WSS: "Pretty/Boy Like That" now partially in English- Page 2

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 12:39am

"Could this be because not all the understudies are bilingual?"

For perspective on this possibility (I have no clue), on the Complete Symphonic Recording of Les Mis the woman playing Eponine (vocally probably my favorite) does not speak English fluently. She learned the libretto. And she sounds really ****ing good.

Updated On: 8/22/09 at 12:39 AM

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 12:40am

I doubt it would be too hard to teach people the Spanish lines and lyrics. Then tell them what it means so they could have the right emotions.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 12:41am

I mean...not every Wagner soprano speaks German.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 12:41am

I saw Yarina Marin as Anita, and she sang/screamed 'A Boy Like That' in Spanish.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 12:49am

Wait, they changed the ending? How so?

The ending, itself, hasn't changed. Tony still dies and always did. Originally, he was carried off stage by the Sharks and Jets. This signifies them putting aside their differences to move forward as better people. In the current revival they walk off and leave Tony laying on stage. Or at least they did during the out of town run.

Posters are hoping they revert back to the original because it had more meaning

[winston89]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 12:50am

I am sure it isn't hard to teach the understudies the songs in Spanish. But, it may mean more time teaching them and that might cost the production money that they don't want to spend.

But, I do think it is easier learning a different language when it's associated with a song. There is a good friend of the family who teaches Italian, French and Spanish and is fluent in all three. He, just like me, is a musical theatre and opera fan so he uses Italian arias to teach some of the students and he recently used the French cast recording of Les Miserables as a teaching tool as well. He said that it even helped some of the kids who were having trouble understanding it just by speaking.

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 12:59am

"The ending, itself, hasn't changed. Tony still dies and always did. Originally, he was carried off stage by the Sharks and Jets. This signifies them putting aside their differences to move forward as better people. In the current revival they walk off and leave Tony laying on stage. Or at least they did during the out of town run.

Posters are hoping they revert back to the original because it had more meaning"

That sounds weird...they leave him there? But then I always wondered where they were carrying him to....

The reason they can't carry him may be an equity thing though.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:01am

If Pamela Otterson is allowed to get thrown and flipped around in the air, I'm pretty sure they can carry someone off the stage.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:01am

"
The reason they can't carry him may be an equity thing though."


HUH??? It's called Arthur Laurents trying to reinvent himself.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:02am

The idea about not carrying Tony out was because it was a crime scene.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:02am

Well, the Jets member giving Maria her "mourning black veil" so that she could re-drape it over herself was pretty poignant in itself and clearly conveyed the message of ceasing the gang war.
Updated On: 8/22/09 at 01:02 AM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:04am

That sounds weird...they leave him there? But then I always wondered where they were carrying him to....

I always figured back to Doc's which was the only "home base" any of them had.

But, it doesn't really matter just where they were going. What was important was them coming together for one common goal.

The idea about not carrying Tony out was because it was a crime scene.

Because the police had to investigate to see who done it? This is musical theatre. Symbolism trumps realism every time.

Updated On: 8/22/09 at 01:04 AM

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:09am

ljay889 and CSonBroadway- Someone posted on another forum that Equity have strict rules about letting actors carry one another due to the risk of injury. (Or maybe that some productions do not want to risk it) They could have been talking out their ass though.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:31am

If Laurents really wanted to update it, he would've had Krupke and Schrank zip Tony up in a body bag.
Updated On: 8/22/09 at 01:31 AM

[outdamnwench]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:52am

"ljay889 and CSonBroadway- Someone posted on another forum that Equity have strict rules about letting actors carry one another due to the risk of injury. (Or maybe that some productions do not want to risk it) They could have been talking out their ass though."

Depending on the situation, extraordinary risk agreements need to be signed, sometimes resulting in extra pay for the performers involved or earlier call times to rehearse the lift in fight-call. Again, totally depends on the situation.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 2:10am

I heard a rumor they're going to do one word in English then one word in Spanish. Then every other performance they're going to reverse it.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:06pm

Really, somebody tried to claim that carrying Tony off stage violated the extraordinary risk clause?

"(D) Extraordinary Risk Payments. An Actor called upon to perform
"extraordinary risk" shall receive not less than $15 per week above
contractual salary, $20 per week above contractual salary commencing June
27, 2005, such payments to begin at the time of such assignment. All
?extraordinary risks? must be identified by rider.
(1) "Extraordinary risks" are defined as performing acrobatic feats;
suspension from trapezes, wires, or like contrivances; the use of or
exposure to weapons, fire, pyrotechnic devices and the taking of
dangerous leaps, falls, throws, catches, knee drops, or slides.
(2) An Actor shall also be deemed to be eligible for said additional
compensation when the staging or choreography requires the Actor to
execute dance movements which depart from the accepted techniques
of movement and support as used in contemporary theatre dance, i.e.,
classical ballet, modern, modern jazz, or ethnic."

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 1:16pm

Whatever Arthur wants, Arthur gets. He's just gotta kill everyone else first.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 2:37pm

This is just damage-control for the tourist-trade trade that makes a show into a long run. They expect the movie and don't really care about Arthur's "improvements."

If he really wanted to "improve" the show, he would not only restore the ending but also put the Nightmare back into the Ballet and get someone qualified in to spruce up the Peter Gennaro choreography.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 2:41pm

Criminal recreation of choreography aside I'm still baffled at the bits he chose to put in Spanish and ones he didn't. Like the start of "America". If anything cried out to be in Spanish, it's that.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 2:42pm

I have a feeling the original ending may show up again. I doubt Arthur will budge on the Nightmare though.
PJ, would you see the production again if the original ending and Nightmare returned?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 2:46pm

I don't think so. I couldn't sit through the Dance at the Gym and America again.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 2:48pm

I'm with PJ. Even if they fixed The Nightmare, it still would be poorly danced and a shadow of the original.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 2:55pm

It's a shame they couldn't get somebody better than Mckneely to recreate the choreography.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 3:07pm

In our version, the Nightmare was cut and in the finale, everyone stayed onstage and watched Tony as Anita put the veil on Maria as the city scapes in the back flew away. It was very beautiful.