West Side Story Revival To Bow in DC prior to Broadway- Page 3

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 8:50am

Just remember that especially when it comes to Maria, you're essentially singing an operatic part. I honestly have no idea of the operatic qualities of really any of the actresses mentioned, just wanted to put that out there.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 10:42am

Oh, I had no problem with Joey's direction or his re-creation of Robbin's choreography I just hated ALL of the production values. All of the costumes looked like they shopped at Forever 21.

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 10:46am

Are the rights to do the show predicated on using the Robbins'
-ography? They may have little choice...I don't know, I'm askin'...

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 10:50am

I know Robbins has to be credited as 'original...blah, blah, blah' and I believe that a certain amount of his choreography has to bu used as well. I'll have to look into that a bit more.

[westcoast_wannabe]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 11:43am

Are the rights to do the show predicated on using the Robbins'
-ography? They may have little choice...I don't know, I'm askin'...


They are. His choreography has to be used, witch I understand as I said before it is iconic, but for a new Broadway production directed by the original book writer it would be nice if they could find a way around it. I’d like to see a fresh take on the piece.

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 11:56am

Ohhhh. I'm SO excited for this!!
But.. I am just hoping that the choreography will still stay true with Robbins origional idea!

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 12:41pm

Thanks, west coast--that's what I thought--isn't FIDDLER like that as well?

[westcoast_wannabe]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 1:21pm

Yeah it is

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 2:08pm

Thanks...and may I add:

"Reading from top to bottom: Lisa...Carol...Freemont"

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 2:22pm

Yup, you all are correct, the choreography is as copyright as anything in the book, and there is no way around it. But could you imagine someone trying new choreography and it not holding up as well as Robbins'? It would make the show disastrous.

But yeah, any professional production of WSS will have the same choreography, plain and simple.

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 2:25pm

I think people expect those signature moves as well--when I was in Grease, if we hadn't done the Hand Jive or Greased Lightning the way the audience wanted us to, they would have probably taken over the stage....they did it in the audience along with us!

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 2:29pm

Exactly. And I for one have never gotten to experience a professional production of WSS, never have seen the choreography live. I am so friggin excited to be able to see it. But could you imagine Cool without those bended snaps into the jumps? The mambo without those head bangs? And what about the Rumble? You wanna see someone else dance-choreograph that? Oh dear, we'd just have flat-out fighting, and the beauty of the way the moves correlate with the music would be lost.

[Hank]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 3:15pm

"radically different...,and contemporary to boot"
What does that mean? Will it be Bloods vs Latin Kings?
How about the location? Not much gang activity these days on the west side of NY, west side of Newark, maybe that would work.

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 3:22pm

Unless you count the warring chorus boys of Mamma Mia! vs. Mary Poppins....

[morosco]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 4:14pm

I am a bit worried about how "contemporary" it'll be.

Me too. Hope it doesn't mean that it'll have an orchestra of 10 or 12 musicians.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 4:15pm

wickedrentq, I agree completely. The dance numbers that you mentioned may be the most iconic ensemble choreography ever put on film. It would be next to impossible to produce any version of WSS without them. I am also very excited about seeing this live, on Broadway, where it belongs.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 4:36pm

According to the casting notice for this production, every Shark character must be fluent in Spanish.....

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 6:54pm

i wonder when tickets, go on sale i am so happy that i live in dc

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 3/6/08 at 9:01pm

Not sure if she's Latina, but I would looove to see Elena Shaddow as Maria.

Updated On: 3/6/08 at 09:01 PM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/7/08 at 1:02am

"Me too. Hope it doesn't mean that it'll have an orchestra of 10 or 12 musicians."

You CANNOT do WSS with such few musicians. There's just no way. Especially with so many songs reliant on just the orchestra to mesh with the dancing. There's just no way it could even be conceivable.

I've played the reed 2 book in 2 different productions, and...there's just no way. You start with the prologue...you need to start with the sax, then have the clarinet overlap, then have more clarinets/instruments come in. You need the strings/woodwinds for the slower songs, and the brass for the more violent songs. So many of the songs have buildups from one instruments to two to three to lots -- "Cool" for instance.

Moreover, there's so many genius connections in Bernstein's score that could be missed if you lowered the instruments. Like the way the french horn plays the "Somewhere" theme at the end of "Balcony Scene(Tonight)", the oboe playing the "Maria" theme during the "Cha-Cha," etc. The 4 bass clarinets that open "A Boy Like That"...just eerie. Then "Somewhere" is almost all cello...you need like 3 percussionists to handle the complicated percussion which is central to so many songs...you need all the instruments to create the sheer chaos of "The Rumble." You need all the unified elements of hte score brought out -- lowered sevenths, tritones, hemiolas, major/minor triads...the latter especially you need lots of instruments.

Yeah, there's just absolutely no way.

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/7/08 at 12:08pm

"every Shark character must be fluent in Spanish"

That's not EXACTLY what the listing in Playbill said which was:

"Fluency in Spanish is a plus for the Sharks.”

Not that there's a HUGE difference, but it IS a difference.

Playbill Casting for WSS

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 3/7/08 at 1:55pm

I am a bit worried about how "contemporary" it'll be.

Me too. Hope it doesn't mean that it'll have an orchestra of 10 or 12 musicians.

I totally just had an image in my head of a John Doyle WSS where the rumble consisted of the Sharks/Jets hitting each other with violins and flutes...Bernardo would be stabbed with a violin bow, of course...

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/7/08 at 2:03pm

"How many bullets left in this little white coffin, Chino?"

[jake6970]

Posted: 3/7/08 at 3:17pm

To be fair lildigs- the other Puerto Rican principals must be fluent in spanish.

[lildogs]

Posted: 3/7/08 at 4:20pm

To be fair, it DOES require Maria to be fluent. My bad...as the kids say these days.