majority (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), LGBTQIA2S+, neuro-diverse, and artists with disabilities. We are actively working against the field-wide implicit bias and systemic inequities that result in default white, cis, heteronormative casting. BLUEBARN is likewise committed to countering all modes of discrimination in casting.
BLUEBARN Theatre is committed to fostering a culture of civility, dignity and respect as a right and responsibility of all who walk through its doors. Employees, guest artists, volunteers, and patrons are entitled to and responsible for maintaining an environment of mutual trust – free from intimidation, exploitation, harassment and discrimination. Offensive, abusive, or unwelcome verbal or physical conduct will not be tolerated. Adhering to this standard is vital to the BLUEBARN’s mission: “to provoke thought, emotion, action, and change.”