WSS Preview staging changes

[CMU_bway_lover]

Posted: 12/27/08 at 1:20am

So I just saw the show 12/26 evening performance and I was a bit confused by the lack of surtitles. I'd heard that they had them and saw two surtitle boards mounted on the side as I'd heard them described, but they were not used at all. Were they ever used at one point and then abandoned b/c they were deemed too distracting?

Also I've seen pictures with the 'zodiac' lightening during the dance but didn't see it today (maybe I was just slow and missed it). Did they cut that as well?

Have there been any other changes implemented during the preview's run?

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/27/08 at 1:38am

Yes. The surtitles and zodiac drop were cut several performances ago.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/27/08 at 1:51am

Obviously you weren't keeping up with the changes so I guess this warranted it's own thread.

[CMU_bway_lover]

Posted: 12/27/08 at 11:11am

The problem with so many concurrent WSS threads is I stop reading after the first page or so which I why I missed any discussion about the changes.

Does anyone know if they do plan to restart using the surtitles, albeit placed on top of the proscenium? I can understand having them on the sides being distracting, but to cut them completely is a bit drastic--plus they aren't that distracting when used in opera. Even with my basic grasp of HS spanish I found my mind wandering when I wasn't able to understand all the dialogue. Likewise this is more of a family show, so I'd assume few of the younger children even understood the Spanish portions at all since they haven't watched WSS (re: grew up with) nearly as much as most of the adults.

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 12/27/08 at 11:26am

"opera."

but THIS is musical theatre, my dear. It's Broadway. It's not opera. We have to keep ourselves seperated. It's the only way.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/27/08 at 5:29pm

Piazza didn't have surtitles and people understood it just fine. And West Side Story as a family show was a joke, right?

[CMU_bway_lover]

Posted: 12/27/08 at 8:35pm

Content-wise it's probably not a family show, but tons of little kids watch the movie and it is probably the most performed musical in high schools/ middle schools across America, so yes, I'd consider it a family show. Guys N Dolls likewise...gangsters and tarts sanitized enough to bring into your living room.

In Piazza, Geuttel (not the proper spelling, I know) has said he was trying to achieve the affect of the audience also feeling like they were in a foreign country and not being able to understand along with the heroine. Laurents just wanted the dialogue for the Sharks to be more normal, and the prior inclusion of the surtitle proves that the Spanish wasn't intended in the same effect the Italian in Piazza was. It's more a placement issue, which makes me wonder why it hasn't been solved yet or if they are just going to wait to do it at the Palace.