Washington Post Article on Laurents and "West Side Story"- Page 2

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 1:03am

I wonder if KRUPKE is really going to end with "Officer Krupke, F*ck you!"

We shall find out....tonight!

[A Director]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 1:44am

Fairness has nothing to do with it. The slang makes the Jets sound like beatniks not gang kids.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 4:40am

the Bernstein estate has taken special care to ensure that not one note of the brilliant score is changed -- every flat, every sharp.

So much for not treating it like a museum piece.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 5:33am

"every flat, every sharp."

What about the naturals?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 7:26am

Oh, Arthur Laurents. You so crazy.

Seriously, what is with this man's pride? The show doesn't belong to him; he wrote its book, along with Gypsy, and that's IT. His livelihood and legacy rest on continued productions of those shows.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 2:04pm

Nothing kills Arthur, because he is one of the Undead.

Sir, you are a man after my heart.

My thought on all this:

"Frabbajabba!" "Pim pam pum!" "Sperm to worm!" "Worm to tomb!" "Cracko jacko!"

Go on, Mr. Laurents. Just TRY and made all that sound good.

[jv92]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 2:19pm

Arthur Laurents is the real Monty Burns. Tom Hatcher was Smithers.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 2:25pm

God I hope Arthur cut "Cracko Jacko"...

[Jack King]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 2:57pm

This is a great discussion. Can't say as anyone has tried to turn my writings around, except for a particular movie. & I can't do anything about it, except feel stupid that I allowed someone to steal my script. But feh on that.

Seems to me that this is Laurents production and he wrote the story. So with Mr. Laurents stature, who would try to beat him up fergoshsakes?

I Feel Pretty in Spanish? Let Maria sing it in English. But have the chorus do it in Spanish. It's still an angelo or gringo world out there. So have her sing it first in English, then have her join the chorus is Spanish.

[jv92]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 5:12pm

"God I hope Arthur cut "Cracko Jacko"..."

"Cracko Jacko", hell! "Sperm to worm" has to be gone. Please, please, please!
What I think is funny is that C. Montgomery Laurents is taking this so seriously while Sondheim is taking it lightly and calling it "West Side Ole! Ole!".

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 5:17pm

I like the Broadway script as is with the exception of the "Somewhere Ballet". The first time I saw West Side Story the director kept the script as is, but I guess illegally used the version of "Somewhere" from the film and now that is the way I prefer it. I've seen it now with the ballet and absolutely hated it. So if Laurents does include any changes from the film, which I think we can all agree that he won't, but if he does I hope it's that and not switching "Cool" and "Gee Officer Krupke". That I don't see working on stage as it does in the film.

[jv92]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 5:21pm

He's probably legally obligated to keep the ballet. If you think Michael Bennett's estate is strict, you haven't dealt with Jerry Robbins'.
Another favorite West Side Revival moment- When Arthur said that the kids in the play were always potential killers. Now they will be. Really Arthur? REALLY?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 5:30pm

jv92: Haha, is he really?

I always thought that the WSS gangsters talked like the gamblers in Guys and Dolls.

[bethnor]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 5:31pm

When Arthur said that the kids in the play were always potential killers. Now they will be. Really Arthur? REALLY?

This trepidation I can understand much more than the Spanish.

That being said, I notice a few roles are being "originated" in the cast list.

I smell red shirts.

[jv92]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 8:24pm

No I get what he means, it's just the way he said it. It sounds funny. Send out a casting call for cellblock 18!

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 11:05pm

I know Sondheim was very much in favor of the switch of "Cool" and "Krupke," but I was curious what the argument was for the way it was originally done, and how the rest of the creators felt about it. So I did some online research -- can't say it's any sort of official sources, as most are from secondhand sources saying what they've said, but it's an interesting, and somewhat contradicting picture.

A Sondheim/Frank Rich discussion had this quote:
"And speaking of why musicals are they way they are, [Sondheim's] anecdote about wanting to flip-flop West Side Story's Act 1 "Gee, Office Krupke" for Act 2's "Cool," because he couldn't' see the logic in the gangs having killed two people and then breaking into comedy, shed light. Robbins agreed with Sondheim's idea. Leonard Bernstein agreed. Arthur Laurents agreed. "Cool" made better post-stabbing sense for the Jets and Sharks. But, Robbins said he couldn't make the switch, because the choreography for "Cool" needed the whole stage and the "Krupke" moment occupied only the very front stage zone, while the set was changed behind the dancers."

This technical aspect has been mentioned in several places, so if not being an ultimate reason, it seemed to play a part.

But the one thing that isn't consistent is how Laurents felt about this -- most places I checked seem to indicate he did not agree with Sondheim. For instance,

"and while it's terribly self-serving, Laurents' ORIGINAL STORY claims Krupke was Laurents' idea alone - SPECIFICALLY - to offer a comedy relief number/10 o'clock number between the two bedroom scenes. Please note there was (in the gospel according to Laurents) no debate - at all - about moving Krupke about or having "Cool" serve as a second act production number. In fact, Bernstein, Robbins and Sondheim were originally against the idea of having a scene/number in that place at all."

This seems to concur with the thesis already put forward on this thread about Laurents' ego...

NPR further posits that it came down to Sondheim vs. Laurents...

"They didn't [switch the places of the songs] because Laurents was insistent: "I thought that the tension in the second act needed relief," he says. "And they thought I was being vulgar and inserting musical comedy. So, I got very high-falutin' and talked about Shakespeare and the Porter scenes and his clowns. It was me taking one position, and I had to convince the other three that it was the right position. And I did."

So there's some interesting different ideas, stories, and all that jazz. Make of it what you will. But, as much as Sondheim was for the switch in 1957 and loved how it was done in the movie, he wouldn't necessarily take the same stance for the revival. Supposedly:

"Sondheim has said that while the switch works well on film, it shouldn't be allowed in the stage version - because film and the stage are different media."