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

...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

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 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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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