In the Ivo Van Hove 're-imagining' of [FILL IN THE BLANK]..

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 12:14am

...The Sound of Music...the Nazis win.

 

...Gypsy...Rose stabs Louise and Tulsa when she finds out they're running away and makes Louise and the girls chop up their bodies and make food for Chowsie.

 

...My Fair Lady...everyone doing the Ascot Gavotte is shot.

 

Any others

 

 

 

 

Updated On: 7/15/18 at 12:14 AM

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 12:16am

Girl, take it to your therapist....

[Solipsist234]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 12:34am

Yeah, goodness me, Pal Joey! He's just reinventing West Side Story, not downright destroying it (the dumpster fire of a production over at the Imperial might have something else to say about "reinventing" a classic...)

Also, why would the text/libretto ever be changed? To make it more susceptible for 2019/2020 audiences? West Side Story may be strictly rooted in the 50s, but there's at least some integrity in how it's presented in that specific time period (i.e. the concurrent gang warfare and violence, racism toward immigrants, forbidden love affairs, the whole shabang!)

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 12:47am

This kind of attitude is how theatre dies. Once we decide that nothing is up to interpretation or reinvention, it becomes a thing of the past. A dusty relic. Thankfully, you aren't a powerful member of the theatre community, so your attitude can't do much damage. If you want a community that is so overprotective of the past that it's completely irrelevant now, check out opera. It's almost entirely ignored by the mainstream because it's so scared of being part of the present and the future. I don't think any of us want the same for theatre. Choreography is not the same as the text. Choreo is staging and Robbin's choreo, while fun and all is over exposed and tired.

Also, when has Ivo Van Hove done such ridiculous rewrites to any of his plays and where has there been any sign that he plans to change the text of this production? No where. As Sondheimite said, take this to your therapist. We don't want to hear whatever this sort of breakdown is, hun.

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 12:52am

GeorgeandDot said: "This kind of attitude is how theatre dies. Once we decide that nothing is up to interpretation or reinvention, it becomes a thing of the past. A dusty relic. Thankfully, you aren't a powerful member of the theatre community, so your attitude can't do much damage. If you want a community that is so overprotective of the past that it's completely irrelevant now, check out opera. It's almost entirely ignored by the mainstream because it's so scared of being part of the present and the future. I don't think any of us want the same for theatre. Choreography is not the same as the text. Choreo is staging and Robbin's choreo, while fun and all is over exposed and tired.

Also, when has Ivo Van Hove done such ridiculous rewrites to any of his plays and where has there been any sign that he plans to change the text of this production? No where. As Sondheimite said, take this to your therapist. We don't want to hear whatever this sort of breakdown is, hun."

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[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 12:59am

PalJoey, forgive them for they know not what they do. They are too young, I suppose, to remember the days when we could have pages upon pages discussing your memories of working with Bernstein and his notes to you (or was it Robbins?), your devastating experience seeing so many of the dancers in the 1980s WEST SIDE STORY revival, and, of course, all things FOLLIES.

I miss the days the board looked like that, but those days are long over. All things beautiful must die, indeed.

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 1:02am

ray-andallthatjazz86 said: "PalJoey, forgive them for they know not what they do. They are too young, I suppose, to remember the days when we could have pages upon pages discussingyour memories of working with Bernstein and his notes to you(or was it Robbins?), your devastating experience seeing so many of the dancers inthe 1980s WEST SIDE STORY revival, and, of course, all things FOLLIES.

I miss the days the board looked like that, but those days are long over. All things beautiful must die, indeed."

No, I remember all of that.  I've been lurking these boards since 2006, religiously. 

I just don't agree with Pal Joey.  I love Pal Joey's stories but that doesn't mean I enjoy the ideology that there should never be a new staging of West Side Story.  Just because someone worked a job in the same room as the greats of theatre doesn't mean that they are right on all things theatre.   

[Solipsist234]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 1:07am

Sondheimite said: "ray-andallthatjazz86 said: "PalJoey, forgive them for they know not what they do. They are too young, I suppose, to remember the days when we could have pages upon pages discussingyour memories of working with Bernstein and his notes to you(or was it Robbins?), your devastating experience seeing so many of the dancers inthe 1980s WEST SIDE STORY revival, and, of course, all things FOLLIES.

I miss the days the board looked like that, but those days are long over. All things beautiful must die, indeed."

No, I remember all of that. I've been lurking these boards since 2006, religiously.

I just don't agree with Pal Joey. I love Pal Joey's stories but that doesn't mean I enjoy the ideology that there should never be a new staging of West Side Story. Just because someone worked a job in the same room as the greats of theatre doesn't mean that they are right on all things theatre."

^ This. 

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 1:08am

Oh, it’s all in good fun. This reminds me of the theatre urban legend of a production of Annie where she wakes back up in the orphanage because it was all a dream.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 1:11am

I'm all for a re-imagining of "West Side Story" but I understand where Pal Joey is coming from. He has history with the show and many of the creatives involved. He knew these people. You needn't be rude about it. He has a right to express his opinion. 

 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 1:33am

West Side Story is a musical featuring the murder onstage of all 3 leading male characters, 2 by switch blade for God's sake. It's not a piece that requires kid gloves in the handling, and I'd be curious to see what a ballsy director could do with it. Stumbling over Arthur Laurents' faux-slang dialogue might be the biggest hurdle any new director would have to solve to get the show reconceived however.

Unfortunately I detested Van Hove's THE CRUCIBLE, so I fear he's not the guy who could do justice to any of it. 

 

[Ravenclaw]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 2:24am

NOWaWarning said: "Oh, it’s all in good fun. This reminds me of the theatre urban legend of a production of Annie where she wakes back up in the orphanage because it was all a dream."

That's not just an urban legend, that actually happened in the production at Trinity Rep directed by Amanda Dehnert.

I have no problem with directors reexamining material in bold new ways, but in all of van Hove's work I have seen, van Hove seems more interested in making choices which make himself the center of attention rather than choices which help tell the story or illuminate the text. Reinvented productions of classics can work all the time--so much of the best Shakespeare I've seen was performed in modern dress, and I, for one, loved John Doyle's Sweeney Todd--but I completely failed to see how underscoring a dinner scene with a slow drum beat for 20 minutes helped tell the story of A View from the Bridge, or how having a wolf walk across the stage made The Crucible any more compelling.

And for those who argue that van Hove's choices haven't been as drastic as the thought PalJoey suggests, most of you have only seen the two plays of his which ended up on Broadway. He has a much, much larger body of work, including, notably a Taming of the Shrew which concluded

 

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...which concluded with the revelation of a decapitated body which another character then had sex with.

 

[A Director]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 2:39am

What's the difference between a revival and a re-imagining?

I recall messages here wailing about the recent revival of Fiddler because it didn't look like the original production and didn't use the original choreography.

The message board was filled with postings wailing about the choreography in the current Carousel.

What are your thoughts about the current Hello Dolly!?

From my point of view, there is a difference between a director who respects the authors and looks at a show with a fresh pair of eyes and a director who makes himself the center of the production.  Looking at you Ivo van Hove!

[Solipsist234]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 3:03am

NOWaWarning said: "Oh, it’s all in good fun. This reminds me of the theatre urban legend of a production of Annie where she wakes back up in the orphanage because it was all a dream."

I don't think that's a legend; there was literally a production where that was the concept. Anyone want to search that up? I remember posters talking about it on this board, and I believe Charnin himself stepped in to shut it down ???

Updated On: 7/15/18 at 03:03 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 5:49am

SOLIPSIST...try reading post #12

[JBC3]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 7:33am

...in a Van Hove reimagined BroadwayWorld ... posters are open-minded to new possibilities Updated On: 7/15/18 at 07:33 AM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 9:42am

In the Ivo Van Hove "reimagining" of THIS THREAD, bww has a sense of humor.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 10:06am

I love how the newbies don’t know PJ’s connection to West Side Story. Search some WSS threads from 2009, and you’ll find some intense and passionate discussions.

Updated On: 7/15/18 at 10:06 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 10:19am

While I have always found Ivo Van Hoe's work to be interesting, I always felt like I was on the outside looking in. I can never grasp what he is going for with his productions. It oftentimes just feels like his productions are weird just for the sake of being weird with no real purpose behind the decisions made.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 10:24am

It’s amazing how disrespectful some people are towards Pal Joey on here, but it’s unsurprising given the shift to a younger, less informed demographic here.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 10:33am

Hamilton - England wins the war.   And Burr gets shot.

(fun game - I need to think of more!)

Updated On: 7/15/18 at 10:33 AM

[Andy51]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 11:14am

adamgreer said: "It’s amazing how disrespectful some people are towards Pal Joey on here, but it’s unsurprising given the shift to a younger, less informed demographic here."

I'm all for being respectful and for having a sense of humor, but this seems pretty clearly to be disdainful humor that an "informed demographic" would recognize misses its mark.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 12:35pm

adamgreer said: "It’s amazing how disrespectful some people are towards Pal Joey on here, but it’s unsurprising given the shift to a younger, less informed demographic here. "

 

This post is everything. 

[DeepVSexyWitch2]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 12:56pm

I don't understand how anyone is being disrespectful when PalJoey started the thread ripping on someone else's work he hasn't even seen yet. Just because you are older or were there or worked with this person doesn't mean you're any more deserving of respect when you're acting like an asshole. I can appreciate and respect the experience PalJoey had with the show without thinking it has to be done that way and only that way for the rest of time.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/15/18 at 1:17pm

You won’t understand  it unless you were on this board prior to 2010. Or you could actually research older threads, which i’m sure can easily be found. PJ is a wealth of knowledge and experience. You don’t need to grovel to his opinions, but you could attempt to start a dialogue, a conversation, a healthy back and forth. I don’t see anyone attempting that today. In the past, we could have heated discussions with PJ, but in the end, there was always a respect for his knowledge. These days, I don’t see younger posters interested in healthy and passionate discussion. This board is flooded with childlike posts about stage doors, etc. It’s quite sad.

Updated On: 7/15/18 at 01:17 PM