West Side Story Revival Details — Page 2

Is every thread on this going to turn into an Amar thread? We get it, you're unhappy about it. Don't go.

I wondered about the sales being so strong early on and if they were indeed holding back tickets. I might want to catch a first preview of this one, just to see where this begins and where this lands.

They have 2 months (!) of previews, which says to me either they think they really need twice as much time to figure out this new interpretation (not implausible), or they want to take in as much as possible before reviews (ditto). Speaking practically, it's likely the former with the latter being a welcome bonus.

^ We don't know if this is true yet, but if so, is it still West Side Story? Isn't it just another modern version of Romeo and Juliet?

ljay889 said: "Apparently most of the book is being cut."

Most? As in a majority, almost all, or just more than your source thinks should?

ljay889 said: "Apparently most of the book is being cut."

Kinda curious how they managed to get the Bernstein estate to sign off on all these changes (assuming the rumors are true) given how fiercely protective they are of his work. Unless there's been a significant change in who the trustee administering the estate is, that's the most surprising part of all of this.

If you read the New York Times, follow NYC news, or are cultured in any way, pretty sure you would have read something about it. There was a huge thread a few months ago on this very website. People who love theater typically love similar things like dance. A LOT of people know about it, a LOT of people read the countless articles about it. And again, most of the comments about this show, on every single platform, is about Amar. And, once again, it's not selling well after the holidays. That may not have much to do with Amar, but with the awful advertising (or lack thereof).

Cutting the book or songs no longer makes it West Side Story. So, people will skip it.

Updated On: 10/27/19 at 03:51 PM

msmp said: "ljay889 said: "Apparently most of the book is being cut."

Kinda curious how they managed to get the Bernstein estate to sign off on all these changes (assuming the rumors are true) given how fiercely protective they are of his work. Unless there's been a significant change in who the trustee administering the estate is, that's the most surprising part of all of this."

If the cuts only pertain to the book wouldn’t they only need the permission from the Laurent estate? Or both?

Whether this revival fails or succeeds will be largely independent of what the Twitteratti do or say or tweet. Twitter and similar social media engines like reddit don’t represent the general public as a whole. And while a lot of people may know about or had heard about the ballet scandal, they don’t remember the names involved (I didn’t). Also, even more people haven’t heard about the scandal. I have to say that while I know social media can be a force for good, I largely avoid Twitter (and completely avoid reddit) because they seem to often turn into mob mentality outrage machines. I don’t find that good for my mental health. I hope the moderators don’t allow that mentality to take over BWW here as well. It’s a nice place to be when people aren’t attacking each other.

Most revivals struggle (as do a large percentage of new productions) so we’ll see what happens with WSS. I mean I know Kiss Ne, Kate was a Roundabout production, but neither it or Oklahoma! had/have had awesome box office receipts. Ditto for Once on This Island. All likely closed/will have closed without recoupment. Even Dolly had to run quite a while to recoup. Twitter wasn’t the deciding factor in any of those cases.

Updated On: 10/27/19 at 07:04 PM

HogansHero said: "If I had a dollar for every piece of fake news in this thread, I could buy a ticket to the show.

But it's amusing. "

This show will be an epic failure. Can’t wait for the reviews that are going to tear it apart. I hope I’m wrong. But so far this reeks of bad everything. It’s not West Side Story when you’ve gutted what most people have come to love about the movie, which is what they’ll connect to first. It’s not fresh when it stinks this bad. And this will struggle to find an audience and then die off. And Beetlejuice will still be at the Winter Garden long after WSS prematurely closes (like Gary did). I’d rather had seen King Kong than this.

@Miles bless you!

Besides the negative stuff on social media, there's been virtually no buzz about this production. Are people here genuinely excited to see this?

LuPita2 said: "Besides the negative stuff on social media, there's been virtually no buzz about this production. Are people here genuinely excited to see this?"

I am. Will be getting my ticket for late January. There are some great $79 tickets in the mid side orchestra (you have to choose regular seats on Telecharge to see them). I've never seen any other West Side Story production and I am always curious about modern interpretations of revivals. I'm most excited for the choreography.

God, this production probably isn’t a good choice for your first West Side Story.
I remember ten years, some acted like the last revival was blasphemous for adding some Spanish, simplifying some of Anita’s choreography, and cutting the Nightmare section of the ballet.
Now this new revival, this is definitely NOT going to be West Side Story. I have a feeling it’ll make the Oklahoma revival look traditional.

Updated On: 10/28/19 at 12:05 AM