Anyone seeing WEST SIDE STORY in D.C. today?- Page 4

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:04pm

BigFatBlonde: A CRUNCH gym program would also explain the outfits

Is that the dress Anita actually normally wears in the first picture, or is that something she's only wearing while doing seamstress work?

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:07pm

None of these guys look like they moisturize each night after hitting the weight room.

Updated On: 12/16/08 at 02:07 PM

[jaystarr]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:11pm

No, Mamela!

No...No...No....No.....



Karen Olivo looks like her mother in this photo! BAD CHOICES!


Updated On: 12/16/08 at 02:11 PM

[philcrosby]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:17pm

It strikes me as odd to try and make the look of the show "timeless" unless they are worried that 50s outfits will make people think GREASE is back again.

I hope the performance on Saturday distracts us from the hideous costumes.

[Brick]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:18pm

Oh, and I was so hopeful...

And I'm still trying to be. It's only the first preview. But those costumes!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:22pm

Heh, that was the housecoat she wore at work, not her actual dress.

In comparison to the Jets girls dresses, of course the purple dress comes across as matronly, but the style was similar to the original.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:23pm

I think that is just a smock Olivo is wearing... which is perfectly appropriate when you are sewing dresses all day.

My Grandmother wore a similar one and she was a seamstress.

You'll notice that under the smock is a purple-ish dress.. the one she will probably wear at the dance at the gym.

OH I GET IT NOW... the dance at the gym takes place at CRUNCH.. that explains the why the under-privileged, inner-city, street rats are so beefy!

Silly Me!

Updated On: 12/16/08 at 02:23 PM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:26pm

That's what I figured about the smock.

Now if only there were explanations for the miniskirts and those short, slitted dresses that look like the dance costume we wore for our tap routine my freshman year of high school.

I agree that it's odd to try to make the show timeless, especially by using costumes that look like the 1980s threw up... with a little 2008 thrown in.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:28pm

Do they play the entire overture?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:32pm

Lordy those costumes are horrific. I don't even like the thick bandana around Cody Green's head...too gang-color-contemporary for me.

I won't see it until March....maybe they'll have made some money for more material!

[bethnor]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:41pm

hm? I don't remember him wearing a bandana last night. He's on the right here.



And you're right, I could tell Karen was wearing her gym dress underneath the smock. That did not make her look less matronly. That's not necessarily a value judgment, btw.

And is that a piece of corn in Matt's hair? Weird.

As I said, I think those miniskirts only showed up in "Somewhere," where everything was sort of a pastel-palette. Updated On: 12/16/08 at 02:41 PM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:53pm

I don't think they played an overture. If they did, I forgot in the excitement.

Updated On: 12/16/08 at 02:53 PM

[Mamie]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:55pm

There's no such thing as a 'timeless' costume. Dress will always reflect a time and place. These costumes (except for the Shark girls) have completely ruled out the 50's. Late 60's or early 70's - possibly. But definitely not 'timeless'.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:55pm

Did the show ever have an Overture though? I think it just starts with the famous prologue, with all of the dancing.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 2:56pm

Karen Olivo looks like Anna Deavere Smith in that photo. Scaglione is beautiful.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 3:00pm

West Side Story doesn't usually have an overture. It didn't originally. I understand the overture was added for the return Broadway engagement following the success of the movie (which did have an overture).

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 3:01pm

I think an overture would take away from the incredible prologue.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 3:06pm

"Karen Olivo should prepare her Tony speech. Seriously, what's her real competition for that award with barely any shows opening? "

6 words:
Martha Plimpton
Haydn Gwynne
Heidi Blickenstaff

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 3:11pm

Bernstein didn't write the overture and HAAAAAAAAAATED it and kept insisting it be cut.

Jerome Robbins knew how much Lenny hated it so he kept putting it back in.

They were that kind of fun bunch.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 3:20pm

That picture doesn't exactly do Karen justice. She's in a smock with her hair all tied up, no one looks good in those conditions. A picture from America or the dance at the gymn would have been better. These shots don't even show Bernardo and she doesn't read as "too old" opposite him, which matters moreso than babyfaced Josefina.

And is that a piece of corn in Matt's hair? Weird.
It's a body mic.

Updated On: 12/16/08 at 03:20 PM

[morosco]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 3:34pm

I hope they cut (or continue not to incorporate) the overture. Seriously one of the worst when it comes to setting the mood for a show. I especially hate how the trombones are written to play the melody line of the "Tonight Quintet" in that wacky looney-tooney way. The show is much more effective without an overture.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 3:35pm

^ But the current revival isn't using the overture.

[morosco]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 3:36pm

^ But the current revival isn't using the overture.

For sure? That's great.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 3:39pm

Those costumes are fugly. Is American Apparel costuming the revival?

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 4:03pm

Karen Olivo should prepare her Tony speech. Seriously, what's her real competition for that award with barely any shows opening?

Stephanie J. Block is coming back to Broadway. There will be some competition.