Arthur Laurents Expresses Adoration For Matt Cavenaugh In The Advocate- Page 4

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 1:56pm

Dayou, I couldn't agree with you more. And I'm sure Larry could even make me okay with the final "Something's Coming" note -- I was just imagining how Arthur could be tricky with certain statements. But gah, I'm sure I would love the movie more if Kert got to be in it. More than anything, it's hard watching Tony's songs in the movie. The first time Kert sings "Maria" is just...I can't describe it...such beauty in the voice, such passion...it's absent from Jim Bryant. And I'm so upset I'll never be able to tuly see his acting as Tony.

Ljay, I'm sure Cavenaugh could hit a particular note. But probably with the vibrato that annoyed me throughout most of the show. Hitting a note just explains range; how you make the note sound is what determines great singing.

And Dayou, what do you mean the Bb was never part of the original score? I think you may have even got me there...

[zamedy]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 2:51pm

I was wondering the same thing.. what does he have against Kert? For God sakes... have some respect for the man who created one of the most legendary roles in Broadway history, and did so with such command and class. And yes... if you're not familiar with Cavenaugh, you'd think he was so smitten with Arthur and Laurents was his little sugar daddy or something.

I actually went to school with Matt. And while I didn't really know him personally, he seemed (and seems) like a pretty down-to-earth, humble guy from Arkansas that probably immortalizes Kert for his tremendous contributions to WSS and Broadway as a whole.

[dayao]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 4:45pm

wickedrentq: sorry, what I meant to say was that the original note was not a requirement in the 1957 production of WEST SIDE STORY.

And you are quite right; it is the sound quality of the note which is sung, not the fact that a singer can hit it, that ultimately counts in a performance.

Also I wanted to clarify that the Broadway production of WEST SIDE STORY that I saw with Kert and Carol Lawrence repeating their original roles was a return engagement in the summer of 1960, which ran for about 250 performances until December of that year. Chita Rivera did not appear in this staging; Anita was played superbly by Allyn Ann McLerie, a fabulous singer and dancer who played Amy in both the original Broadway staging and film version of Frank Loesser's WHERE'S CHARLEY. I suspect that this production was fueled with the announcement of the upcoming film version, which was released a year later. Larry Kert was 29 and Carol Lawrence was 26 and both, even on close viewing backstage after the show, looked young enough to have done the film. While I can see how the presence of a real Hollywood star like Natalie Wood might have been necessary for box office, Richard Beymer certainly did not have that status so I still believe a great opportunity was lost in not casting Kert as Tony. His presence would have upped the tension level that director Robert Wise was going for in the film and Kert's edgier take on Tony would have challenged Natalie Wood to have given an even better performance as Maria. And they would have looked great together, don't you think.

[Steffie2]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 3:35pm

I am not sure where I heard this but supposedly Robert Wise wanted Larry Kert for the film of "West Side Story" and so did Sondheim and Bernstein but it was Jerome Robbins who refused to allow Kert to do the film, mainly because during the Broadway run, Kert spurned Robbins' advances towards him. Kert was a really handsome man so maybe Laurents had designs on him as well.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 4:06pm

No, that's not true.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 4:16pm

I'm reading his book, and I love it! I've read about 95% of it in one day. I agree with him on most of his points, but he lost me in the last chapter. When he started praising his choices for the WSS revival, I had to stop reading. It's just all wrong. I'm sorry but Matt Cavenaugh doesn't have a good voice. It's not right for this part or this show or this style of music. Second, he wanted to make the gangs more threatening? By casting obviously gay boys in the show? I didn't even know there was a rape scene in the show until I read it in his book. I mean, I was suppose to feel bad for Karen Olivio? She could have easily kicked all their asses. She's tall, strong, and powerful. She could have kicked all their assess easily, including Curtis Holbrook and Matt Cavenaugh. What a stupid revival.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 5:14pm

While we're throwin' rumors around, I heard that Jerome Robbins was quite fond of calling Kert a "faggot" in the rehearsal room and passively encouraged the straight dancers to do the same. Wasn't he neat?

[LansburyLuPone]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 5:25pm

Well, there's obviously life in the old boy yet if Laurents is panting after Cavenaugh! As for the Jerome Robbins creature, I don't care HOW "talented" he was; from all accounts, the man was a sadistic bully to the point he should've been in Bellevue. I have never understood why so many people in the entertainment industry take abuse from such creeps and don't do anything to stop them.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 5:29pm

But people on this board forgive Robbin's behavior because he was a "genius."

Laurent's comments are not forgiven, because he is not a "genius."

It's as simple as that, and I don't think even PJ would argue that.

Updated On: 5/17/09 at 05:29 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 8:25pm

I can't think of anyone who "forgives" or condones Jerome Robbins's sadistic behaviors, although, like Sondheim, they often added, "But I would work with him again in a minute."

As for the genius label, I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Of the four collaborators on West Side Side, three can genuinely be considered geniuses: Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins and Stephen Sondheim.

Arthur Laurents is not a genius.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 8:34am

Speaking of Gretchen Wyler...

Someone told me a wonderful story about Gretchen going to see a very artsy work by some young writers, after which she kissed the composer on both cheeks and said:

"Darling, it's a class act. A class act! But....it's not a class world anymore."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 9:44am

I can't think of anyone who "forgives" or condones Jerome Robbins's sadistic behaviors, although, like Sondheim, they often added, "But I would work with him again in a minute."

Then that's sort of implicitly condoning it, no?

The tone of this post is Inquisitive. Filtered by Tone-A-Tron^TM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 2:24pm

I can't get Gretchen Wyler out of my head.