Scenes from 1980 WEST SIDE STORY revival

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsAENm8_pmA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkJ-axYUj24&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M15T1plZcLU&feature=related

My one and only Broadway show!

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God bless whoever kept this TODAY SHOW appearance on video as its really the only surviving record of that revival. No bootleg videos seem to have ever been made of it either on audio or video.

Having seen this revival in September 1980 twice, it was thrilling to see those faces and performances again... after all these years. Wow! Josie's mouth is as big as I remembered it.

Also great is that the numbers weren't truncated so we get to see them in their full length, especially Debbie Allen's kick-ass "America" number, which was truncated at the 1980 Tony Awards. Its a blessing to see it again in its full length AND that short tete-a-tete with the girls was priceless, especially Debbie Allen's cackle (and choosing to speak for everyone else).

Thanks for providing these links as who knows how long they would have remained undiscovered on YouTube.

And Tom Brokaw's hair, the best scenic design of the decade.

PalJoey, I saw the show four times and with the exception of Irene, which my friend Harry Rigby produced, I have absolutely no other memories of seeing anything at the Minskoff, another one of those sterile 1970s theaters. But that production was wonderful. I loved Debbie Allen, it's a shame she didn't do more Broadway. She was off the stage on Broadway for 20 years. Our loss...

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In all fairness to Miss Allen -- she was back at the Minskoff for Bob Fosse's 1986 Broadway revival of his SWEET CHARITY; 2 years later joined Broadway folklore by choreographing the now-legendary Broadway musical adaptation of CARRIE and a few months ago directed the much-talked-about all-black revival of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF.



Debbie Allen continues to be one of the most respected, relevant, and versatile talents in the entertainment industry today and is an internationally recognized director, choreographer and author. As Culture Connect Ambassador, Ms. Allen represented the U.S. in visits to Brazil, China, Italy, and India expanding the opportunities in arts education for young people all over the world. She is a member of the prestigious President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, a board member of the American Film Institute, and an Executive Committee member of UCLA's School of Theatre, Film, and Television.

Debbie Allen has received three Emmy awards honoring her choreography, and two Emmys and one Golden Globe for her role as "Lydia Grant" in the hit series, Fame. She then forayed from acting to directing- first with the series “Fame,” followed by “Family Ties” and “Bronx Zoo,” before taking the reins at NBC's “A Different World” as director and producer in 1988. Allen has choreographed for artists such as Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Janet Jackson, and also holds the distinction of having choreographed the Academy Awards a total of ten times, five in consecutive years. She produced the Steven Spielberg epic film Amistad, and recently directed the second highest rated original movie in Lifetime Channel history, Life is Not A Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story. Allen also has staged musicals for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. where she has been Artist in Residence for over ten years. In 2001, Allen fulfilled a lifelong dream by opening the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Culver City, California, where she offers a comprehensive curriculum for over 200 boys and girls ages four to eighteen in twelve performing arts disciplines. Debbie Allen plays an active role in each student's career by offering her own hands-on instruction and a world renowned faculty. Debbie has been able to use her prestige to lure instructors from famous institutions such as the Kirov Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

Josie WAS wonderful! And her final scene--"How many bullets left, Chino? Enough for you? And you? And you and you? All of you...you all killed him...and Bernardo...and Riff"--was heartbreaking.

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Updated On: 10/1/13 at 08:27 AM

Thanks for the links!

The America number might have been cut down for the Tonys, but I think the camera angle gives you a better look at the choreography than the one here.

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So good. One of the best renditions of "America" I've seen.

wow! what treasures! wss is my ALL TIME favorite musical. i was wondering the other day about this cast and was disappointed to find out their was no recording.

thank u, thank u, thank u 4 sharing!!!!

Well, Laurents hired Josie for NICK AND NORA in a small role, then fired her during previews (like she was THE problem).
She was excellent in the GUYS AND DOLLS revival as Sarah.
I see her name or face on TV once in a while.

Updated On: 1/6/09 at 01:18 PM

Her last TV appearance was on a 2002 episode of THIRD WATCH.

I find it amusing how she changes the spelling of her name. Early in her career she used Jossie. Then changed it to Josie for NICK & NORA (1991) and the revival of GUYS & DOLLS (1992). She's now back to using Jossie.

Also, she was born in Puerto Rico and went back to her country for several years in the early 80's to do theater there. She returned to the US in the late 80's and back to her NY theater base.

Um, as a fellow Argentine -- how DARE you consider us 'latin', 'hispanic' or even 'spanish'. We're European.

Interesting thoughts on race and culture by Miss De Guzman:

I think there has been a basic confusion about what it means to be Hispanic. Hispanic is a cultural and linguistic distinction, not a racial one. There are Asian Hispanics, Black Hispanics, Caucasian Hispanics, and Indian Hispanics, as well as combinations of all four. In the performing arts, this confusion has been most apparent in the area of casting, especially non-traditional casting.

I am Puerto Rican; I am very proud of my culture. Yet, I don't consider being cast as Sarah in the Broadway production of Guys and Dolls to be non-traditional casting for me. I am white. I never knew discrimination in Puerto Rico. That is something I have had to learn about here. It is something that has been imposed upon me.

There is no uniform Hispanic look. The Hispanic community knows this. Rather, it is the producers of movies or clients at advertising agencies and the like — who are rarely Hispanic themselves — that have made these definitions for us. In film, for instance, I have often been told that I don't look Hispanic enough and denied the opportunity to read for Hispanic/Latina roles. At the same time, I have only rarely been allowed to read for Anglo roles for the opposite reason. Where's the middle ground in this?

I can understand a desire to cast an actor with an average, Midwestern American look. But what lies behind that desire? Is it not a form of stereotyping in itself? Among Latinos, we contrast ourselves with North Americans. But I am also North American. I was born in New York. I am part of what makes up this American look. By being denied the opportunity to audition for these roles, I am being told I am not American enough.

I have met this attitude much less often in theater than in film and television, but still it exists everywhere. I know a number of Hispanic actors who will not mark the boxes for their ethnic background at auditions, because they don't want to be categorized on those terms. Or they check "white" or "black."

I am very much in favor of non-traditional casting. But not when it is used to reinforce categories or create new ones, such as the "non-traditional" actor. For Hispanics, a first step would be overcoming the need to simplify and to see us in the full complexity of our experience.