Show Reinvention Ideas - Page 2

[tazber]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 11:32am

Oliver set at the Vatican

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 11:35am

So much zit popping in a HIGH SCHOOL sex dungeon. I cringe, I cringe.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 12:42pm

Well, two different WSS people gave a slight impression of what I'd do with it. Here's what I'd do in full. (Warning: this is going to feel like a long post, but I will try to keep it as condensed as possible.)

STORY STRUCTURE
People can say what they will about the 1961 film's lack of realism, but its screenwriter Ernest Lehman managed to remain faithful to the best parts of the play while incorporating new elements, most noticeably a "rising line of dramatic tension." Placing "Gee, Officer Krupke" in the second act, while valid for all the reasons Arthur Laurents argued it was then, applied more to that time than today. Especially since the 1980's, when Broadway was largely populated by melodramatic "pop operas" (usually British in origin), audiences have long become inured to what some might deem an emotionally weighty evening. As the 1961 film's runaway success proved, this minor tweak only serves to enhance the story's emotional impact on an audience.

In short: "America" comes before the balcony scene (with boys and girls), "I Feel Pretty" is in the bridal shop scene just before "One Hand, One Heart," "Gee, Officer Krupke" is in Act One, "Cool" is in Act Two, and -- an innovation unique to me -- the rumble sequence is moved to the top of Act Two. Staged as the end of Act One immediately following the "Tonight" quintet, it comes across as anticlimactic. With the "rising line of tension" as presented above, it's far more effective to allow the "Tonight" quintet to close the first act in order to heighten anticipation for the coming events; curtain; and then open Act Two with the rumble, leading directly into the continuance of the aforementioned "rising line of tension." This also resolves the problem left by moving "I Feel Pretty" to Act One, leaving dramatic dead space if this solution is not effected.

MINOR CHANGES TO LIBRETTO
Cut Arthur's invented slang. The dialogue written for the Jets and the Sharks is a small part of what has kept them from appearing "tougher" on the stage. An artful attempt was made at creating timeless teenage tough talk – an attempt that has by and large failed. The suggestion made here, by and large, is to go for the gold when it comes to realism in the writing. For example, if the line suggests a gang member is saying "Cut the bull****," let him actually say that. The unrealistic division of the Jets as "ace-men," "rocket-men," and "rank-and-file" similarly should be removed. In terms of lyrics, though this is more a matter to discuss with Mr. Sondheim, in a similar vein, I feel that today's audience is finally ready to hear the gang sing, "Gee, Officer Krupke, **** you!"

As for the Sharks, why not replace the faux-Spanish with some actual Spanish phrases and witticisms peppered throughout the dialogue for an air of authenticity? Note: not telenovela Spanish that transitions into English. No whole songs in Spanish. Just enough Spanish to lend a verisimilitude of realism. Maybe even to the point of Spanglish.

CASTING
The Jets -- Inspired partially by the name of the periodical Jet Magazine, and partially by the cultural make-up of the real gang conflict going on in the streets and boroughs of New York City today, it seems almost a no-brainer to make the Jets an urban (read: black) gang. The Sharks -- To contrast with the Harlem-reoriented Jets that border on Crips, you develop the Sharks to be like the present Hispanic menace, the MS-13's, Colombians of an almost mercenary type and frightening size and proportion. On both sides, rather than casting for slender form and technique, let's look for kids who actually look thuggish, types that look like they could conceivably f**k things up if they started rumbling outside the theater ten minutes before curtain. They're not adorable street kids in this production. More along the lines of the Irving Shulman novelization of the film, they're killers, each and every one of them. They're vicious and they have to be played that way.

STAGING IDEAS
The love story of Tony and Maria has been reduced over the years, largely thanks to the Hollywood-influenced whitewashing of the film, into a story about a couple of sanitized stick figures. When they sing "Tonight," it's like Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy. It needs to be hard for them to sing because they're so sexually involved. They're all over each other. The misleading ads for the late Nineties national tour should be the cue to run with here – they featured a sexed-up Maria, wearing a tight, black mini-skirt and being practically groped by a black tank top-wearing Tony, not unlike the cover of a dime-store pulp novel.

DESIGN / MIS EN SCENE
In re-reading the libretto for the show, and also the screenplay that Ernest Lehman wrote, as long as I’m going so far as to consider elements of his film vision, it struck me that aside from the obvious changes in slang that would need to be made, the story is very au courant. There is nothing that definitively ties it to the past in any version of the script; it could happen today. (Yes, it would require some suspension of disbelief as to the use of cell phones and other technological devices, but even in the Fifties, Tony and Maria could have picked up a phone.) With that in mind, and with all of the elements of the show's plot still present in the streets today, to some degree, it is my opinion that to reach and connect with today's audience, it is vital to set WSS in the present (or near future).

Set and costume designs would reflect current styles, settings, and trends in the black and Hispanic communities. One of the big parts of what made WSS a hit in 1957 was its currency – it reflected everything going on in the streets downtown. It's important to remind audiences that it still does.

There would also be some minor adjustments in musical arrangements, again to reflect current styles and trends. Of course, it would not be so re-arranged that Lenny's wonderful music is unrecognizable. New arrangements in a more current style would take the orchestra to the same place at the same time, but take advantage of the 21st century and what it has to offer.

In a similar vein, as sacrilegious as it sounds, this may be the opportunity to finally tamper with Jerry's choreography just a tad. By and large, it won't come across as "swishy" anymore because of the current look and feel we have bathed the rest of the show in, but I also feel that some current steps could be inputted into the choreography without losing the idea Jerry was going for. For example, the Teen Dance Company of the Bay Area in California recently choreographed a tribute to WSS using Robbins-inspired moves and slight re-arrangements of the score, particularly the "Dance at the Gym" segment, giving it a fresh hip-hop style and take. This should give you an idea of what I am going for.

The video

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 12:43pm

It's going to "feel" like a long post?

Make it all black and stage in Harlem. There.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 12:46pm

^ Black is only half of the equation. Open your eyes instead of your mouth and read the damn thing.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 12:46pm

That's a lot to process.

Posted: 7/5/13 at 12:48pm

Too much energy to read.

I like Namo's version.

it's a thread,... not a spool.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 12:49pm

You should have just put WSS into a circus. That's so much more original and inventive. I don't think anyone has suggested the circus, yet.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 12:57pm

I think I posted this before but when I was in college I brought the idea of taking How to Succeed and changing the gender roles. The idea was liked but never got off the table.

I'd still like to see it done - even as a one night only charity event.

Posted: 7/5/13 at 12:58pm

I think West Side Story in a circus works well actually.. trampolines and swings and clown gangs. and a hydraulic lift and stuff like that.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 1:09pm

"Open your eyes instead of your mouth and read the damn thing."

I value my time too much.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 1:20pm

Evidently not enough to waste it picking a fight with me once again. Go back to your playpen. The world's too big for you to be in it yet.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 7:37pm

ljay, i'd say a fusion between the film and the original production. Rob marshall should direct it, but using Fosse's choreography.

[ARTc]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 8:04pm

g.d.e.l.g.i I read through your post and seriously considered your ideas. They're good. I don't agree with all your thoughts deconstructing previous incarnations, but your version has a sense of "current" that I believe is what made/makes West Side Story so important.

Having typed that... I think its a while before Broadway audiences are ready for another revival, and what will be "current" in gang culture: language, dance and music styles, etc. is yet to be determined. I think that is the very core of West Side Story - keeping it immediate for the audiences.


This thread... When this thread was started, I thought it was both an extension of the running circus gag perhaps with some serious suggestions. I myself offer a revised Mack and Mabel that I think would be powerful and fun.

I am more than a little taken back by the negativity. I would love BroadwayWorld to have a safe space where we could discuss ideas similar to your own. Sometimes that has been possible, but more often, not.

Anyway, I read through your post and appreciate your ideas.

Updated On: 7/5/13 at 08:04 PM

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/5/13 at 9:09pm

I was just speaking, ARTc, as if I had been given the reins to do a revival and everyone decided in a brief moment of insanity that it was both the right time and they wanted to see it.