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

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.

Disappointing.

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

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?

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

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.

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

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.

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?

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

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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.

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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?

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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.

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"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