More Photos From West Side Story DC Production — Page 3

Is it me or do the pics from the Gym dance (with the sets, costumes, lights, etc...) look like pics from The Wedding Singer?

"Of course the surtitles were distracting. Far more distracting is that long stretches in Act Two (including a very pivotal scene) and being done in Spanish and any non-Spanish speaker not familiar with the show is not going to have a clue what is going on."

Any good actor will be able to convey what is going on in the scene without a single word spoken. If the cast meets the task, the audience doesn't need to know story to understand and FEEL what is going on.

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"Any good actor will be able to convey what is going on in the scene without a single word spoken. If the cast meets the task, the audience doesn't need to know story to understand and FEEL what is going on."

Having a feeling...of what's going on...and actually knowing what is going on are two different things. Any decent actor can convey feelings. Conveying factual information, however, requires more. Which is why there is dialogue. If Laurents only wanted to convey feelings...he should have done it as a dance, pantomime piece, with a plot synopsis written into the program.

I can think of nothing more frustrating than attending a performance and not being able to follow the plot. Hell, I get angry when an actor who is speaking English is unintelligible. Yes, West Side Story is familiar to most of us...but not all. And if newcomers to this musical are walking away, without understanding the plot and its intricacies, then something is WRONG.

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Updated On: 12/26/08 at 09:54 AM

I saw the show last night and I found the Spanish in Act Two to be way too much particularly the two scenes with songs that were entirely in Spanish.

I was a bit familiar with the story having seen the movie years ago but found myself focusing on trying to figure out what they were saying/singing instead of enjoying the acting, show and Karen and Josefina's beautiful singing. My husband had never seen the show and was completely lost.


This is what I was afraid of. My husband is going to have no clue what is going on. Guess we are going to have to watch the movie first before seeing. I wonder if he can re-work the surtitles so they are not so distracting but newcomers can still follow what is going on.

Emcee and LJay: I am a regular theater goer (although never to the opera) but my husband is not. Not everyone knows WSS....sorry. My husband has just gotten into theater later in life so he is not familiar with every show. And I'm sure there are plenty of people out there like that.

Even though he is "familiar" with show (meaning he knows the general plot) if pivotal scenes are in Spanish with no surtitles he will miss the point of what's going on and what's so important. He never saw Piazza or an Opera so he will be frustrated and lost.

I don't understand why it is hard for people to believe that there are new people to theater or people just getting into theater who will use the name recognition of WSS to go see a Broadway show. But if they can't follow it, it may not be as enjoyable. So I think Arthur needs to find a way to make so EVERYONE follows the show.

Emcee: the part about people not being familiar with WSS was not directed at you. Just the part about Opera. Sorry to include you in the whole thing.

There have been multiple comments by lots of posters conveying their confusion as to how there could possibly be people not being able to follow the show because everyone should know WSS. And my point is, not everyone is a theater goer and not everyone know WSS. And there are people who have never seen the movie. And I just hope that for those people who are new to the show, they will be able to know and follow the story.

That's why I apologized :)

I think we are both saying the same thing. Find a way to make the show work for everyone...ha!

"Other than purist elitism, I can't see how this is any different."

It's different because when you go to an opera the expectation is that it will be sung in the language that it was originally written in, unless otherwise noted. When you go to a musical such as West Side Story...or Oklahoma...on any other traditional American musical the expectation is that it will be performed in English, unless otherwise noted. There is nothing elitist about expecting this. Not understanding something, and complaining about it is not being elitist. It perhaps might be justifiable criticism.

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"So are you saying that if the audience's expectation is different, they'll pay more attention, or attune to what they see differently?

Yes, speaking only for myself, (I would never speak for an entire audience). ..expectations do play a part in how I attune to a performance. If I go into a performance expecting one thing...and discover that it's entirely different from what I expected, it can affect my enjoyment and understanding of the piece and how I react to it. Sometimes, I'm pleasantly surprised...sometimes not.

"...then do you think it needs to be better publicized that this is a bilingual production?"

In this case of WSS I think it might be a good idea to let people know in advance that they are not going to be seeing a traditional production that is totally performed in English. Because I haven't seen this production, it's difficult to be specific, but it appears that the integration of the two languages, is not seamless...and is causing confusion, and consternation among the audience. This can't be good, and says to me...that the concept is not working.

"If it's about not being able to understand, by all means. If it's just because it's not the same as the original, which is surely the root of some distaste, then I think that's bothersome."

So far in this thread...I haven't seen any examples of contempt for Spanish or the fact that it's not being done as originally written. Most of what I've read here seems to speak to the point that trying to interpolate Spanish into the libretto has created distractions and is upstaging important plot points.

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Updated On: 12/26/08 at 11:47 AM

For me personally, I was really looking forward to this revival (and still am but do have some concerns.) I have seen the movie countless times and have read the libretto but I have never seen a stage production of WSS. So for me, I was hoping it would be a little more true to the original with a really great, diverse cast. That doesn't mean I don't like something fresh and truly different but I don't always need everything to be "freshened up" to enjoy my theater experience. Give me good music, a solid cast and staging and 99% of the time I will enjoy my experience.

To be honest, I was concerned about how the Spanish would flow within the context of the show. I think it makes perfect sense to incorporate it, just not to the point where people are lost! And since I have never seen a show or opera or other performance with foreign language incorporated, for me, this is the perfect show for me to see with that because I know the story. However for people not familiar and looking for something more traditional (nothing wrong with that) it may be too much. I just hope that before it hits Broadway that they find a way to make it work, however that may be. And I'm sure they will.

But I agree that people hearing about a show incorporating a language other than English and writing it off because it does, is silly. And it's their loss but also their prerogative. And I agree with JustAGuy that this particular thread is more about how the Spanish is really not working and maybe distracting pivotal parts of the show.

Boy between some casting, costumes, staging, language....not many people who have seen the show in DC are liking this production. Although it sounds as thought Josefina, Karen, and Curtis are the highlights!!!

I thought this revival has done a pretty good job of letting people know that it won't be the tradition West Side Story they expect. Every press release, article, or interview I've seen has said something about "Spanish" or "bilingual" or "translation." You can't blame the show if some people just refuse to read any of that and then get mad because the show is not completely in English.

Give me good music, a solid cast and staging and 99% of the time I will enjoy my experience.

I appreciate your point, but if it's just about an enjoyable experience, why choose West Side Story? They could have done any show and made it fun. In this case, it wasn't about enjoyment. It was about fixing the problems that have always plagued the show (some people don't think it needs any fixing, but some of the creators don't agree) and creating a whole new perspective. The only reason they are doing West Side Story at all is because someone came up with an entirely new way of doing it. So I don't understand why people are looking or hoping for a faithful recreation of the original. It's not and was never intended to be that.

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Yes, we get the idea.

The difference between watching that occur on a daytime Soap Opera and seeing it occur in West Side Story is the fact that its set to music AND LYRICS.