I think I just got a better idea for a WSS revival

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:28pm

Hear me out on this. Arthur Laurents' big thing was making it contemporary without changing a word. It failed to be contemporary, or for that matter not to change a word. So it got me to thinking, "What could be done in terms of staging and marketing and mis en scene to make West Side Story contemporary?"

My first thought was inspired by two recordings of songs from the show's score: The Songs of "West Side Story" (featuring performances by such diverse artists as All 4 One, Selena, Wynonna Judd, Kenny Loggins, Trisha Yearwood, Salt-N-Pepa, Patti Austin, Bruce Hornsby, and the Brian Setzer Orchestra), Alice Cooper's recording of the song "Gutter Cat vs. the Jets," and Schlong's Punk Side Story, a little more of the latter in particular. To contemporize the show, one must begin with the score. These gangs are aggressive, in your face, they have the real potential to be killers, as Arthur pointed out and then failed to show in his staging. BAM! Contemporary heavy-rock-verging-on-metal/occasional R&B rearrangement. It's a stark reimagining, and a shock to your average blue-haired theatregoer.

Next, make these gangs more threatening, while at the same time dealing with the fact that Jerome Robbins' not very threatening choreography is attached to the show like rats to the Black Plague (though in a much more flattering fashion, and I adore it to death). The Jets become an all-black gang, not unlike the Crips, and while street dance battles are a LITTLE outdated, suddenly the choreography at least makes a bit of sense within the context. The Sharks are pure murder...think mercenaries, MS-13, a serious threat.

And finally, the show's biggest problem, the book. To contemporize, cut the Fifties slang and replace it with some actual swear words please (as in "Gee Officer Krupke, F*CK YOU!"). Any structure problems fixed by the movie are also inputted into this version of the script.

Et voila? Or no?

Updated On: 4/11/09 at 08:28 PM

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:31pm

The marketing is simple. Think Rent--gritty, urban, no B.S. or shininess. And emphasize the "West Side" part of the title, with "Story" about half the size. Or even sneak in "A" above the title proper--"A West Side Story." Think...well, not shock, but sort of "It could happen to you" style advertising.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:32pm

Except the currently written slang is NOT 50's slang...it was written to purposely NOT be connected to any time period. It is totally manufactured.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:33pm

Which is my point...everyone these days aside from theater people who know Laurents was writing NOT to be slang dismisses it as remnants of Fifties slang (and rightfully so, in my opinion). With a gritty approach, you either go all the way or you don't, not half way.

Updated On: 4/11/09 at 08:33 PM

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:35pm

And I don't think the writers could really know what words would or wouldn't become outdated. For example, the word 'gee' alone is definitely outdated.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:37pm

as in "Gee Officer Krupke, F*CK YOU!"

- When that idea was suggested on here, people went crazy.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:41pm

People use the word "gee" all the time. As in: Gee, really?


This is why I feel Laurents 'vision' to make the gangs contemporary really doesnt work (and that he failed miserably with it):

I don't think they are GANGS, but street punks THINKING they are 'all that'. Riff specifically says he wants to keep their turf the way they always have: with SKIN. The jets don't want weapons and haven't used them. But their hatred allows those choices to escalate.

I always felt BOTH sides were horrified with the stabbing of both Riff and Bernardo....thereby proving they really weren't that tough.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:45pm

I don't think they are GANGS, but street punks THINKING they are 'all that'. Riff specifically says he wants to keep their turf the way they always have: with SKIN. The jets don't want weapons and haven't used them. But their hatred allows those choices to escalate.

I always felt BOTH sides were horrified with the stabbing of both Riff and Bernardo....thereby proving they really weren't that tough.

Agreed.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:47pm

People will be pissed if show is modernized, and they will still be pissed if the show remains a museum piece.

It's just that type of show.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 8:58pm

There are so many things Arthur Laurents could have done to realize the "new" vision he espoused.

The truth is he never intended to do ANY of the hard work that was necessary on his own contribution: the book.

All he wanted to do was use the revival as an opportunity to finally diminish the work of Jerome Robbins, the genius to whom Arthur has been indebted for 50 years. This revival is fueled by the hate Arthur had for Jerome Robbins, because the two musicals they did together are responsible for Arthur's reputation and for his riches.

None of us will probably ever know such hatred in our lives.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:00pm

-The Songs of "West Side Story" (featuring performances by such diverse artists as All 4 One, Selena, Wynonna Judd, Kenny Loggins, Trisha Yearwood, Salt-N-Pepa, Patti Austin, Bruce Hornsby, and the Brian Setzer Orchestra)-

?

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:01pm

Was "gee" what I was referring to? I think we all kind of figure I meant things like "great, daddy-o" or "kiddando" or "what're we doin' poopin' around with dumb broads?" They can put up a better front than that if they are fronting, and I think we know that.

PJ, it was your opinion I sought the most. What do you think of my idea?

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:02pm

@ AndAllThatJazz: http://www.amazon.com/Songs-West-Side-Story/dp/B000003FRP/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239498417&sr=8-2

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:04pm

gvendo throw me on board for this one. if this happened and for some crazy reason people didn't hate it just because it was a change to a classic musical, it could work(better than the current revival anyway). you never know.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:04pm

Thanks gvendo2005!!! I listened to the demos. One word: WOW. I do not know if that's a good wow or a bad wow

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:05pm

Was "gee" what I was referring to? I think we all kind of figure I meant things like "great, daddy-o" or "kiddando" or "what're we doin' poopin' around with dumb broads?" They can put up a better front than that if they are fronting, and I think we know that.

But the show takes place in the 50's. Even the current revival does. Today's slang wouldn't work with a musical that place in the 50's.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:10pm

Write a new show, Gvendo. The Leonard Bernstein score is what this one is all about.

Lenny would be the first one to tell you: But make it fresh and make it YOURS.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:11pm

@ ljay: As you can see by reading my re-setting, since the 1950s are never specifically mentioned in any lines in the script, it's easy with the tweaks I've put in there to assume that one could then, with those small changes, pack it up and set it in any current timeframe.

@ PJ: Sorry, love, I'm no writer. Much like that misguided little mouse Mel Brooks affectionately dubbed Leopold Bloom after Ulysses, "I wanna be a producer!"

Updated On: 4/11/09 at 09:11 PM

[Mekroth]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 10:02pm

I think that Laurents should just expand upon the language idea and have the Jets speak Polish the whole time.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/11/09 at 10:12pm

with those small changes, pack it up and set it in any current timeframe.

Hardly. If Tony and Maria had cell phones, she could have called him and said she was being detained by Shrank.

My favorite part is when you want to change the title.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 1:17am

When I watched the original cast of WEST SIDE dance "Cool," that looked threatening. They scared the living **** out of me.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 1:32am

That's how I felt! I think they CAN be threatening but still come across as young kids who don't know what they're getting into.

And if you make them the Crips, then there are a LOT of other issues to address. I mean, they wouldn't be that upset by killing someone.

Updated On: 4/12/09 at 01:32 AM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 1:46am

The Jets' parents are Polish. The Jets are "American." They would never speak the language and admit they're just as foreign as the Sharks.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 2:07am

I don't think it needs to be updated as it just seems some sort of spark. It's like the recent "A Chorus Line" revival. When you do a revival of a show using the same look, ideas, it just comes off stale. That's how I thought the revival was. There was no magical spark to get interested. It just needed something new infused into it.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 2:10am

^ But this revival had brand new staging (well kind of), costumes, sets, and lighting. And not to mention the Spanish. It was not a carbon copy like the 1980 revival, or like the ACL revival.