#1
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 The Jets become an all-black gang, not unlike the Crips, and while street dance battles are a LITTLE outdated, suddenly the choreography at least makes a bit of sense within the context.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?
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?
"There is no problem so big that it cannot be run away from."
~ Charles M. Schulz
Updated On: 4/11/09 at 08:28 PM
