Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14- Page 2
Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
#25re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/14/09 at 11:24pm
Ballroom and the dance styles that they do on the show are just so much more... showy, for lack of a better word, that the Robbins choreography loses its resonance.
It could, if done properly. But this dumbed-down version just doesn't cut it.
#26re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/14/09 at 11:29pmI thought it was great!
Trish2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/20/06
#27re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/14/09 at 11:41pmWAT you think everything is great..or brilliant.
miss pennywise
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/04
#28re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/14/09 at 11:44pmWAT does NOT think that "everything" is great OR brilliant. He's very open about what he likes and does not like.
http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html
**********
"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"
~ Best12Bars
Trish2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/20/06
#29re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/14/09 at 11:46pm
He's Mr. Nice. The Paula Abdul of Broadway World.com 
#30re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 12:02am
Trish2: Do you want to know what I think was horrible this year? Rock of Ages, Reasons to be Pretty, Impressionism, Accent on Youth, The Philanthropist, Hair, Guys and Dolls and Rooms. Believe me, I *do not* think that everything is great or brilliant.
Thank you, MissP, for backing me up.
#31re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 12:08am
ANYWAY!!!
That was... uninspired, to say the least.
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
wicked4life51
Broadway Star Joined: 6/20/04
#32re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 12:11amkaren did not look happy at the end.
"what? what is it? do i have something in my teeth? ok lets get this over with : no im not seasick,yes ive always been green, and no i didnt chew grass as a child "
wicked4life51
Broadway Star Joined: 6/20/04
#33re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 12:11ambut she was FIERCE just like she is everytime.
"what? what is it? do i have something in my teeth? ok lets get this over with : no im not seasick,yes ive always been green, and no i didnt chew grass as a child "
#34re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 12:12am
For those who haven't seen this, here, from a dancer friend, the changes made for Karen:
===
First, Anita and Bernado's variation in the dance at the gym is way simplified: Karen basically shimmies and he dips her. She gives a small kick over his head while he kneels, but this is supposed to be a huge fan kick, followed by a flick into a double partner-turn to the floor with a partnered layout at the end, featuring HER, not Bernardo. They don't do any of that.
Then in America, Anita's first variation was previously solo, but Karen is immediately joined by two girls. This particular variation was always supposed to be Anita's technical specialty, but it is severely toned down for Karen.
Not one single ounce of the ballet/theater synthesis Robbins was so adept at remains.
Some of the more charming, quirky sections that are fast enough to mask her technical shortcomings are partially intact, but only in bits and pieces.
Finally, the most iconic part of the dance--the huge jumps at the end that mirror the huge crescendo in music--are replaced by single turns and are completely anticlimactic.
The audience still goes wild though.
#35re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 12:13amI don't understand why, since it was prerecorded, they didn't do a few takes and make it perfect.
#36re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 1:26amI'm so over seeing America everywhere. Are there no other numbers in this show worthy of television viewing? I'm seeing the show next Thursday, and I'm so over this goddamn song already.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
miss pennywise
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/04
#37re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 2:20am
PJ, I don't understand something. I love you dearly, but you trash this revival of WEST SIDE STORY every chance you get. No, I take that back. You trash it even when you don't have the chance. Even when people are speaking highly of the show, you bring it down...again and again and again.
We get it. You don't like it. But for someone who claims to "adore" this show and even refers to it as your "beloved," you certainly do all you can to turn anyone and everyone off from considering to even see it and assess it for themselves. There are people here who did not see the 1980 revival. There are people here who weren't born in 1980. Let them have a Broadway-quality production of this classic to see it for what it is.
You stated months ago on this board that you would not be able be to give an unbiased opinion about this revival because the 1980 revival was the "one and only" Broadway show you worked on. You admitted that you cannot be objective. You admitted that you have a special place in your heart for the 1980 revival for personal reasons. Yet you continue to compare the current production to the 1980 production, despite the fact that you yourself said the 1980 version wasn't very good.
I have seen the movie. I saw the 1980 revival. I did not care for either of them. I really enjoyed the current production. I don't think it's "perfect," but I am a seasoned theatre-goer, an intelligent and well-educated adult, and an impartial audience member who is able to appreciate it and see its many fine attributes. No one has to agree with me and everyone is entitled to share their opinions. But it's gotten to the point where I can't even open a thread to see what anyone else thinks of this production without you being right there to say something disparaging. (And yet if anyone dared to speak ill of the recent GYPSY revival, you were all over them like a wet blanket!)
I respect and admire your views. You are my friend. I understand that you want to voice your opinion, but your hatred for this production (or is it just for "Arthur"?) is bordering on unhealthy! Please, let it go. This is a DANCING WITH THE STARS thread, for godsakes!
http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html
**********
"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"
~ Best12Bars
#38re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 2:59amIt's not that he doesn't like West Side Story. He doesn't like Arthur Laurents. I think they went out on a date and he never called him back or something.
Marquise
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/1/04
#39re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 5:02amWOW. WHAT DRAMA!
#40re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 6:43amOnce again I think she is great! She has really improved since the first time I saw her. She is definitely keeping up with the other girls and starting to really shine.
#41re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 6:50am
I don't even think she looked that bad compared to Letterman.
It was okay. But she IS improving.
However, on the pick layout kick, she really needs to straighten her leg.
I'm a professional. Whenever something goes wrong on stage, I know how to handle it so no one ever remembers. I flash my %#$&.
"Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot."
Lynnespock2
Broadway Star Joined: 5/14/04
#42re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 7:49amI thought it looked sloppy. Maybe it was the camera angles but it certainly wasn't impressive as far as the dancing was concerned and the choreography was boring.
Live long and prosper.
Marriage equity now!
#43re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 8:13am
Sorry, Miss P. I guess Lynnepsock2 was right.
It was just the camera angles.
Lynnespock2
Broadway Star Joined: 5/14/04
#44re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 8:18amPalJoey: I was referring to the apparent sloppiness of the dance as far as camera angles are concerned but the choreography is basically now skirt waving? Yawn!
Live long and prosper.
Marriage equity now!
#45re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 8:20am
I agree, the camera angles were sort of strange. I thought it was good. To be honest, I enjoyed it a lot more than that Carmen Electra number.
And, were they singing it live? If so, that could also have an affect on how it sounds. I don't know how good or bad the accoustics are in the DWTS studios. I sure hope a Broadway theater would have amazing ones.
"I don't want the pretty lights to come and get me."-Homecoming 2005
"You can't pray away the gay."-Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy.
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Lynnespock2
Broadway Star Joined: 5/14/04
#46re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 9:04amThat Carmen Electra number was like a bad dance recital number. Yikes!
Live long and prosper.
Marriage equity now!
#47re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 10:00am
She is definitely keeping up with the other girls and starting to really shine.
I was about to say "All right, Miss P, I won't comment on the show again" when I noticed the above comment from one of the revival's staunchest defenders and it made me crazy all over again.
ANITA IS NOT SUPPOSED TO "KEEP UP WITH THE OTHER GIRLS!!! SHE IS SUPPOSED TO WOW US!!!
Okay. That's out of my system.
Miss P, I won't comment on the show again.
#48re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/15/09 at 11:39am
Pal Joey, there are plenty of us here who value your opinion and insight about West Side Story. No need to stop talking about it.
Miss Pennywise, sanctimonious much?
theatre2
Featured Actor Joined: 2/11/08
#49re: Cast of WSS to perform on Dancing with the Stars, Tues 4/14
Posted: 4/16/09 at 2:16pmvery cool
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