Hopes and Thoughts for West Side Story Revival

The buzz gets bigger. Arthur Laurents is planning a high scale bilingual West Side Story performed by a "dream cast" as some would say. Mr. Laurents has announced many twists and turns to this classic and I bet many would agree that the biggest change is the bilingual lyrics. Sondheim is working with Lin Manuel-Miranda and I have one big hope. That is that they can add a spanish flair with exotic spanish lyrics but also preserve some of Sondheim's brilliant, poignant and masterful lyrics which are so simple yet poetic. My second hope is that the cast really delivers which is almost a given. The most interesting casting I saw is Karen Olivio as Anita. There is no doubt in my mind she will bring power, energy and a powerhouse voice to the role which could bring her raves since Anita is a showy role. I have a feeling dancing will also not be a problem for her at all. Also I hope this show can be this year's South Pacific re-envisioning a masterpiece in a even more brilliant way. i hope the massive scale does justice for the tone of the show and provides the spectacle that both Sunday and South Pacific did last year.

Your Thoughts?

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Updated On: 11/3/08 at 03:50 PM

Whose "Dream cast" is it?

Only two members are names that only broadway insiders ever heard of.

But I did have a "dream" about Eric Hatch after BROADWAY BARES 2007.

Updated On: 11/3/08 at 04:27 PM

I get the feeling that Laurents doesn't really care about the visuals for his shows. While the current Gypsy is full of stunning performances, nothing asthetically about the show is stunning (including the logo). I have a feeling WSS will have the same problem.

Double post.

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Updated On: 11/3/08 at 05:04 PM

Lets see - it's the same Jerome Robbins choreography. It's the same casting idea - putting way too old people doing teenagers (Matt Cavenaugh is and looks 30). I'm not excited, nor will I be purchasing tickets - I have too many new shows Broadway, off broadway and off off broadway to see without seeing what sounds to be a typical revival(with the exception of some Spanish words thrown in)

I think the artwork should've been different. Although I love the movie poster, with the show being different than ever before, the artwork should be reflective of it.

Also, I wish that since they didn't go in the original direction of teenagers, the cast had been more of a "dream cast" of tried and true Broadway kids. I love Karen, Matt, Curtis, Mike Cannon, and especially Matthew Hydzik (who I'm hoping is a Tony understudy), there are a lot of others that would've been a great addition to the cast.

Does anyone have any more information on the ensemble? Are these primarily dancers, or just newbies to the Broadway scene?

Updated On: 11/3/08 at 06:48 PM

Yeah, right on, daddy-o!

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I saw the 1980 Broadway revival 2 times and the 1961 film-version countless of times.

I'll pass on this revival.

Sorry, Arthur.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

WSS is one of my fave musicals, and it's due for a revival. I'm glad I saw the London production 8 or so years ago which wasn't brilliant, but had great dancing and was a faithful recreation fo the original Jerome Robbins staging with original designs--just cuz I'm one of those traditionalists who loves being able to see the original stagings--and now that I have I'm ok with a new staging :P

Though I'm mixed on some ideas. It's using Robbins' original choreography which is probably wise, it's so iconic (more iconic than his Gypsy choreography which is always reused anyway). Laurents did a great job with Gypsy, but WSS is a *much* more stylized show and one who's whole momentum, scene changes, etc, is based around movement and choreography. It's a very very different animal and I'm sceptical Laurents can pull it off.

I'm also mixed--though intrigued--by his approach. Having the Spanish is interesting, but I go back on forth if it'll be an improvement. I guess I'll have to wait and see. WSS is such a stylized piece of musical theatre--I kinda wonder if making it more "realistic" will really work--including the language. Sondheim has said how he sees it as pretty poetic with the text being less important than the music beneath it and the staging (the true innovation he found in the piece).

Also Laurents gave SO much lip to casting people who were the exact right age, right nationalities, etc. I think maybe he will regret this--cuz so far he's not following his own guidelines. Which is his prerogative but--Cavanaugh is older than Larry Kert was in the original production. Laurents has also complained that Robbins cast, especially in the 80 revival, dancer who were too "faggy" as the Jets--I love Matt Cavanaugh (even if I never spell his name right), a friend of mine grew up friends with Cody and he's apparantly an awesome guy, and can dance, but I don't exactly see either as butch street guys... Again I think this is more Laurents sayign something he prob shouldn't have fully...

I really like how they are trying to update the show, make it current and new, while still keeping it's roots. A few things I think -

I think translating lyrics/lines into Spanish is a great idea. I think it will make the show a little more "earthy".

I agree some of the dialogue needs to be updated. Is the time period, 50's, really that important to the show? Could they give it a more modern touch?

Lastly, and I may be alone here, but I think Jerome Robbins making sure his choreography remained in every production was a stupid and self indulgent move. I would LOVE to see completely new, exciting, choreography, instead of the same tired old dance moves I've seen in every high school, community theatre, regional, and professional production ever put on earth. I mean seriously, why even bother buying a ticket to WSS or Fiddler? It's essentially the same show. Robbins insured that nothing new or exciting would ever be done. To bad, the possibilities would be amazing.

So are they translating all of the songs that the Puerto Ricans sing into Spanish or only certain ones? I like the idea of authenticity behind it but I would like to hear the original words written as well.

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only some of the songs

You can't change the time period - unless you want to replace the switchblades with semi-automatic weapons.

And when was the last time you saw teenagers doing the mambo at a dance at the gym?

And when was the last time you saw gangs hanging out at the "drugstore", drinking cokes at the soda fountain?