NEW Laurents interview reveals WSS Revival changes

[FIERCEY516]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 6:46pm

Arthur Laurents has been tight-lipped about his "new concept" for the upcoming revival of West Side Story. He's said in numerous places that as the director he's going to make it totally current and relevant without changing a word or a note. When asked exactly how, he has coyly demurred.

Until now.

In a recent interview on Bloomberg.com, Laurents goes into a little bit of detail. First, he's going to have the gang members act like actual gang members, rather than as the sanitized kids next door gone a bit wrong.

"They're not adorable street kids,' Laurents said. "They're killers, each and every one of them. They're vicious and they have to be played that way.'

Laurents also plans to bring out the raw sexual passion of the lovers Tony and Maria;

"When they sing 'Tonight,' it's like Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy,' Laurents said. "It's hard for them to sing because they're so sexually involved. They're all over each other.'

Read the interview, on Bloomberg.com, for more.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 6:47pm

Wait. So he's not going to have them actually speak Spanish now like rumored?

Good.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 6:57pm

There was a thread about this sometime this week.
I think there will be some language differences still. I think it could work really well or really bad.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 6:58pm

Hmm. Yeah. When I think of vicious killers and raw sexual passion Arthur Laurents is definitely the first name that comes to mind...

[BrianIdol]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 7:20pm

CATS - lol.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:13pm

Well thank GOD he's at least sticking to his guns and refusing to make any of the changes seen in that embarrassing movie version. I don't know what those screenwriters were thinking--"Krupke" was always très apropos right after a teenage bloodbath.

Point: Laurents. Take that, stupid World! And your stupid ten Oscars!

[me2]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:18pm

I think re-interpreting the gang members is key. That is, if they can do it without re-writing the book. By today's standards (having taught kids like this), they act more like detention kids in a wealthy white suburb.

I think the key is to take it from a ballet piece into a modern musical theatre, otherwise it just won't feel real anymore.
Broadway Blog: Ten Minutes Ago

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:24pm

me2--you're dead wrong--the dance and the music are what make West Sider great

[me2]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:31pm

Well, to me, it feels more like a ballet piece as I've seen it. Seeing tough gang members dance the way they do in the movie--exaggerated, ballet movement--just doesn't work for me.

Obviously, I'm in the minority on this. But it sounds like Arthur Laurents wouldn't disagree. I guess we'll see.
Broadway Blog: Ten Minutes Ago

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:39pm

But it sounds like Arthur Laurents wouldn't disagree.

Eh, not that your idea is so bad, but Arthur Laurents is as stubborn as a mule and doesn't always know what's best for his shows (as if my above post didn't make my feelings on that clear enough). And I KNOW I'm not in the minority on that one.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:41pm

Laurents was as stubborn as a mule about not letting LuPone ever play Rose.

And we know what happened.

He isn't that bad.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 10:12pm

That was a pretty fortunate change of heart, yeah (fortunate and unexpected--don't forget).

But about WSS he never seems to budge. It's well-documented that he hates the movie, and he does have some fair criticisms--it's too clean, too stagey, too much of a caricature--that are shared by others. I don't begrudge him those opinions.

But it seems that his vendetta against the film version has made him unnecessarily protective of the show's original book. He still refuses to allow any changes from the film in the stage show. This includes changes that many believe make the book stronger, like the inclusion of the Shark men in "America" or, most famously, the switched placement of "Cool" and "Gee, Officer Krupke". But because Laurents still finds the beloved film version "appalling" almost half a century later (his words from an interview a few months ago), he is deaf to the suggestions of others and keeps the stage version's book frozen in 1957, arguably making the 600+ WSS productions each year weaker than they could be.

Now of course this isn't a matter of me being right and Arthur Laurents being wrong--it's all a matter of opinion, and again, as the book's writer he absolutely has a right to his. But when you consider how many fans of the show feel the same way I do, it is kind of a shame that Laurents seems to let personal feelings get in the way of his work so much.

Updated On: 3/27/08 at 10:12 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 11:41pm

I agree with what he said, but like you've all said, it's easier in theory. It's going to take some highly stylized dancing to make them seem rough and tough, and raw, but still keep the orchestral, ballet-esque sounding music. But I like where he's headed.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 1:09am

I think it may seem more like a "ballet piece" in the movie. For some people, my sister included, she couldn't handle them doing ballet turns in the middle of NYC, but had no problem with watching them do ballet turns on a stage with a scenery of NY.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 1:30am

Hey! An actual link!

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=agydhkGINmXc&refer=muse

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 1:46am

I feel like the ballet aspect is of it's time as a lot of the shows in that era included ballet sequences, but if they want the show to speak to the younger generations they're going to need to toughen it up a little. Personally I would like to see what Matthew Bourne could do with the piece. I wouldn't want to incorporate any of the changes from the movie except for eliminating the nightmare sequence and having "Somewhere" be a duet between Tony and Maria. That's how I saw it the first time I saw the show regionally, which may have been illegal, but that's how I prefer it.

[dcl7777]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 3:57am

If doing right,the ballet sequences still work. Somewhere Ballet in JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY,thanks to BrodyFosse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvsG_44YYF0

[bertandrew2]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 9:10am

"They're killers, each and every one of them. They're vicious and they have to be played that way.' I love it when killers tour jete.

Its time this 90yo director retire.

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 9:40am

Uh get rid of the Ballet! It worked in the 50's but if you're trying to make these characters tough and real, having them dance around doing pirouettes and extensions is not going to convince anyone! It worked for the time, but this is a new staging, I am with getting the ballet out of there.

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 10:55am

I think Laurents is just pissed that the film version is superior to his original stage version.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 10:57am

For the umpteenth time, Robbins' choreography is copyright with the show, the choreography, including the ballet aspects, can not been changed or altered in ANY professional production of West Side Story.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 11:00am

WEST SIDE STORY is NOTHING without the original Robbins' choreography!

[morosco]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 11:08am

I hope the trend will continue and this revival will be performed with a FULL orchestra like GYPSY and SOUTH PACIFIC.

[aliciag]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 11:12am

I'll second that. Another full orchestra would be wonderful!

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/28/08 at 11:13am

"WEST SIDE STORY is NOTHING without the original Robbins' choreography!"

It's a musical, isn't it?