It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#1It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 2:56pm
Looks like Arthur admits that he is wrong, well almost.
Laurent's admits he's wrong
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
#2re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 2:59pmHe didn't say he was wrong. I don't think he ever would say that even though the Spanish wasn't even his idea. He said that it's an ongoing process.
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#2re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:01pmNow we need to get those hemlines lowered on the skirts.
#3re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:09pm
This strikes me as odd. What's not working? They are hauling in over $1 million a week. Is it that big of a problem? Right or wrong, some Spanish singing was the decision they made for this revival. Now it's something different.
Why not just change the sets, or actors (oh, wait, they have), or change the order of songs if someone else doesn't like it?
#4re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:15pm
It was the kind of directorial notion he himself has always railed against: wrongly conceived and poorly executed.
It's bringing in money not because of HIS contributions, but because of those of his collaborators, whose work he has diminished with this revival.
#5re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:16pmWhat's not to love about people reading the english translation in the playbills by the light of their cellphones?
#6re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:33pmNow I need to go back and see it with the English.
#7re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:38pmNow if Arthur would revert that ending back to the original!
#8re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:42pmNow I need to see the show again. I have mixed feelings about it. I really enjoyed the Spanish but Karen sang A Boy Like That so well on the English track. Definitely need to see the show soon.
"It's about the Benjamins, not the Bernsteins."-CapnHook
#9re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:43pm
Laurent's admits he's wrong
Why did a last name warrant an apostrophe and not a verb?
Nothing matters but knowing nothing matters. ~ Wicked
Everything in life is only for now. ~ Avenue Q
There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as my last. ~ Rent
"He's a tramp, but I love him."
Everything in life is only for now. ~ Avenue Q
There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as my last. ~ Rent
#10re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:45pm
Now if Arthur would revert that ending back to the original!
Thank you, ljay.
NDR
Leading Actor Joined: 11/16/06
#11re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:45pm
Personally, I am very happy they are eliminating the Spanish. I think it could/would have only worked if it were Spanglish (cross between Spanish and English within the same sentence or sentiment). When I saw the show, the Spanish lyrics were distracting and pulled me out the moment.
Updated On: 8/25/09 at 03:45 PM
bethnor
Broadway Star Joined: 10/15/08
#12re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:47pm
meh.
you know, before, even if laurents was a viper, you could at least say he was a viper with an opinion.
now he's just a viper who is as susceptible to the critics as the next schlub, making a feeble grasp for TONY glory, as if those were given out retroactively. despite talk as to otherwise, he was clearly hurt by the snub. from interviews, it seemed as if the spanish changes were the ones that were closest to his heart, that he wanted most to work, as he teared up whenever talk turned to hatcher.
guess that was nothing but bluster, too.
#13re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:55pmTom would have come to the first preview and said, "You know what, Arthur? It just doesn't work. Put it back the way it was."
Musical Director 109
Understudy Joined: 3/14/09
#14re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 3:56pmNothing will make me revisit this bland revival. I'll keep my memories of the 1980 revival, which was not perfect, and the great movie.
#15re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 4:11pmNow it would be great if Laurents would also put the original choreography for "America" back in, along with the nightmare ballet and the original ending.
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
#16re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 4:23pmJames, you took the words right out of my mouth, although I want to add - get rid of Kiddo.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
#17re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 4:47pmUgh. "Kiddo."
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#18re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 4:54pmI think that has confused me the most about his attempts to make it "more realistic." He let the Sharks speak Spanish but kept his made-up attempts at gutter slang for the Jets.
#19re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 5:11pmEh. I didn't mind the Spanish. It was no more inconsistent or lopsided than the fact that in the original score, the male Sharks only sing a few lines of their own in one song (and join in the chorus of Somewhere). I never saw the original choreography on stage, so I can't really comment on what was or wasn't changed, but I was mostly disappointed in the choreography in the Jets Song and Gee Officer Krupke, but I just assumed the original choreography might have been enhanced for the film. I did hate the new staging of the ending and the overly symbolic precious little boy singing Somewhere. That was too twee for words.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#20re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 5:18pm
I always felt this change was inevitable for the tour. Audiences in Alabama "don't want to hear no foreign speakin'."
I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the original ending quietly worked its way in.
#21re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 5:23pmPlease please please put the Nightmare back in there!
A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.
#22re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 5:37pmWonder if this choice has to do with the understudies going on so much. Don't want to have to worry about casting Spanish speakers.
#23re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 5:40pmIt doesn't seem as if the Spanish dialogue has changed. The Anita and Maria understudies will still need to speak Spanish.
#24re: It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish
Posted: 8/25/09 at 9:34pmMisterMatt--the original choreography for the Jet Song and Cool is very similar to the movie, except of course that the steps "travel" more in the movie.
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