MSNBC News 'Wild Party' Report LaChiusa, whose 1994 song cycle "Hello Again" was also produced by Lincoln Center, is himself in the limelight as never before. The composer-lyricist, who is 37, has another new musical, "The Wild Party," going up in March at the Virginia Theater, where the current tenant, "Smokey Joe"s Cafe," will close in mid-January as the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history (2,036 performances). The libretto for "The Wild Party," co-written with George C. Wolfe, who will direct, is based on Joseph Moncure March's 1928 cult classic of the same name about a decadent night in the life of a vaudeville dancer. If the musical has anything like the impact of March"s hard-boiled, jazz-age verse novel, look out. William S. Burroughs once said, "It"s the book that made me want to be a writer." DECADENT NIGHTS LaChiusa's musical admits us to the world of Queenie and Burrs, whose all-night party is "filled with dilettantes and delinquents and overflowing with sin and gin," says Tom Naro, a spokesman for the Joseph Papp Public Theater, which is producing the show with Jujamcyn. (Wolfe, who is artistic director of the Public, previously produced two other LaChiusa musicals, "First Lady Suite" and "The Petrified Prince.") Theater insiders saw "The Wild Party" last February in a private, two-week workshop at the Public, with Vanessa Williams, Mandy Patinkin and Eartha Kitt in the leading roles. Just who will be in the show for its April 6 world premiere remains a question. It looks like Williams won't be. She has a scheduling conflict, Naro says, and both Patinkin and Kitt, who are being mentioned for the Broadway run, have yet to be signed. The preview date has not been announced. Coincidentally, Off Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club will be offering another musical version of "The Wild Party" also based on March's poem, this one by Andrew Lippa (music, book and lyrics). Lippa, a composer and cabaret performer, co-wrote the boomer-generation musical "john and jen," which has been making the rounds of regional theaters. He also wrote the vocal arrangements for the animated film "The Prince of Egypt" and several songs for last season's Broadway revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." Previews begin Jan. 25 at MTC; the opening is set for Feb. 22.