Anyone seeing WEST SIDE STORY in D.C. today?- Page 9

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:52am

Before the song, Rosalia continues speaking in Spanish after the Sharks leave, but Anita glares at her and she switches to English. So they did address that. She doesn't sing in Spanish because she's pressured to use English.

NY_Broadway2: Falsetto anything creeps me out. Tenor leggieros are okay because they don't use falsetto.
They're children; they don't need to use falsetto yet.

Updated On: 12/20/08 at 01:52 AM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 6:27pm

"The cut portion in the dream ballet makes the original staging of the final scene unneccessary. Hence it's different now."

Really? How so? I thought they changed that because Laurents said something about it's more realistic this way...

PLEASE tell me none of the music of the finale is different??

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 7:44am

A little off topic but for anyone that has been did they have any Merchandise? If so, what was it like?

[EnWashingtonHeights]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 8:00am

A poster

and magnets
and
T-shirts with the logo on them

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 11:42am

Oh, then I guess the Spanish thing is just a silly gimmick.

Even after all the complaints, I don't see the Spanish as a gimmick or unnecessary or anything.

It's not that all Puerto Rican characters speak Spanish all the time. They speak Spanish when it makes sense. Anita is the one of them who really wants to be American, to be seen as American. So it makes sense for her to speak English, and to insist that everyone around her speak English (hence why "America" is sung in English, even Rosalia's part).

I have a question for anyone who's seen it: Laurents has said that the use of Spanish came about as a way to balance the perspectives, to make the Sharks and the Jets equal in the audience's eyes. Did you feel that worked even a little bit, or did you feel that the Jets were still the clear heroes?

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 11:48am

The Jets are "heroes"???

I guess I am always in the minority on these things!

I think the Jets ARE "hoodlums" and the Sharks are just "new people trying to fit in."

The Jets--and the cops--are bigoted slobs. I've always felt that way though. It's not this new production, or the inclusion of Spanish, that's bringing this out in me.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 11:59am

orangeskitles: That response was referring to counter-tenors, not boy sopranos.

I love how there are much of this thread has been devoted to discussing my dislike of boy sopranos and falsetto.

Updated On: 12/21/08 at 11:59 AM

[philcrosby]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:00pm

I saw the show Saturday night, and there is much to like. It's great to hear the score played and sung well (though veeerrrryy sllloowwwwlllyyy), and the Robbins choreography (what remains) is still sheer perfection.

Casting mostly terrific, but everyone with some unrealized potential. Maria is absolutely captivating, with the Tony making the most of such a weenie role. Bernardo is hot hot hot, and the Jets well defined. Anita got some of the biggest applause and she sings and dances wonderfully, but there is something "dead behind the eyes" about her.

But why oh why doesn't Arthur Laurents trust his own material? I was very open to the bilingual idea, but it isn't consistently used and breaks it own rules constanstly. (If we all speak Spanish among ourselves, why isn't "America" in Spanish?) It also had the effect, at least on me, of distancing me even more from the Sharks.

The pace of the whole show is slow, with the songs the worst culprit. And the dancing -- particularly "America" lacks some fire.

The costumes are as horrid as feared. Not only lacking any sense of period, but really cheap looking.

But perhaps the worst feature ... these is no ending. Laurents may have hated the processional at the end, but it wrapped up the evening for the audience. The deaths and their impact on Maria cause the gangs to look at themselves. But in the current staging, the show just ... stops. Why were we there all night? Just to watch some kids kill each other? If there is no resolution, what's the point?

Anyway, it is a highly mixed bag. Worth seeing for the good stuff that is there ... but be warned about all the stuff that doesn't.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:00pm

Interesting. Supposedly, the creators have always felt that the show was biased in favor of the Jets. They get more songs, more dialogue, more stage time. This revival was partly inspired as a way to fix that.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:04pm

The point is that there's no resolution. In real life, violent hate and prejudice wouldn't end, all neatly wrapped up like that.

As for the Spanish, it is consistent, you just don't understand the rules. Read my post on this same page, three above yours.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:05pm

Too bad they couldn't use the guys vs. girls version as seen in the movie, then. I always felt that explained how they felt better.

I don't think that the Sharks are any better than the Jets though, personally.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:05pm

Talk about slow, what about the opening! They could shave a good 10 minutes off if Riff didn't just stand there, walk real slow and snap his finger.

PhilCrosby, I totally agree with your assessment about the ending.

Updated On: 12/21/08 at 12:05 PM

[philcrosby]

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

Yero, I can't disagree more on either the Spanish or the ending.

If there is no small ray of hope at the end, I'm afraid WSS has no reason for being. It's a waste of our time. I don't need to spend three hours being told violence and hate exist through song and dance. If there is nothing greater we can learn through this tragedy, why view it?

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:25pm

It's not about disagreeing. I'm telling you what their reasoning was. It's a fact. You can disagree with Arthur Laurents about its effectiveness, but you can't say that's not the point, because it is. Like it or not.

If there is no small ray of hope at the end, I'm afraid WSS has no reason for being.

That's really interesting. I never thought of that. I just saw the ending as much more realistic and logical, but you might be right. The point or lesson could be that there is no hope, no simple solution, but I can see why audiences would turn away from that idea.

Updated On: 12/21/08 at 12:25 PM

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:27pm

oh, also merchandise wise, they have beanies and keychains and a sweatshirt

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:29pm

I understand how you guys feel about the ending, but I think Laurents believes he is offering a resolution--albeit a more subtle one--when he has the one Jet drape the shawl over Maria's head, like Mary and Jesus, as I posted last night, a la "Pieta."

This doesn't mean I prefer this ending. I'm just trying to figure out why he may have made this choice. I don't know. I could be completely off the mark. I usually am.

[morosco]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:29pm

No one has mentioned the musicians. How does that big orchestra sound?

[NityaC]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:42pm

"If there is no small ray of hope at the end, I'm afraid WSS has no reason for being."

"The point or lesson could be that there is no hope, no simple solution, but I can see why audiences would turn away from that idea."

This will probably sound weird, but I always thought WSS had both endings. The hope comes in with Maria's speech and with carrying Tony away (although I suppose that's cut in this production...) and the hopelessness comes with Anita's rape scene and her agreeing with 'Nardo about the Jets. Really by the end, Anita seems to be the one who's left with no hope or happiness, or with a shred of comfort for the future. She could probably care less about the Jets and Sharks co-existing - her lover just died and she got [nearly?] raped. Not very fun. And I always thought Anita was the one who shows the more hopeless side to the story, while Maria is still hopeful - even after Tony's death.

That being said, I'm a WSS virgin so nothing I say is valid. I'll go hide now.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:45pm

The orchestra is quite big (over 20) but I thought the balance was off. There are many strings, but I did not hear them as much as I wanted to. The horns are the most audible.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:48pm

I just really hope they use this tryout to really fix some of these problems. Arthur can be stubborn, but it seems some things really need to be fixed.

I have hope they will fix the costumes. GYPSY's costumes were improved from City Center to Broadway, so I am trying to have hope for WSS!

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 1:16pm

"They could shave a good 10 minutes off if Riff didn't just stand there, walk real slow and snap his finger."

I'm assuming you're referring to something specific about this production, and not the way it always has been -- I mean Riff always walks and snaps his fingers...is the music slow as well?

Re: the ending...first of all, one of my favorite parts was the final pose which seems gone for now...that of the 4 adults (and Chino I guess) left on the stage after the processional, looking completely clueless as to how this all happened and feeling pretty hopeless. I guess that was what I took more as the dual ending -- maybe some of the Jets & Sharks are over it (and I'll quickly get back to the "some") -- but there's lots of other hate out there, and situations like this are gonna happen, and well, the adult figures just don't know how at all to prevent it. I don't know, I just always loved that.

Also, again, not sure how much this is demonstrated in performances, but the actual script of WSS calls for a couple of the Sharks to run over and help pick up Tony, while several of the Jets and Sharks are still unable to give up the gangs, get past all this, and continue to go their separate ways. I wish I could remember the exact wording, but I also think that's great, not everyone is stuck in the cycle of hatred, but not everyone is over it.

Also, Miss P, I could be wrong, but I also think one of the Jets putting the shawl over Maria was also always in the script.

Then let's not forget WSS' source material -- Romeo and Juliet. The whole ending is obviously out of the deaths of R & J, the feud between the families end. Sure, you can argue that WSS doesn't have to follow R&J to a tee, but...every tragedy has some good come out of the tragedy -- Oedipus is blinded and forced to leave Thebes, but the plague over Thebes ends. Hamlet &...almost everyone dies, but the war is over. There always is something to come out of the tragedy, and I guess that's kind of what Philcrosby is saying.

Also, re: the Jets/Sharks...the one thing I've always found more sympathetic about the Sharks as opposed to the Jets is their treatment of women. Of course there's the near rape of Anita, but you can also see the difference with little gestures. Like when Riff and Bernardo lead their ladies to the promenade, Riff snaps for Graziela, while Bernardo extends an arm and twirls Anita around.

And Nitya, no need to apologize, that is a very insightful comment. I don't think Anita was ever involved with the processional anyway. I can totally understand her being the most tragic figure of the show.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 1:28pm

Wickedrentq, Yes, I realize the thing with Riff snapping his fingers is in the script, but here in the opening sequence everything about it seems to be done painfully slow. It kind of reminded of the original opening (before it was cut) of "Chita, A Dancer's Life" whereby dancers on stage were seen executing the same moves over and over again before anything took place.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 1:33pm

The extreme slowness being referred to here is definitely specific to THIS production. I understand wanting the audience to actually grasp what's going on rather than "rushing" into the action, but this opening crawls in. Your mind starts to wander or, at the very least, you're thinking "What in godsname is going on here?" It actually detracts from the drama. You're not immediately "engaged"...and I'm using the term "immediately" loosely.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 1:36pm

That's what I thought but was just checking. I actually heard from others that the show is currently moving quite slow. Hopefully, with more performances, they will be able to speed it up.

Thanks for clarifying.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 2:18pm

I felt like the opening went on for 15 minutes or something. Obviously, that is an exaggeration, but that is what it felt like.