Scenes from 1980 WEST SIDE STORY revival- Page 2

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 1/6/09 at 6:58pm

Was this revival really as "white bread" as Laurents considers it?

[raker]

Posted: 1/6/09 at 7:39pm

Go see the new production. It has the best versions of America and the Quintet I've ever seen. Lots of goosebumps. The actresses playing Maria and Anita are knockouts.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/6/09 at 8:22pm

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/6/09 at 10:51pm

Was this revival really as "white bread" as Laurents considers it?

Nothing is ever as melodramatic as Arthur Laurents puts it.

Arthur, it was explained to me by the late Fritz Holt, lives his life by finding a a "villain" and a "victim" so that he never has to blame himself for anything. The villain is responsible for everything that is wrong, and the victim is the one who can be blamed.

Often, as Fritz explained, the villain isn't villainous and the victim doesn't deserve to be victimized, but Arthur must have one of each anyway.

The truth about Arthur's contribution to West Side Story is that the Jets, as written, are what is too "white bread." This was crashingly clear in the 1980 revival, because Jerome Robbins had the misguided notion that if he cast the Jets midwestern and all-American, there would be more tension between the two gangs.

That--and the fact that the Jets had to be good enough dancers to perform "Cool," the opening, the Rumble and the ballet for him--meant that they ended up looking weak, particularly next to the Sharks, who seemed tougher, because they were all dark-complected and they have less silly dialogue to say and they don't have to all dance "Cool."

But the Jet boys became Arthur's neat little villains--THEY were what was wrong with the 1980 revival, not something intrinsic in the writing of the book--HIS portion--that can probably never be fixed without changing the dialogue and using the structure of the screenplay.

Jump-cut to last year: Gypsy is a success. Arthur announces he has figured out the way to "fix" WSS...meaning, in his mind, how to fix it without changing the dialogue or the structure--he'll have the Sharks speak in SPANISH!

Only problem is...that was never the problem.

I'm sorry. Did I answer your question?

Updated On: 1/7/09 at 10:51 PM

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:01am

I've gotta say, that Riff is horrendous.

And Debbie Allen's amazing, but she's kind of an interview hog.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:15am

That does help. Thanks a lot, PalJoey!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 2:24am

Did they really sit on top of a ladder for Tonight, or was that watered-down staging for TV?

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 2:57am

^ I am wondering the same thing. Updated On: 1/8/09 at 02:57 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 3:15am

Nope. All the scenery used for this TODAY SHOW appearance was NBC created for that segment.

The 1980 Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY was a carbon-copy recreation of the original 1957 Broadway production: same set design, lighting design, costume design, etc.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 3:30am

Was Laurents allowed to come up with his own staging of the QUINTET for the new revival, or is it Robbin's?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 11:54am

There is NO staging of the quintet in the new production.
Theyt basically stand there and sing it.

Tony and Maria move a little.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 12:12pm

Oh. Some have been saying the Quintet is stunning in the new revival. I guess the way it is sung/performed.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 12:23pm

Honestly, I'm blown away by these clips. I love the cast!

Especially Debbie Allen. She truly takes my breath away here. I was fortunate enough to see her in Sweet Charity on Broadway, and I thought she was fantastic then as well.

"McKneely is great with the Robbins choreography, but Robbins didn't choreograph "America" or the Shark portion of "Dance at the Gym." Gennaro did. "

PJ---I love your inside info on this show! But that one really stopped me. Wow! America is my favorite number, as far as choreography goes, in WSS, and now I have an even deeper appreciation of Gennaro's contribution. I really do think it's a flawless dance. How the energy builds. How some of it is actually very slow, fluid movements, followed by a sharp accent or pose. It all just blends together brilliantly, building to the finale. And that incredibly painful final pose (from what I understand). Those girls have to strike and hold the most AWKWARD, crouched (yet visually thrilling) position and keep it there during the applause. Yikes! I had a friend in the national tour back in the mid-'80s, and she said this was grueling.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 12:23pm

The reason there was very little staging in the Robbins original was that the number was done "in one" (in the old vaudeville phrase) in from of a drop while the Rumble set was being put in place behind them.

So you had all of those people, all the way downstage, in a line from stage left to stage right

Also--Bernstein did not WANT there to be any staging. He wanted all the focus to be on the complicated choral arrangement.

That said, there were a few highly specific Jerome Robbins flourishes that made it all the more exciting, like Anita raising one leg up into the air and smoothing her stocking with both hands from ankle to thigh while she sings "He'll walk in hot and tired--so what? No matter if he's tired, as long as he's hot--tonight!"

Also the Jets jerked their heads over toward the Sharks on "Well, THEY began it!" and the Sharks jerked their heads back at the Jets when they repeated the phrase, and then both gangs clenched their fists while they sang "And we're the ones to stop them once and for all! Tonight!"

Little precise things like that were part of his genius.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 12:29pm

They don't dance around, but "stand there and sing" sounds like Seasons of Love-like staging. The Sharks are lowered from the flyspace on a set piece used in the next scene where Anybodys overlooks the fight. After they get off, they come forward to stand on the opposite side of the stage from the Jets. Anita walks out on the set piece the Sharks were just on for her part, Tony pushes a bar from Doc's out for his part and Maria's balcony extends out with her on it. It does well at portraying a "montage" effect of the various groups.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 12:34pm

PJ---I have to ask you about Harolyn Blackwell. When was the last time an opera singer could DANCE like that? Wow!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 12:51pm

Harolyn is actually the one on the left of the screen NOT dancing.

She was instructed to stand to the side of YaYa Borges, who was playing Rosalia. Just that. Stand stage right of Rosalia to "balance out the stage picture."

Harolyn told Peter Gennaro, "Well, what am I supposed to do while that glorious music is playing and the rest of them are dancing like that? Just stand there?"

"Okay," Gennaro said, "stand there and sway to the music."

So Harolyn swayed. Then she got her costume and realized that, just like the other Shark girls, she had a dress with extra panels in, designed for skirt swishes.

So each time they did the number, Harolyn's skirt swishes got bigger and bigger and more melodic and more gleeful.

Finally, at one rehearsal, Jerome Robbins bellowed out from the audience, "Will somebody PLEASE tell that FAT shark girl stage right to STOP STEALING FOCUS!"

Harolyn stopped swishing so much. She also went on a diet.

And that's how Harolyn Blackwell became an opera star. ;-}

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 1:05pm

OMG! That's funny and horrible, all at the same time, PJ.

Robbins was a charmer, wasn't he?

Probably why he was fired roughly 7 weeks into the shooting of the movie. And yet he co-won an Oscar for Best Director!

Initially, he was going to direct all the musical scenes, and Robert Wise was going to direct all the dialogue scenes. They started with the opening sequence. And what was supposed to take Robbins two weeks to film took seven. He went so far over budget and off-schedule and started being a Diva with the producers and United Artists. He did begin work on one or two more filmed numbers, but he wouldn't listen to anyone else in charge. So ... they canned his ass.

It was a shock to everyone, especially Robert Wise, who directed most of the film, after that. Including the rest of the musical sequences. And it was kept a BIG secret at the time. But they all talk about it on the DVD. What you see of Robbins' directorial work in the film is largely the opening sequence. (Which is saying a lot.) But after that? It's Mr. Wise all the way.

So while "America" is my favorite number in the movie, I now know that it was neither choreographed NOR directed by Jerome Robbins. I find that amusing.

I wonder if they used Gennaro on the film at all to help out. I was under the impression that a lot of the musical staging AFTER Robbins was fired was done by the dancers themselves, many of whom had been in the original show. But they must have had a "leader" after Robbins was sacked. They had to be staged for the camera as well. And I know Robert Wise didn't teach them the choreography. LOL

I also know that Robbins was "unofficially" coaching them after he was sacked. So he may have helped too. But from the sidelines. NOT as a co-director.

Updated On: 1/8/09 at 01:05 PM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 1:06pm

PalJoey, great story!

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 1:08pm

I thought Robbins choreographed Cool and one other number besides the Prologue before he was fired?

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 1:12pm

As I said, he started in on staging one or two other numbers for the movie. But he didn't ultimately film them. Wise did.

Robbins was only behind the camera as the director for the opening sequence.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 1:18pm

Gotcha. Thanks.

[madbrian]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 1:25pm

Wise re-used the idea of aerial shots during the overture in The Sound of Music.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 1:39pm

ALL of the choreography in the film is Robbins/Gennaro. ALL of it.

Gennaro signed an agreement with Robbins under which he would receive a fee, royalties and first-class transportation for himself and Mrs Gennaro, but Jerome Robbins would retain ALL rights to Gennaro's work, including the copyright. Gennaro also promised never to discuss the extent of his work on West Side. Chita Rivera finally broke the silence in A Dancer's Life and paid tribute to Gennaro's work.

But the reality is: Robbins created all of the Jet movement and Gennaro created most of the Shark movement, including Bernardo's iconic leg extension in the Prologue, Anita and Bernardo's amazing Mambo at the Gym, the Sharks' ensemble Mambo and "America."

In addition, 4 Robbins dancers were given "dance assistant" credit on the film: Tommy Abbott, Margaret Banks, Howard Jeffrey, and Tony Mordente. Mordente, of course, was Chita's husband. I've heard that he could do "America," almost as well as she could, so he might have had a big hand in adapting the girls-only choreography to the boys and the girls.

Gennaro got no credit on the film, but he might have been around at the beginning. Robbins somehow inspired people to work for him, despite his abusive behavior.

Tommy Abbott (the original Gee-Tar on Broadway) became Robbins's ballet master as New York City Ballet and re-staged West Side several times in the 60s and 70s and he and Lee Theodore (the original Anybodys) restaged the 1980 revival.

Tommy was a lovely, troubled man, and he and Jerry had been lovers while Jerry was his boss, which couldn't have been easy. Tommy died in 1987, during those horrible years. I remember he had one of those obituaries common back then that didn't list the cause of death. It might have been AIDS, it might have been suicide, it might have been "cancer." I just remember being sad because he had been so nice to me and taught me a lot about Jerry's craft.

Updated On: 1/8/09 at 01:39 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/8/09 at 1:43pm

My god. I wish Robbins wasn't such a dick. It's a shame Gennaro couldn't get credit for his work.