West Side Story - Recent Bway Revival and Nat'l Tour- Page 2

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 7:18pm

As I said before - despite all of the shortcomings, getting to see a West Side Story revival on Broadway in my lifetime meant a lot to me. I grew up on the movie and score, so to see it live as many times as I did truly meant the world to me. Was it perfect? No, but it had so many wonderful elements to it that I'll never forget - Josefina Scagilone's Maria was fantastic and passionate, and despite her lack of foot work, Karen Olivo acted and sang the sh*t out of Anita delivering what would later prove to be a Tony winning performance.

As someone who wasn't even a glimmer of thought when the original production was running, I am grateful for the revival and all that it gave me.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 7:36pm

West Side Story is one of my favorite shows and movies. The Broadway revival has been the only production I've seen live. I will be honest and say I was thoroughly disappointed. Not because it had a lot to live up to in my mind, but I don't think anything clicked in this production. From the choice to translate scenes and songs into Spanish to the costumes to the dumbed down choreography (and the omission of the Nightmare sequence of the Somewhere ballet!) to the child singing "Somewhere"... so many poor choices in my opinion. Also, I did not like Karen Olivo as Anita. She couldn't dance the role, she was Acting with a capital A, and her vocals and acting made you believe she were still performing Vanessa in In the Heights. She just seemed too contemporary for the show, a problem I have with a lot of performers in revivals. It's a pet peeve of mine. A recent offender: I just saw Evita yesterday and Rachel Potter might as well have been auditioning for American Idol with her melismatic take on "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" and with her contemporary musical theatre vowels ("Where am I going tyyyyooo?"). I felt this same way with Karen, but this time she is a pivotal player in the show.

I hear the national tour improved upon the Broadway production. I can't say first hand, but it sounds like they fixed some problems here and there.

[Marlothom]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 7:40pm

Random comment but is the Rosalia in the Debbie Allen production the actress that played Diana Morales in the ACL movie?

[DAME]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 7:46pm

It is awful. Just awful.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 8:21pm

PalJoey - appreciate the history you provided. I'm kind of amazed by Laurents' insecurity about this. Do you know if Sondheim had anything to say about it during the production or after?

Are there other examples of his direction minimizing the impact of his prior/current collaborators?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 10:30pm

Random comment but is the Rosalia in the Debbie Allen production the actress that played Diana Morales in the ACL movie?

Ding! Ding Ding! Marlothom you hit the jackpot! The Rosalia in the Debbie Allen "America" was the beautiful and talented Yamil Borges, who did indeed go on to play Diana Morales in the film of A Chorus Line.

And standing next to Yamil is a very very young Harolyn Blackwell, who went on from that West Side Story to be an opera star.

Horse Tears, Laurents had to wait until all those people were dead before he could get control of West Side. But he was able to wrest control of Gypsy away from Team Robbins fairly soon after the Broadway run, because it is more of a book-based show.


But you can hear the voice of Arthur loud and clear in Tessie Tura's acid comment about Mazeppa's "ballet," when she says, "Cut the ballet. It stinks anyway"--a line Robbins had uttered frequently during rehearsals and preview of the original West Side...usually within Robbins's earshot.

Arthur claimed he hated Jerry because Jerry had named names, but the real reason Arthur hated Jerry and Lenny and even Steve is that every morning Arthur woke up and remembered that of the four men who created West Side, only three of them would be acknowledged genuises, The fourth was Arthur himself, and he knew he who would never be considered a genius, but always a hack.

That pain made him hate--and hate with a rage I pray god none of you ever witness or feel yourselves.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 10:41pm

I remember reports trickling out from when the revival was running that Arthur was down right vicious to the cast, so I don't doubt anything you say, PalJoey.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 10:56pm

Didn't Sondheim stop talking to Laurents during the run of WSS--or was it Gypsy where they already were at odds? Sondheim has said many times that the truly great, and groundbreaking part of WSS was the staging and use of dance. (Maybe Sondheim and Laurents being at odds started even a bit earlier after hearing Laurents' loud criticisms and objects during p-erformances of Encores' good natured version of Anyone Can Whistle).

I admit it was typically sneaky of Laurents to get around the Jerome Robbins' estate by using their approved dream ballet from the West Side Story Suite that cuts the nightmare, and so getting their approval. The thing is, that ballet comes off as overly sweet and loses half of its power when the nightmare is cut--in fact I'd go as far as to say it loses its very point--it seems inane that Laurents wouldn't realize this. But as PJ says, it's clear he has always been annoyed with the fact that Robbins and Bernstein (and to a lesser extent Sondheim) get more credit, or at least have in Laurents mind, than his libretto.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 11:09pm

Arthur stopped speaking to Steve (and many, many other friends) frequently. Usually it would happen when they (his words!) said "something unforgivable."

Usually the unforgivable thing was "Arthur--stop acting like an asShole!"

Updated On: 5/31/12 at 11:09 PM

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/1/12 at 3:18am

This is great stuff. I have one of Laurent's books on hold at the library -- I think it was the last book he wrote about working in the theatre. I imagine it will be a very selective history.

BTW, in 2010, OUT had a great interview with Arthur in which some of the very things we've been discussing in this thread were covered. Check it out.
Arthur Laurents Will Not Go Quietly - OUT MAGAZINE

[Marlothom]

Posted: 6/1/12 at 3:39am

Nice! I am glad I caught that Diana connection. For me, West Side Story will never be perfect until they cast a Maria that actually looks like Bernardo, her brother. As a Latino, I find it offensive that they always (even on Broadway where I know they have options) cast very light skinned Marias, and dark skinned Bernardos.

[Marlothom]

Posted: 6/1/12 at 3:39am

DELETE - DUPLICATE.

Updated On: 6/1/12 at 03:39 AM

[My Oh My]

Posted: 6/1/12 at 4:35am

The 2009 revival was typical of modern-day revivals: it had the heart and soul musically thinned-out and the fire quenched. You know how there are those musical "moments"--NO, not when someone hits some insane note--but when the orchestra does one of those breathtaking hits or iconic runs that everyone (me, lol) eagerly awaits?

Well, I was anticipating that heart-stoppingly thrilling multiple brass jab in "Dance at the Gym" when the Shark girls and guys huddle and suddenly turn in defiance toward the Jets with each of their hands up in the air, and instead of the usual musical-orgasm (LOL that's what it feels like to me!!!) I was left hanging and very, very disappointed with the revival's weak squawking that made the moment fall flat. It sounded grand on Broadway but on tour it was pitiful. It was amazing when I saw that tour in the late 90's.

Sorry but I can't forgive the taking of an iconic score like that and reducing it to a feeble croak. YUCK!!!!

[trentsketch]

Posted: 6/1/12 at 6:49am

I only remember two things about that revival. First is the sound of fifty high school students I brought to the show flipping open their playbills and trying to catch some light in the mezzanine when the Spanish lyrics started. Second is Josefina Scaglione's acting in the final scene. She shocked me. It felt like the first time something really authentic happened that evening. The rest was a small series of disappointments when compared to the movie.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 6/1/12 at 8:27am

One possible example of Arthur Laurents taking charge of GYPSY over Jerome Robbins's wishes is the "Christmas at Minsky's" number in the original production. In that scene, some 15 showgirls, scantily clad with Christmas ornaments covering their boobs, sang a religioso "Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah". Then a giant Christmas package was dragged out on stage and out popped Louise. IT was a garish but hilarious number that only lasted about 2 minutes. I don't remember if that number was in the Angela Lansbury production, but it was forever dropped as of the Tyne Daly GYPSY and replaced by an inferior and less funny "Garden of Eden". Laurents had stepped in once again!

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 6/1/12 at 8:44am

"Second is Josefina Scaglione's acting in the final scene. She shocked me. It felt like the first time something really authentic happened that evening."

Every time I saw her - she nailed the final scene and left not a dry eye in the place.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 6/2/12 at 1:57am

Josefina Scaglione was the only part of this production that I really loved and that stuck with me...her singing was gorgeous and her acting was great as well.

I went back and saw it a second time when Natalie Cortez took over Anita and thought she was great as well (and would have been even better and more thrilling had the original choreography that she is fully capable of doing been restored), but the direction of this production really removed the show's teeth, as it were. I also thought the reduced orchestrations were less than thrilling, and the playing of the score itself made it very unexciting. The score for West Side is one of my all-time favorites and Bernstein's music is so beautiful, it's really a shame that it came across so lackluster.

I was disappointed by this revival for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I had never had an opportunity to see West Side Story on Broadway in my lifetime and I had grown up on the film and the original cast recording and when I finally got to see it performed most of it was just so underwhelming. I hope eventually I get to see a production that does justice to the brilliant material that is there (and restores Jerome Robbins' contributions to their full effect).

[ACL2006]

Posted: 6/2/12 at 11:33am

I was disappointed to find out that the choreography wasn't changed back to the original when Cortez took over the role of Anita full-time or when the tour started with Michelle Aravena(ironically was Cortez's Diana u/s in A Chorus Line). Both Cortez & Aravena were more than capable of doing the choreography, I just don't understand why is wasn't changed

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/2/12 at 11:57am

I keep saying over and over and over again in these threads:

The choreography wasn't changed back because Arthur wanted it permanently weakened.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 6/2/12 at 2:36pm

And we reiterate in response:

F#ck him, he's dead.

Signed,
Friends of Arthur's Enemies

[My Oh My]

Posted: 6/2/12 at 10:44pm

Aravena did something far closer to the original choreography when I saw the national tour. It looked much better than the twirling that Olivo did.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/2/12 at 11:19pm

Something closer doesn't count when it comes to choreography.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 6/2/12 at 11:34pm

Not arguing that you're wrong. Just something I noticed when I saw it and was happy about. But you're right; the overall revival "America" choreography was a shadow of the original which I saw in a 1997 national tour and took my breath away.