WEST SIDE STORY first preview reviews!- Page 9

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 10:03am

Without the Nightmare, Tony and Maria make love because they have a utopian vision of everyone getting along.

The Nightmare was created by Robbins to undercut the sentimentality of the ballet and to bring Tony and Maria back to the reality in which they are forced to live. The reprise of "Somewhere" that follows the end of the ballet is designed to have them clutching each other, desperately, wishing that somewhere, sometime, somehow there MIGHT be a place for them, but knowing that is still impossible.

By cutting the nightmare, Arthur Laurents ensures that people seeing Jerome Robbins's ballet for the first time--like marknyc's bf below--will think of it as a pretty but undramatic interlude that disrupts the drama.

There was always a point at the end of the Nightmare that Robbins could have the dancers and the music as a "button" for applause. Each time he put it in, Bernstein and Laurents would howl at him the applause would disrupt the drama, and each time he would "kill" the applause. It was one of their biggest ongoing battles, like the Overture (which Robbins sometimes wanted) and "One Hand, One Heart" (which Robbins thought was boring).

But Jerry Robbins set this particular trap himself by removing the Nightmare to shorten the ballet for Jerome Robbins' Broadway, where of course, it didn't matter that it was "just pretty." With the death last year of Floria Lasky, Robbins's barracuda of a lawyer, there is no one to protect his work artistically. Arthur could swoop in, like Tessie Tura, and say, "Cut the ballet. It stinks anyway."

This truly is Arthur's revenge.

[marknyc]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 10:39am

Having never seen the ballet before, can someone educate me about the nightmare section? The music seemed to be the same as that on the OBC - was music cut, too?

As it was last night, it was pretty saccharine.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 11:28am

Basically, Robbins's vision was simple: The dream turns into a nightmare.

The dream was represented by the fire escapes disappearing, for the only time in the show.


The Scherzo

What you see now is the dream part, where the Jets and the Sharks dance together: the "Scherzo," the the "Pas de Six," and the "Breathing" sections, followed by the "Trust Falls" and the dancers taking hands with each other and moving forward as a team, running free.


Breathing Section

This is how it turned into the nightmare: The entire stage slowly filled with all the dancers for Tony and Maria's wedding procession--which was supposed to presage the funeral procession in the final scene.

Then, on a single note, they all turned them all downstage to see the future, singing "There's a place for us" in a round, ending suspended, on tiptoe--which represented to Robbins the precipice of what might be. But it didn't end there.

At that point, the ghosts of Riff and Bernardo entered in silence and raised their knives.

Then the fire escapes flew in, which represented to Robbins the real world encroaching. Tony, Maria, and the company briefly tried to hang onto hope, to this beautiful, peaceful place before the Nightmare takes over.

The rumble was quickly re-enacted and Maria and Tony were once again separated from each other by the violent gangs. Maria tried to reach Bernardo, and Tony tried to stop Riff but they couldn't.


The Nightmare

Then Tony and Maria reached toward each other only to fall past each other into the arms of the dancers--a THRILLING moment!--which Robbins called "falling into the rats."

Then there was chaos and confusion and darkness, out of which they find themselves back in Maria's bedroom, surrounded by the city, clinging to each other desperately, singing the reprise, having briefly glimpsed their utopian dream, only to see it end in a nightmare.

By reducing it to the Utopia only, Arthur has rendered it meaningless.

Updated On: 2/27/09 at 11:28 AM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 11:34am

What a wonderful description. I am looking forward to hearing what you have to say when you see this production.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 11:38am

I just added a little to it.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 11:49am

I'm kind of surprised that Floria Lasky did not appoint someone in the case of her death. Or do these rights expire at some point?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 12:11pm

No, I just think that whoever took over is not the same kind of barracuda.

Harry Kraut, who was Bernstein's longtime business manager also died in Fall 2007, so Arthur, as one of the two surviving creators, had more influence than he would have with Floria and Harry were still alive.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 12:25pm

And to answer the music question re: the OBCR, Reri sings Somewhere, and then the whole cast sings "There's A Place For Us" over and over, and then when that stops, it is the beginning of the transition from the dream to the nightmare, pretty much with the hitting of the notes E and F#, and then G. To transfer that to what you hear on the OBCR, the singing stops, and you hear a note held out, than another note held out, then notes that slowly lead into each other, then notes that lead into each other faster, then more notes, then faster, and then there's boom, and you hear the sixteenth notes really fast, and that's the official beginning of the nightmare. The whole nightmare isn't on the OBCR...a bunch of measures from the middle are cut. It resumes when the sixteenth notes are repeated, and then after a couple more measures, you hear a really high dissonance, and then the music goes right into the rumble -- that high dissonance, ugly note is the start of the restaging of the rumble, when Tony & Maria can't reach together, and Riff & Bernardo die on those notes right before the oboe comes in with the Somewhere melody again -- the notes they die on are similar to the notes they die on for the Rumble.

I'm not sure how clear that is, let me know if you want further clarification, I'll try to...alter my language a bit.

There's also a great description of the purpose of the whole transition from the nightmare back to Tony & Maria in Maria's room in Scott Miller's book: From Assassins To West Side Story: The Director's Guide To Musical Theatre. He says: "Though Tony and Maria know it can't be, they try desperately to hold on to their dream as they sing the end of 'Somewhere' again. The sequence ends with the same music that ended the balcony scene that will end the show."

(Then you get into how the Somewhere music makes an appearance in The Balcony Scene and One Heart One Heart, which shows how the lovers' longing for peace (Somewhere) has become inseperable from love itself, for one causes the other. Okay, I'll stop now, sorry for the "disseration" again).

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 12:33pm

Very impressive!

[marknyc]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 1:36pm

Thanks for all the detail - now I really wish I had seen this! I wonder if it will be reinstated.

Is there any recording of the complete ballet(legal or otherwise)?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 1:44pm

The complete music is on the version Bernstein conducted with Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Carreras.

Marilyn Horne sings the "Somewhere."

[bethnor]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 1:58pm

chita was indeed there last night. the cast looks so happy to meet her. she also looks like she's having a gas, so it doesn't seem like she hated it. the "family photos" are just adorable. surprised there aren't any pics up on BWW yet. sorry, every time i try to embed the html gets messed up.

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=editorial&p=west%20side%20story&assetType=image&src=quick#

i see they grimied up the jets. *sigh*. in many ways, i feel this (very talented) cast cannot win. first they were too old. now they're too young. next they were too gap like and pristine. now they're too dirty. well, i'm glad at least the response here is mostly positive.
Updated On: 2/27/09 at 01:58 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 2:03pm

I love the pictures with Chita!!! She looks so happy to be there.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 2:34pm

This picture is crying out for a caption.

[marknyc]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 2:40pm

I'm told by someone who saw it in DC that the nightmare section was cut there, too. Was it ever in this production? If not, I guess there's little chance it will be restored.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 2:41pm

LOVE this picture

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 2:53pm

No, the Procession and Nightmare were never in Arthur's production.

Updated On: 2/27/09 at 02:53 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 3:55pm

Caption for the first pic of Cheets, Arthur and Karen:
Arthur: Oh God, my Anita is preggers.!
(unfortunate shot)

[marknyc]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 4:19pm

Two more things:

Loved the 29-piece orchestra, including two percussionists in the boxes and a keyboard player in the basement (conducted by video). It was great to watch them perform the exit music, since I was in the front row. 4 cellos - wow!

Strange choices about when to use Spanish - a perfect point to use it is when Maria sends Anita to Doc's while the detective is there. But they do this scene in English - wouldn't they speak in Spanish to keep him uninformed?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 7:09pm

This is my favorite:



It reminds me of my great aunt.

Updated On: 2/27/09 at 07:09 PM

[bundy5000]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 7:14pm

Any word on merchandise? Anybody stage door it?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 7:15pm

Just smile, Karen...smile your way through molestation by Chita Rivera and you've got a Tony in the bag...Stephanie J. Block and Haydn Gwynne can suck it

I love Karen.

[marknyc]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 7:35pm

The merchandise being sold on Thursday was pretty typical: t-shirts, keychains, I think a coffee mug. All with the red logo.

[Trish2]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 8:30pm

Orchestra: Glorious, but not amplified enough, nor were the singers.

Choreography: Recreated and slightly tweaked. Though danced technically well, there was NO passion or sense of urgency.

Direction: Seems like Mr. Laurent's spent most of his time with the Spanish translations and neglected to inform the cast that this is a musical “drama.” There was no onstage dramatic tension between the gangs, making the love story between Maria and Tony pop even more. Perhaps this was Mr. Laurent’s intention this time around.

Tony: The voice you expect to hear sing the songs is just not there.

Maria: Everything you’d expect Maria to be, and more. Her wonderful interpretation brings the lackluster Tony to life.

Anita: Oddly, the tallest/biggest performer on the stage. Acts and sings the part just fine, but considering the inexperience of most of the cast, she shines almost by default. Doesn’t have the dance technique or finesse to make her numbers soar. Behind the beat several times and just looked uncomfortable dancing. Not a TONY worthy performance you’d like to expect.

Bernardo: Milquetoast and non-threatening. All wrong.

Riff: A good dancer who showed much more promise in Movin’ Out. Almost apologetic in his acting and singing, both of which were bland.

Action: The hardest working actor on the stage. In Officer Krupke he was the only performer you even noticed. Leagues above the rest of the Jets in showmanship.

Arab: The lisp just didn’t do it for me.

Baby John: The best dancer on the stage. Hands down.

The Adults: All fine.

The Boy Soprano: Why was "Opie Taylor" wandering and singing aimlessly around the stage ??

All in all a faithful “restaging” with no dramatic tension. None.

A disappointment.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 8:35pm

I totally disagree about Karen Olivo. She will certainly have a big shot at the Tony. The rape scene was extremely chilling.
Updated On: 2/27/09 at 08:35 PM