It's official. West Side Story ditches some of the spanish - Page 2

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 9:47pm

This is so random but I just learned the original choreography to Cool...best dance I ever did/learned in my life.

[Just_John]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 11:08pm

At the auditions for this production they cut everyone who was up for the Spanish parts and not fluent in Spanish pretty early on. They are not doing this to accommodate the understudies.

[Oldschool]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 11:25pm

It was always a gimmick. If he really wanted to increase the tension then he needed to write lines for the Sharks instead of there just being action. Almost all the action for the Sharks is second hand. Chino doesn't have any lines, knows Tony killed Bernardo and kills him - just shows up at the end, appears, and shoot. Do we really care? No. The Sharks are still predominantly presented as other, so the language change doesn't help that either.

I found the Spanish more annoying than helpful in creating tension and unless you speak Spanish, "A Boy Like That" conveys a lot of information that is otherwise lost to an audience member unfamiliar with the show or not fluent in Spanish.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 11:33pm

Disappointing.

I actually thought there should have been more Spanish in the show.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 11:36pm

Is "I Feel Pretty" still mostly in Spanish to eliminate the original alarming and charming lyrics?

[Devious]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 12:14am

I didn't go see it because I heard there was too much spanish and not speaking it I wouldn't understand what was going on...

Is there any spanish actually left? should I go see it now?

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 12:17am

^ Yes. There is a lot of Spanish dialogue, but they throw English lines in so you get the drift.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 12:21am

Seems kind of stupid to use AUTHENTICITY as a reason to use the Spanish but still weave in & out of Spanish AND English.

[winston89]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 12:44am

I found the Spanish actually to be more annoying rather then authentic. For example, when Maria finds out that Tony killed her brother the entire scene is done is spanish sans there being one line of "he killed your brother" which is said in English. It just didn't work. It did however do one of two things. Either it A had any sort of dramatic tension that was to have gone on in that scene fall flat on its face and B make the rest of the dialogue in that scene that is in Spanish seem to be not needed if they made the point of that scene with just that one line in english.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 7:05am

There is a lot of Spanish dialogue, but they throw English lines in so you get the drift.

And there you have the foolish directorial notion, wrongly conceived and poorly executed.

Updated On: 8/26/09 at 07:05 AM

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 7:29am

Chino automatically breaking out of his native tongue to yell "He killed your brother!" made no friggin' sense what. so. ever!

[bethnor]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 8:54am

Tom would have come to the first preview and said, "You know what, Arthur? It just doesn't work. Put it back the way it was."

i was not speaking of the rightness or wrongness of any of the changes, which can be discussed ad nauseam, especially if one were to interject the hypothetical opinions of dead lovers.

if laurents cared enough about integrating spanish, he would have found some way of making it work.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 9:24am

All he cared about was creating a smokescreen so no one would notice that he wrote "gang language" like "Frabba-jabba" and "Ooblee-oo" that seemed silly even in 1957.

[winston89]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 9:46am

Let me ask the age old question that has been asked about this production a number of times. Laurents wanted to add in the Spanish to make it seem more authentic for The Sharks, and yet he kept in the most absurd "street dialogue" in for The Jets because?

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 10:41am

And I was gonna say now if he would only change the ending, put the nightmare back in & get rid of Kiddo, I'd be happy, but you all beat me to it!

Well, I'll add recasting Tony, and making sure he does not over-vibrato because it just drives me crazy, going back to the original rhythm of Krupke (the way they ruin the end of the song just baffles me), either work more with Karen or get an Anita that can actually beat Graziella in the Mambo and dance the original choreography to "America"...

Hmm, that would all be a good start.

Why do I feel like I was more positive about the production the first time I saw it?

P. S. PJ, he got rid of oobli-oo! That was one of the few good changes.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 10:42am

Because he was too lazy and too egomaniacal to touch the flaws in the musical that were HIS.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 11:22am

He recently stated in an interview why he didn't update the language, but I'm too lazy to find it, lol. It may have been the Playbill radio interview.
Updated On: 8/26/09 at 11:22 AM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 11:27am

I can only imagine what it must have cost his ego to cut oobli-oo...

I imagine his answer would be the usual, what he said back in the '50s, that he wanted to create a language that was timeless, so it wouldn't be associated with any era. Well, he did accomplish that. It doesn't sound like anything anyone in any era would say.

BTW, ljay, I'm impressed. I always thought you were more positive and defensive about the flaws in this production, but now I see you're aware of most of them as much as we are.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 11:32am

Yep. I think we need the original ending back. I could live without Kiddo. I really have no opinion on the Nightmare (sorry). I don't believe Joey McKneely was the best person to recreate the choreography, there had to be someone better. A replacement Tony could improve a lot of things. And I will continue to support and defend Karen Olivo!

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 11:40am

I agree with everyone about the changes and also getting rid of the goat named Tony. I don't get it though, because his understudy has tons and tons of vibrato too...guess it turned Laurents on?

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 11:44am

^ HAHA. It's true! Matt H. has just as much vibrato, but he is less nasal. I'm really hoping for a GREAT replacement. I actually think Matt C's acting has gotten better, but his singing has gotten worse!

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 11:49am

Ljay, I imagine you don't have a problem with the removal of the nightmare because you don't know WSS with the nightmare? Like, you're familiar with the movie? I mean, we can describe it and all, but I guess it's still not the same as experiencing the difference the nightmare makes in the show, so you're forgiven for that

And one thing you said about Karen I agree with -- it's not her fault as much as it is the casting director's fault. Still, would you really object to an Anita who could sing and play dramatic as well as Anita AND be a better dancer? Does one necessarily have to get sacrificed for the other?

CSon, funny you called Matt a goat -- I just read over at ATC a funny joke that Arthur plunked the stupid lamb out of "Gypsy" and put it in as Tony for the revival. Haha. Ulgh, what really makes the vibrato so terrible is that it's relied upon to provide the power, and is sung a bit in head voice. Except for a couple notes here and there (end of "Maria" i.e), they're not supposed to be sung in head voice. The voice just sounds weak, and these songs are not meant to be sung weak. I mean, the power Larry Kert puts into "Maria" just...gives me such chills in a way music doesn't usually. He may use a teeny bit of vibrato, but more than anything he puts the power into the notes and holds them.

I gave my friend a really good laugh one day when I told her I didn't think it was possible to find a Tony I would dislike more than Beymer...but here it is.

[Oldschool]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 11:51am

"Well, I'll add recasting Tony, and making sure he does not over-vibrato because it just drives me crazy, going back to the original rhythm of Krupke (the way they ruin the end of the song just baffles me), either work more with Karen or get an Anita that can actually beat Graziella in the Mambo and dance the original choreography to "America"... "

I thoroughly agree with the need to recast Tony for all the reasons stated and the ones that were not -- He's completely unconvincing in every way, particularly in that he's so Nebraska that no one could possibly believe he was a member of a gang (actually, they could recast all the Jets and that would be an improvement because they lack any presence of street tough that its hard to believe they're anything but dancing computer geeks), that he has no chemistry with Josephina, and that his vibrato is particularly overblown and nasal.

As for Anita, this is where we part ways. I am not capable of assessing the quality of her dancing versus some of the others. I found her dancing fine. I don't know why its critical that her dancing be better than others, although if its a problem then it would be nice. However, she's without question the most compelling performer in this production -- if the rest of the cast had the acting chops and passion she exudes in her pinky, they'd really have had a production.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 12:04pm

"Ljay, I imagine you don't have a problem with the removal of the nightmare because you don't know WSS with the nightmare? Like, you're familiar with the movie? "

Yes, I've seen the movie a countless number of times. And I've seen a nice quality community theater production years back, and I do not remember the ballet at all (I was young, lol). So I definitely do not have an emotional attachment to it like some of you. But of course I would have no problem with them reinstating the Nightmare, but the chances of that happening are very slim.

"And one thing you said about Karen I agree with -- it's not her fault as much as it is the casting director's fault. Still, would you really object to an Anita who could sing and play dramatic as well as Anita AND be a better dancer? Does one necessarily have to get sacrificed for the other? "

I was going to answer this, but I don't feel like rehashing it over and over again, and possibly get bashed for it!


Updated On: 8/26/09 at 12:04 PM

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 12:26pm

Would you guys rather have a simplified version of the ORIGINAL choreography of America or just have them change it like they did for this production? Not trying to sound mean, just truly asking.