Bilingual West Side Story: What effect will that have on Sondheim's lyrics?- Page 2

[dayao]

Posted: 8/3/08 at 5:23pm

No, you are reading what you want to read instead of what I said. I am saying that a production of West Side Story being produced in the country in which it originated does not have to be changed or translated at all. Surely the thousands of productions performed in other countries are done in various translations, most by people other than the original writers, but this is the United States and if a version of West Side Story is produced in its country of origin that does not include the music as it was originally presented then such a production is NOT a revival of that show. Call it a rethinking, a rewriting but don't call it West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim. Foreign productions are performed in translations out of necessity and you are correct that they are a solid source of revenue to the originators of the show but again I emphasize this is done out of necessity so that people who would not understand the language of the original production can at least enjoy some semblance of it in their native language. The majority of people who will attend this new production are English speaking, even the majority of Puerto Rican and other Latin American citizens.

When Chekhov, Ibsen, Strindberg, Moliere, Lorca, Aristophanes, Sophocles, etc. are performed in translation, they do indeed count but again they are translated out of necessity for English speaking audiences, but just like the foreign productions of West Side Story they are adaptations of the original work, not the original and the translator is given credit in the program as the author of the adaptation much as the author of the screenplay of a film adaptation of a play is credited.

There is nothing wrong with having the Puerto Rican characters speak in Spanish among themselves if that is done to convey a sense of authenticity in these scenes but leave the music and lyrics alone. They were composed to be sung in English in English speaking countries and last time I looked the majority of people who attend Broadway shows understand and speak English in this country. West Side Story was composed in the English language and to perform it in its native country any other way except for a specialized audience is an insult to the audience and its originators.

Updated On: 8/3/08 at 05:23 PM

[monestere]

Posted: 8/3/08 at 6:11pm

I don’t think Sondheim hates his lyrics for “I Feel Pretty” in themselves. I think what makes him cringe is that the lyrics, especially “its alarming how charming I feel” seem out of place coming out of the mouth of a 19 year old uneducated shop girl with only a minimal command of the English language. The lyrics don’t ring true to the character since Maria and the other shop girls lack the sophistication to articulate in such a manner. “I Feel Pretty” as written is probably more appropriate for one of Sondheim’s later shows such as “Forum” or “A Little Night Music”, except that Sondheim did not write the music for the song.

I did not mean for this topic to set off a firestorm. The original question is a valid one, especially if you admire West Side Story as I do. As far as waiting to see what Laurents does when did anyone on this board have the patience to “wait and see” on anything announced concerning Broadway. It is an unfortunate fact of life that most of us have “inquiring minds” that want to know now, not later about these things, and most of us if given a chance, as we have seen here, are more than willing to speculate.

For the record, if Arthur Laurents, the original author of West Side Story’s book, wants to have his dialogue for the Sharks and their families among themselves spoken in Spanish, I am fine with it. It would, as Dayao speculated, bring a level of authenticity to these scenes that probably would increase their intensity. But I also agree that the music and lyrics should be left as written unless this production is marketed as an adaptation, not a revival of the original show. To his credit, Laurents' recent staging of Gypsy did not stray that far from the original 1959 production, plus after reading some of the comments expressed here I have renewed confidence that he will not tamper with anything in West Side Story that does not need fixing as well.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/3/08 at 8:59pm

jv, everything I have ever read or heard about WSS claim that Bernstein originally wrote "One Hand, One Heart" for Candide -- both music and lyrics. So I'm just curious how you can claim Sondheim wrote it -- unless there was a big conspiracy to pretend Bernstein wrote it for Candide when really Sondheim wrote lyrics or something...

And I won't terribly argue with not loving "I Feel Pretty" -- it's easily the weakest song in the score -- granted you're talking about such an amazing score, some song has to be the weakest. It also integrates the musical relationships between the drama -- the lowered 7ths, tritones, etc, less than most of the other songs.

But "One Hand One Heart" -- first of all, it's just so beautiful. It sounds so much like a love song. It's the first song since the end of "Balcony Scene (Tonight)" to further develop the foreshadowing of the "Somewhere" melody. And it just fits perfectly into the score -- the final note being so pianissimo and then immediately the loud, loud notes of the Quintet.