History Literature / TheWildParty

* VitriolicBestBuds: Queenie and Kate are a particularly bitter case of Type 2, especially in [=LaChiusa's=] duet "Best Friend."

* BSODSong: Both musicals end with a song in which a shocked Queenie attempts to deal with the fact of Burrs' death. Lippa's "How Did We Come to This?" finds her at least coherent enough to deliver a damning indictment of this shallow life she and her friends have chosen, whereas the finale reprise of [=LaChiusa's=] "This Is What It Is" is a moment of absolute stunned horror, barely even melodic.

* AnythingThatMoves: The "ambisextrous" Jackie.

[[caption-width-right:182:"Burrsie, I think we're about due for a party."[[note]]Illustration by Creator/ArtSpiegelman[[/note]]]]

-->-- opening lines of the poem and both musicals

Lippa's version is closer in plot to March's poem and [[AdaptationDistillation keeps the focus on]] the LoveTriangle, and features modern pop/rock orchestrations. [=LaChiusa's=] departs from the original by [[AdaptationExpansion fleshing out]] the BackStory and CharacterDevelopment of the large cast, notably bringing aspects of March's poem "The Set Up" to boxer Eddie. This version incorporates many [[{{Pastiche}} pastiches]] of the music and show business of TheRoaringTwenties.

Not to be confused with the 1956 crime film starring Creator/AnthonyQuinn.

* CompositeCharacter: Sally, Madelaine True's blissed-out lover in the [=LaChiusa=] version. Marche's poem mentions a Sally as an afterthought among the guests, of whom we know only that she's accompanying a man who goes by [[MealTicket Butter and Eggs]], and that she was in the chorus of a musical. Later on, March describes another girl who sits "White:/Aloof:/Like stone", staring into the distance without a motion or a word, whom Madelaine True unsuccessfully approaches. It seems [=LaChiusa=] modelled his Sally after this character while borrowing the name from the other guest, which also makes this a very minor case of PromotedToLoveInterest.

* CompositeCharacter: Sally, Madelaine True's blissed-out lover in the [=LaChiusa=] version. Marche's poem mentions a Sally as an afterthought among the guests, of whom we know only that she's accompanying a man who goes by Butter and Eggs, and that she was in the chorus of a musical. Later on, March describes another girl who sits "White:/Aloof:/Like stone", staring into the distance without a motion or a word, whom Madelaine True unsuccessfully approaches. It seems [=LaChiusa=] modelled his Sally after this character while borrowing the name from the other guest, which also makes this a very minor case of PromotedToLoveInterest.

->Queenie was a blonde, and her age stood still,\\
And she danced twice a day in vaudeville.
-->'''Joseph Moncure March, opening lines of the poem and both musicals'''

----

* YouHaveToHaveJews / [[ButNotTooBlack But Not Too Jewish]]: Gold and Goldberg. Jews make good theatrical producers, but they note other examples of Jews who have had to RaceLift themselves to success. Gold insists Goldberg change his name to the catchier and more marketable "Golden."

* AttemptedRape: on the jailbait Nadine; in the poem the rapist is never named, [=LaChiusa=] makes it Jackie. (It can't be Jackie in the poem because he passes out cold immediately before the scene in question. However, in [=LaChiusa's=] version, the act comes across as... ''very much'' in-character for Jackie.)
* BadGirlSong: "Queenie was a Blonde" and "Look at Me Now" (for Kate) in the Lippa version. The [=Lachiusa=] has its own "Queenie was a Blonde", as well as, much later on, "Lowdown-Down" -- which obviously doesn't serve to introduce Queenie and is much gentler than most songs of this type, but establishes exactly what she thinks about her own lifestyle.

* CompositeCharacter: Sally, Madelaine True's blissed-out lover in the [=LaChiusa=] version. Marche's poem mentions a Sally as an afterthought among the guests, of whom we know only that she's accompanying a man who goes by Butter and Eggs, and that she was in the chorus of a musical. Later on, Marche describes another girl who sits "White:/Aloof:/Like stone", staring into the distance without a motion or a word, whom Madelaine True unsuccessfully approaches. It seems [=LaChiusa=] modelled his Sally after this character while borrowing the name from the other guest, which also makes this a very minor case of PromotedToLoveInterest.