It reminds me of a lot of the crap that was put into WEST SIDE STORY, especially that cringe-worthy "Ole!" at the end of the "America" number. Puerto Ricans do NOT shout "Ole!" Funny you should mention that, Carlos. That "ole!" was an item of much debate when Peter Gennaro and Lee Theodore were putting the number on Debbie Allen during rehearsals for the 1980 revival. As Debbie and the Shark girls got better and better, the shape of the number began to emerge.
But there was always something anticlimactic about the final button. Peter and Lee would rehearse the number over and over again and fix Debbie's arms or the timing of her landing in the final position and look at each other and shake their heads.
Finally, Mr. Robbins (as we were instructed to call him) watched a run-through of the number, nodding throughout as Debbie and the girls leapt up and swished their rehearsal skirts. The only thing he scowled at was poor Harolyn Blackwell, who stood by Rosalia's side stage right. Harolyn, who later become an opera star, was swishing her rehearsal skirt in time to the music while Debbie and the girls danced, and Robbins thought she was stealing focus.
They got to the end of the number and there was the same anticlimax in the room. Behind the table, Robbins scowled and Peter Gennaro and Lee Theodore leaned in to him. I was behind the table, and like Sondheim's someone-in-a-tree, I could hear them whisper to each other.
Robbins said, "It needs the ole," to which Peter said, "I knew you would said that" and Lee said, "I thought we'd get away without it this time."
Robbins said, "If it doesn't have the ole, they just sit there. It won't get a big hand if it doesn't have the ole." So Lee walked over to Debbie and the girls and whispered to them. Debbie glanced over at Mr. Robbins and whispered something back to Lee, who came back to the table and whispered to Mr. Robbins and Peter, "She says Puerto Ricans don't say ole."
Robbins stood up, and announced, loud enough for the entire room to hear, "It needs the ole" and walked out of the rehearsal room.
Lee turned to the rehearsal pianist and said "Let's take it the ending again." Debbie and the girls did the last section of the number with the great big "ole!" you see on the Tonys broadcast and the number worked.
The following week, there was a run-through and Arthur and Steve ("Mr. Laurents" and "Mr. Sondheim," as we were instructed to call them) were present. At the end of the first act, Mr. Robbins left the rehearsal room very quickly, and Arthur walked over to Lee and Peter and said, "The dancing is fine, but do we really still need that Mexican ole at the end of America?"
When Arthur directed the recent revival, the ole was gone. Karen and the girls just sit there. It got a big hand, but who knows? It might have gotten a bigger one if they had pit back the "ole!"
Updated On: 7/25/12 at 08:14 AM
