I’ve been loving their marketing. Like it or not, it’s putting us in the perfect headspace for the kind of production we can expect. Reflective of the diversity of what it means to actually be one vs. “other” in 2019, sparse visuals, the body in motion, stripped back instrumentals that blend with the sounds of the city, and an emphasis on what makes this story so specifically New York. It’s brilliant marketing that makes explicit that we will not be seeing West Side Story as we’re familiar with seeing it.
That said... the Broadway is a BARN and unless this sets critics on fire with praise, I really can’t see it filling seats. Fingers crossed I’m wrong.
What Pippin said. This has not permeated the public consciousness and it won’t. Nobody in this cast is selling a ticket, the box office will rely on the title, the production, and the reviews.
Also, I’m in no way saying that what he did is ok, but on a “bad man scale” of Tom Schumacher (1) to Harvey Weinstein (10), he’s maybe a 2. (At least based on what was revealed in the NYT.)
I like the marketing, it's fresh. I want the show to be fun and loud, but I dont wanna see the same WSS we've all seen 90 million times.
And I agree with the above- outside of the Broadway community, no one knows or cares who Amar is. People who dont even know much about musical theatre, but love WSS will go see it regardless.
People outside the Broadway community will probably not care about Amar, very true, but I don't think people will then flock to this re-imagining of a classic. Like with the current OK!, they will want to see the WSS they know and love, which this will be very different from. Maybe it could get people in seats if it gets great press and wins awards like OK!, but this season is hot with revivals (Company and Caroline), so it's going to be hard for this to be a hit. The Amar backlash is just another set back this show probably doesn't need.
DoTheDood said: "People outside the Broadway community will probably not care about Amar, very true, but I don't think people will then flock to this re-imagining of a classic. Like with the current OK!, they will want to see the WSS they know and love, which this will be very different from. Maybe it could get people in seats if it gets great press and wins awards like OK!, but this season is hot with revivals (Company and Caroline), so it's going to be hard for this to be a hit. The Amar backlash is just another set back this show probably doesn't need."
Even most people inside the Broadway community won't care about Amar. It's a non-issue except for a few people with very intense feelings on the subject. If the current Oklahoma! is your idea of a comparison, then this show will do very well and be embraced by people who never gave it a shot before.
I don't expect the revival to do well, not because of Amar or the poster (which if fine, but no more than that). It won't do well because it's West Side Story, and West Side Story has never done well, except as a film. The original production closed when the national tour started; it lost money. Revivals haven't done well. There was a revival in--what, the 00's?--that didn't do well. It will win a Tony for Best Revival, die-hard fans of the show will collect another cast album, and it will close within a year.
I'm hoping (really counting on) this revival being ground breaking in some way that we don't know about yet. Ivo productions seem to always be 'radical' in one way or another, and I think this will be no exception.
joevitus said: "Even most people inside the Broadway community won't care about Amar. It's a non-issue except for a few people with very intense feelings on the subject."
I'm not really sure about that. Every single time I've heard about this show being brought up after the cast went up, they have mentioned how disgusting Amar is. There are probably people here who don't care, but I can say a lot of people are still avoiding this production. Now what I am questioning is if that's going to be just a drop in the bucket and the show will do fine regardless of Amar, or if this already starts bad word of mouth before even previews start. Then again,
"It won't do well because it's West Side Story, and West Side Story has never done well"
That is true. If this production does fail, it could easily just be because it is West Side Story, not anything to do with Amar. We will just have to wait for February to find out.
EllieRose2 said: "Actually he was not, kdogg. I recall many posts being deleted within a few hours due to violating the standard rules."
Well, that's certainly possible - I probably wouldn't have seen those posts. I think my evaluation is fair based on the visible posts, but I acknowledge I may not have the whole story.
kdogg36 said: "EllieRose2 said: "Actually he was not, kdogg. I recall many posts being deleted within a few hours due to violating the standard rules."
Well, that's certainly possible - I probably wouldn't have seen those posts. I think my evaluation is fair based on the visible posts, but I acknowledge I may not have the whole story."
I appreciate your comments. Obviously if attacks on me were still up, and no attacks from me are there, reason says I never wrote any--because wouldn't both be in violation of the rules? So if attacks were left up, likely all you see is all that was there (I never noticed a comment of mine removed).
They attacked me, I only stated my position (which really wasn't a defense of him--I called him a creep repeatedly). I never insulted anyone.
But notice that a thread has now been hijacked for political purposes. And my name was dragged in insultingly for no reason. I've contacted the mods over those comments.
joevitus said: “Revivals haven't done well. There was a revival in--what, the 00's?--that didn't do well. It will win a Tony for Best Revival, die-hard fans of the show will collect another cast album, and it will close within a year."
The most recent revival at the Palace did well in that recouped and had a successful national tour.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
joevitus said: "I don't expect the revival to do well, not because of Amar or the poster (which if fine, but no more than that). It won't do well because it's West Side Story, and West Side Story has never donewell, except as a film. The original production closed when the nationaltour started; it lost money. Revivals haven't done well. There was a revival in--what, the 00's?--that didn't do well. It will win a Tony for Best Revival, die-hard fans of the show will collect another cast album, and it will close within a year."
The last revival actually did quite well for a revival that opened with no mainstream stars. It ran for over a year and a half and spent a good number of weeks during its first year either near or well above the million dollar mark. The original production also ran for almost two years at a time when a show could easily open and close within nine months and still be considered a big success.
VotePeron said: "I love the key art and the marquee. We’ve had a zillion revivals of WSS, including one this century - why not be open to a fresh interpretation of it?"
i haven't seen the marquee, but i love how it works on their website.