Cast list: Look who's been invited to 'The Wild Party'

Wild Party
From left: Wayne Kennedy, Sheryl McCallum, Diana Dresser and Erin Willis.

Off-Center, the unconventional and most adventurous wing of Denver Center programming, has announced casting for its next off-site collaboration and first full-scale musical production: An immersive, 360-degree staging of Michael John LaChiusa’s jazz musical The Wild Party to run Oct. 11-31 at Stanley Marketplace.

The Wild Party, which was nominated for seven Tony Awards when it appeared on Broadway in 2000, will feature Denver favorites Brett Ambler, Leonard Barrett Jr., Allison Caw, Laurence Curry, Diana Dresser, Katie Drinkard, Trent Hines, Drew Horwitz, Wayne Kennedy, Sheryl McCallum, Jenna Moll Reyes, Marco Robinson, Emily Van Fleet, Aaron Vega and Erin Willis.

Barrett is set to star as Daddy Warbucks in Phamaly Theatre Company’s Annie, opening Saturday at the Denver Center’s Stage Theatre. Dresser recently appeared in Off-Center’s Sweet & Lucky and the Theatre Company’s All the Way. Curry appeared in the Theatre Company’s All the Way; Willis in The Secret Garden; and Horwitz in As You Like It. Jenna Moll Reyes is a DCPA Teaching Artist who performs in the Shakespeare in the Parking Lot schools program. Reyes (Bus Stop) and Van Fleet (The Drowning Girls) were members of the Arvada Center’s inaugural Black Box Repertory Ensemble. Drinkard returns to the Denver Center after having appeared in the Galleria Theatre’s Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking.

Kennedy is a 30-year veteran of Boulder’s BDT Stage, where he is currently playing Jacob in the critically acclaimed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Ambler just appeared in the Arvada Center’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Caw just worked with Ethelyn Friend on an improvised opera called “_____”, An Opera, in Lafayette. McCallum, a Denver native, was in the Broadway company of The Lion King. Robinson is an actor and professional photographer whose stage credits include playing the Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald in the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center’s Assassins. Vega is a new Denver resident who most recently worked with the Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio.

The previously announced director of this fully immersive staging is Amanda Berg Wilson, who is the artistic director of the Boulder-based company The Catamounts. She was a cast member for Off-Center’s Sweet & Lucky last year and is a 2016 True West Award winner.

The music will be directed by David Nehls, the Arvada Center’s former longtime resident music director. Nehls and Hines are currently sharing the music direction for Phamaly, which creates performance opportunities for actors with disabilities.

The choreographer is Patrick Mueller. The production will feature designs by Jason Sherwood (Scenic Designer), Meghan Anderson Doyle (Costume Designer), Jason Lynch (Lighting Designer), Sean Hagerty (Sound Designer), and Erin Ramsey (Fight Coordinator).

“Last summer, Off-Center took over a 16,000-square foot warehouse in RiNo to bring you Sweet & Lucky. This fall, we’re breaking out the bathtub gin and heading to the Hangar at Stanley to tackle the first musical in Off-Center’s history,” said Off-Center curator Charlie Miller.

“Much like Sweet & Lucky, The Wild Party will transport audience members to a different era where they will be immersed in the story as guests at Queenie and Burr’s party. The live band will be swinging, and we’ll find out what happens when you let down your guard and give yourself over to the party. I am so excited to dive into this piece with our incredible team of collaborators.”

This production continues the partnership forged between Off-Center and Stanley, which began with the adventure comedy Travelers of the Lost Dimension. That show ran throughout the public spaces at Stanley through May 21.

The Stanley Marketplace, which opened last year near the Stapleton neighborhood just east of Denver, is a community of like-minded businesses and residents who believe sustainable retail and community development. The more than 22-acre space, which occupies 140,000 square feet, was once Stanley Aviation headquarters, where airplane ejector seats were engineered and manufactured. Today it is an adaptive re-use community hub, home to a park, beer hall and an urban marketplace. All businesses are local and independent. The address is 2501 Dallas St. in Aurora. MAP IT

(Note: The Michael John LaChiusa adaptation of ‘The Wild Party’ is very different from the Andrew Lippa version that was presented by Ignite Theatre at the Aurora Fox.)

The Wild Party: Cast list

  • Brett Ambler: Gold
  • Leonard Barrett Jr.: Oscar D’Armano
  • Allison Caw: Sally
  • Laurence Curry: Black
  • Diana Dresser: Miss Madelaine True
  • Katie Drinkard: Mae
  • Trent Hines: Phil D’Armano
  • Drew Horwitz: Burrs
  • Wayne Kennedy: Goldberg
  • Sheryl McCallum: Dolores
  • Jenna Moll Reyes: Nadine
  • Marco Robinson: Eddie Mackrel
  • Emily Van Fleet: Queenie
  • Aaron Vega: Jackie
  • Erin Willis: Kate


The Wild Party:
Ticket information

The Wild PartyOfficial show description: You’re invited to leave your inhibitions (and Prohibitions) behind as you join a decadent party in the Roaring Twenties, brought to you by the producers of Sweet & Lucky. Indulge your inner flapper as you mingle with an unruly mix of vaudevillians, playboys, divas, and ingénues in a Manhattan apartment lost in time. Debauchery turns disastrous as wild guests becomes unhinged and their solo songs reveal the drama bubbling underneath the surface. Whether you’re a wallflower or a jitterbug, you’ll think this jazz- and gin-soaked immersive musical is the bee’s knees.

  • Music and Lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa
  • Book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe
  • Based on the poem by Joseph Moncure March
  • Oct. 11-31, 2017
  • At The Hangar at Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St.
  • For more information including ticket pre-sale and other exclusive experiences, visit WildPartyDenver.com


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Laurence Curry

File photo of Laurence Curry from his days as a teacher and choreographer for the Denver Center Theater Academy and the National Theatre Conservatory.
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