The Wild Party (2026) (Encores!)

Almost immediately you see why this show isn't often revived. We're introduced to one of the main characters, Burr, in blackface doing a minstrel performance. I couldn't really tell from way up in the balcony but in this production both Queenie and Burr are played by black actors passing as white, in comparison to the original production when they were played by the very white Toni Collette and Mandy Patinkin. Oh and there's a black character named Black. So it kind of lost me. If you can get past all that, the show unfolds over the course of one debauched night of partying with Prohibition bathtub gin devolving into an orgy of sorts. The show actually might work as a Safdie brothers Jewish anxiety movie (the show actually features a Jewish producer seeking to change his name to hide his heritage). There's just so much happening on stage for 2 hours, no intermission--lots of blocking and background choreo. The whole first half of the show is one song after another introducing each character; I quickly lost track. I assumed the show actually had no plot because there was nothing happening for so long as partygoers just kept arriving. Almost the whole show is sung through, or sort of spoken-sung over background jazz music. The band was great, featuring just three violins, but a banjo and an extensive brass and percussion section. I liked the set, all laid out in front of us without walls but clearly featuring three distinct rooms (bedroom, bathroom, and the main living room/kitchen). 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017)

Oprah is powerful as ever, but for some reason she was snubbed of an Emmy nomination. Oprah can do no wrong. I actually thought Rose Byrne was kind of charming. The movie isn't just about Henrietta of course, but about Rebecca Skloot's research process. The story of the Lacks family is as much Henrietta's story as her own life for in death she continues to bear influence on them. Johns Hopkins has done some horrible things, especially to the local African American population, in its history in the name of science and otherwise. And this film begins to tell us about some of them. What they did with Henrietta Lacks was ethically dubious but official policy is not well-defined. Though I think they were certainly wrong to draw blood from her descendants without properly informing them.

The opening scene in black-and-white, as if on an old film reel, is slickly edited to a drumming soundtrack. It tells you everything you need to know and the drums give it a sense of direction. The rest of the film however, to be totally honest, is a little boring. They have very short cuts to Henrietta Lacks and her life. These scenes serve little purpose because the real drama is in the present. I don't think Renee Elise Goldsberry even has a speaking role. Goldsberry has a very small role in the film, but she actually bears a surprising likeness to Henrietta Lacks. Good casting or good make up.