Oh God, this is easy, especially after the recent revival directed by our dear departed Mr. Laurents showed us most of what
not to do. I would do
West Side Story. Be warned... I'm gonna get long-winded here. From an early age,
West Side Story has been one of my all-time favorite musicals. I believe the revival in my head would benefit from my fresh take on the material, while all the time being respectful of the original source material and production team's intentions. Indeed, the idea of reviving the show struck me (and still strikes me) as such a great idea because to me, it means something about the show has to reappear in a new way, because it has been performed so often in its original form.
STORY STRUCTURE People can say what they will about the 1961 film's lack of realism, but it managed to remain faithful to the play while incorporating new elements, most noticeably a "rising line of dramatic tension." In the late 1950's, there were several theatrical conventions held sacrosanct, including balancing out the most dramatic moments of the story with comic relief numbers designed to break tension, for example including "Gee, Officer Krupke" in the second act. I've read in Craig Zadan's
Sondheim and Co. of dear uncle Arthur's famous "Shakespeare's clowns" argument, but, while valid, I feel strongly that the argument applied more to that time than today.
Especially since the 1980's, when Broadway was largely populated by melodramatic "pop operas" (usually British in origin), audiences have long become inured to what some might deem an emotionally weighty evening. So, I'd like to shuffle the story structure to provide the film's "rising line of tension" for our more sophisticated audience of today.
Also, there are other smaller problems with the script that need to be discussed. The dialogue written for the gangs is part of what has kept them from appearing "tougher" on stage. An artful attempt was made at creating timeless teenage tough talk -- an attempt that has by and large failed. Phrases like "Cut the frabba-jabba" and "Daddy-o" (on the part of the Jets) come across as fey and dated. Faux-Spanish like "kiddando" (on the part of the Sharks) sounds like an almost patronizing attempt to be even-handed. The suggestion made here is to go for realism in the writing.
RISING LINE OF TENSION *
Re-position "America" before the balcony scene (and restore the boys vs. girls lyrics, which are superior to those now in the script).
*
Move "I Feel Pretty" to the bridal shop scene in Act One prior to "One Hand, One Heart." *
Transpose the Act One and Act Two positions of "Cool" and "Gee, Officer Krupke." *
Move the rumble sequence to the top of Act Two. Staged as the end of Act One, it comes across to some as anticlimactic. With the "rising line of tension," it's more effective to allow the "Tonight" quintet to close the first act to heighten anticipation; curtain; and then open Act Two with the rumble, leading directly into the continuance of the "line of tension." It also resolves the problem caused by moving "I Feel Pretty," namely dramatic "dead space" at the top of Act Two.
TOUGHER JETS * If the line suggests a gang member is saying, for example, "Cut the bullsh
it,"
let him actually say that. Similarly, I have never heard a woman anywhere, in my life, ever say anything like "Ooblee-oo," whatever the hell that means;
out that exchange goes!
* The unrealistic division of the Jets as "ace-men," "rocket-men," and "rank-and-file" should be
removed.
* In terms of lyrics, though this is more a matter to discuss with Mr. Sondheim, I feel that today's audience is finally ready to hear the gang sing,
"Gee, Officer Krupke, fuck you!" (It seems that even in the traditional production, this was known to creep in anyway; as a friend who saw the City Center revival in 1964 noted, many of the Jets seemed to splice in the real f-word under "Krup.")
REALISTIC SHARKS * Why not
replace the faux-Spanish with some actual Spanish phrases and words and maybe sprinkle more throughout the dialogue for an air of authenticity?
* NOTE:
Not whole songs, bits of dialogue here and there, some slang maybe, a sentence or two.
* This would go a long way toward treating both gangs more realistically than the traditional version does.
CASTING I'm sure I'm not the only one who has heard the apocryphal "dancer's 'Jet Song' parody" courtesy of PalJoey:
"When you're a Jet
You're a Jet all the way
From your first pirouette
To your last grand jeté"
Certain types have always been cast for the gang members on both sides of
West Side Story's central conflict. Jerome Robbins' choreography has almost demanded it. Unfortunately, this has led to the casting of the same types: white-bread, "swishy," effete gypsies, the kind that Mr. Laurents so disliked in his first interviews about the revival in 2007. The book material lets down the characters somewhat, but the traditionally cast types who look like they stepped straight from Martha Graham's studio to the stage have also let the characters down. "They're not adorable street kids. They're killers, each and every one of them. They're vicious and they have to be played that way." (Laurents)
BOTH GANGS *
Let's cast thuggish kids who actually look like they could kill each other if they started rumbling on the street ten minutes before curtain.
* Get the right look, have the choreographer drill the hell out of them, and put it on stage.
By virtue of how they look, anything they do on stage will be menacing in theatrical terms, especially with the reworked book and the new look (more of this anon) to go with.
JETS * Inspired partially by the name of the black periodical, Jet Magazine, and partially by the cultural make-up of the real gang conflict going on in the streets of New York City today...
make the Jets an urban (read: black) gang.
SHARKS * To contrast with the Harlem-reoriented Jets that border on Crips...
develop the Sharks to be like the present Hispanic menace, the MS-13's, Colombians of an almost mercenary type and frightening size.
TONY AND MARIA * The love story of Tony and Maria has been reduced over the years, largely thanks to the film, into a story about a couple of sanitized stick figures. "When they sing 'Tonight,' it's like Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy." (Laurents)
* Two words:
hot-blooded passion. "It's hard for them to sing because they're so sexually involved. They're all over each other." (Laurents)
* The misleading ads for the late Nineties national tour should be the cue to run with -- a scene reminiscent of the covers of Fifties pulp fiction. (Example here:
http://bit.ly/kHZW1K.) That's the edge it needs to have.
MIS-EN-SCENE When I recently bought the Special Edition DVD Collector's Set of the film, I was struck by a line of advertising repeatedly used in advertising for re-release runs of the film: "Unlike other classics,
West Side Story grows younger."
They were right. It may not be the 1950's anymore, but there's still gang warfare in the world. There are still corrupt authority figures helping one side to their own benefit. There's still racial tension today; the immigration stuff in particular has made race a national issue. There's still unconventional love, of all kinds.
West Side Story (and its source material,
Romeo and Juliet) remains timeless for those reasons.
In re-reading the scripts (for show and film), it struck me that aside from obvious changes that needed making, the story is very
au courant. There is nothing that definitely ties it to the past in any version; it could happen today. It
would require some suspension of disbelief as to the use of technology, but even in the Fifties, Tony and Maria could have picked up a phone.
With all of the show's plot elements still present in the streets today, it is my opinion that to reach and connect with today's audience,
it is vital to set West Side Story in the present (or near future). One of the big parts of what made
West Side Story a hit in 1957 was its currency -- it reflected what was going on in the streets. It's important to remind audiences that it still does.
The fix:
* Set and costume designs would reflect current styles/settings/trends in the black and Hispanic communities.
* There should be some minor adjustments in musical arrangements, again to reflect current styles/trends, not so that the score is unrecognizable, but to take advantage of the 21st century and what it has to offer.
* As sacrilegious as it sounds, this may be the opportunity to finally tamper with Robbins' classic choreography a tad. By and large, the traditional steps won't come across as "swishy" anymore because of the current look/feel, but I also feel some minor current steps could be inputted without losing the ideas Robbins was going for in a particular sequence.
* For a stunning example, the Teen Dance Company of the Bay Area in California recently choreographed a tribute to
West Side Story using Robbins-inspired moves and slight re-arrangements of the score, particularly the "Dance at the Gym" segment, giving it a fresh hip-hop style and take. (A video clip is available on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okBgomoCd6I.)
"There is no problem so big that it cannot be run away from."
~ Charles M. Schulz
Updated On: 5/21/11 at 05:16 PM
