t I t-'t/t P BYMICHAELGI,LITZ $ ndrew Lippa's Off-Broadway musi- $ft cal "The Wild Parly" has deserved SSto be revived in NewYork since it H Ssquared off in 2000 with a compet- ing musical based on the same story.</p><p> Ac- tress Nicole Sterling was going to Broad- way in Stephen Sondheim's "Bounce" when thot show closed out of town.</p><p> Now both have found a home Off-Off-Broad- way at the Gallery Players, a Brooklyn institution for more than 40 vears.' '.{ re Atiny but thdving space in Puk Slope, Brooklyn, the Gallery Players hm shom a knack for clever revivals of Broadway shows that pack in audiences for the brief, 16- perfomance run allowed by its Showcase agreement with Acto$ Equity (an agrcement that also specifies an $18 ticket price for the gg-seat space).</p><p> The Gallery Players doesn't just draw in new audienc- es; it also appeals to working actors who see the short runs and high-quality material as the perfect opportunity to do what they love and maybe get spotted by directors, producers and casting agents in the audienceSterling was already a fan of Lippa's "The Wild Party" - a musical about doomed Jzz Age lovere impired by a then-scandalous 1928 poem by Miter Joseph Moncure March, which was reissued in 1994 with vibrant black- and-white illustrations by Art Spiegelman - when she heard Gallery Players would be mounlingitFeb-2-24 "I used some of the music for auditions in the Dast and it serves me really well," says Sterling. who miss-ed the show during its Off-Broadway run but loved the cast al- bum She was also familiar with the Gallery having seen a friend perform there a few years ago "It's wonderful to go to a rehearsal and be with people who are all on the same page," says Sterling, who plays Queenie, the hard-drinking center ofthe show "The whole point of a showcase is to show New York some ofat the National Alliance for Musical Theater. "Itf s very attractive for them to have the opportunity to work on a show like'The Wild Party,'which has great featured roles.</p><p> And directors, producers and casting people are here, so there's a better chance they'Il see your work." Formed in 1967 (a teenage Harvey Fierstein was one of the founders), the Gallery Players has been a showcase for Fierstein and others, including directorJohn Rando (a TonyAward winner for "Urinetown') and actress De- idre Goodwin (part of the current Broadway revival of ",A Chorus Line').</p><p> It also nurtures talent with a new play- wright festival; mounting a recent, critically acclaimed production of the appealing new musical'Yank!" (by Da- vid and Joseph ZelInk), which is sure to have a future lifeOff-Broadway; and programs for kids and teenagers.</p><p> Most of all, it's a place for a talent like Sterling to re- member why she does theater in the first place. "I got that dose of reality right off the bat," Sterling says with a laugh about her time in Sondheim's "Bounce," a great opportunif5i even if it didn't have the long life one would expect for a new musical from a theatrical giant. "Doing the Gallery Players, it's just about we're here because we want to be here and we want to do a show that we all care about and do the best job we can.</p><p> We don't have to think about, 'Does this sell? Are people going to like this?'We just do it." t ("TheWdParly," Feb 2 - 24: 199 l4thSt.,between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, Parh Slope; 7 1 8-59 5-0547.) the talent they might not otherwise see because we're out of the way.</p><p> There's tons of talent that goes unnoticed." For Matt Schicker, Gallery Players executive director and president, that's the focus of the company he has vol- unteered at for more than five years. (-iterally everyone involved works for free, with the actors receMng only the most basic expenses, Iike travel money.) "There are a million performers in New York and only so many jobs," says Schicker, who lives two blocks from the Gallery Players space in Park Slope and also works
