West Side Story revival casting?

[wickedislife]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 11:25pm

I wonder what casting will be like?

I'm praying for Cheyanne Jackson or Matt Morrison as Tony.

[Mattt]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 11:34pm

I don't know if I'm the only one who would want to see this (although I probably am), and she might be a little too old, but I think it would very interesting to see Daphne Rubin-Vega as Anita. It's not gonna happen but I think her voice and the character could work together.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 11:36pm

Michael Arden as Tony.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 11:37pm

I don't think Daphne Rub Vega would do well as Anita at ALL.

(And this is coming from someone who liked her in Les Mis)


And besides her age, she can't dance the part well enough. Chita Rivera she's not.

[MovieGuy1031]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 11:38pm

I think casting is going to have to depend on what exactly Laurents' "trick" is that he claims he has up his sleeve that will make this revival suck less than "that white-bread 70's revival"

...hehehe. 70's.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 11:45pm

If they don't do an all-Latino cast, I'd like to see Elena Shaddow as María.

[MovieGuy1031]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 11:53pm

PS - I second WonderfulWizard. DRV as Anita = a no-no.

And I, too, liked her in Les Miz...

[DrTheatre]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 12:01am

I see Matthew M. as Tony but not Michael Arden...too babe face, he could play Riff or Action, or Baby Face, one of the Jets. I can see Lea Michelle as Maria.

As for those who said that what ever Arthur has up his sleeve about the way he wants to approach it, then you are right, it will depend on that and then how they go about casting the show.

I think his trick is to play it today, he wont have to change the script or set, just the costumes, make them look more like today then they were back then. Or, have very little costumes...one set of costumes...the jets/white males and females all wear like one color sets and the sharks/latino males and females (or any other ethnicites they cast) to wear another set of one color costumes. Who knows, it may come out looking like a CHICAGO style of Vaudville. Who knows...and man do I need to spell better.

Updated On: 8/4/07 at 12:01 AM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 12:01am

Elena Shaddow could easily pass for Puerto Rican, regardless of how they cast the show. She too would be my choice for Maria.

I'd like to see Mandy Gonzalez as Anita.

[actormcfamous]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 2:21am

Sara Ramirez as Anita.

[jmponstage]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 2:34am

I'd like to see a cast that is remotely age appropriate, preferably unknowns. Obviously you can't go totally age appropriate but c'mon who is going to buy morrison or jackson as a high school kid.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 3:04am

I would love to see all unknowns cast. That would be interesting. No pre-conceived notions about anything. Fresh talent. It will keep everyone on their toes.

~Steven

[MungoGypsy8232]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 3:07am

If Sara Ramirez is involved, I'll go see it.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 5:22am

Not only is Sara Ramirez old enough to play Maria's mother, she's incredibly talented yet not a dancer. I'd love to see her perform "A Boy Like That" in concert opposite Laura Benanti but neither one of them have any business in this show.
Given the lack of Latino roles on Broadway, I would want Latino actors to play the three major Puerto Rican roles (Maria, Anita, Bernardo, and maybe even Rosalia).
Natascia Diaz or Mandy Gonzales for Anita would be great.

[Jon]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 7:31am

Again, let's remember that the characters are JUVENILE delinquents. They are UNDER 18. They hang out at Doc's drug store and drink Cokes because they ARE TOO YOUNG TO BUY BEER.

Tony, Riff, Bernardo and Anita should look 17 or 18. Maria is 15 or 16. Baby John should be 12 years old.

Let's face it - in the movie, Rita Moreno looked about 28.

[dramaqueen2]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 11:18am

i think.. ahh i forget her name.. she played diana..
natalie cortez i think it was. she would be good for anita, i mean clearly she can dance since she was in a chorus line. she has a good voice for the role too, but she probably isn't a big enough name.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 11:31am

ray, how can you say Ramirez could play Maria's mother and then go and suggest Natascia Diaz for a role you say she's too old to play?

Ramirez is 31, while Diaz (who has been playing Anita all over for the last few years) is 37.

Updated On: 8/4/07 at 11:31 AM

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 11:32am

I seriously doubt we would ever see an Anita who is or looks 17. Updated On: 8/4/07 at 11:32 AM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 12:24pm

Somethingwicked, perhaps I'm just biased
But actually I think Natascia Diaz looks far younger than Ramirez. Plus, besides the age issue, Ramirez just doesn't have the dancing chops for a role that was played by Chita Rivera, Debbie Allen, and Rita Moreno.
And I agree with Ljay, unless Haley Duff makes-up herself up on "brown face" for WEST SIDE STORY, we won't see a 17 year old Anita.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 4:13pm

I think it is kinda funny that people forget that this is an extremely hard show to dance period let alone 8 times a week. I would seriously doubt if any names were involved. This is a show built on talented performers (hopefully) not names with marquee value.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 6:01pm

Rosie O'Donnell has an interesting suggestion for Laurents.

From her blog today:

Nick writes:

Ro, did you hear Arthur Laurents wants to revive “West Side Story” on Broadway in the Spring? Thoughts? Fan of the show?

he should get kanye west
to update the score

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 6:04pm

Oh, Rosie.




Oh, Rosie.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 6:24pm

The sad thing is that my father said practically the same thing.

If someone else suggests even TOUCHING that music, I'll stab them.

[ohjohnny]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 6:25pm

eta: oops, wrong thread. Updated On: 8/4/07 at 06:25 PM

[Dbur]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 6:57pm

I would love to hear Sara's voice as Anita... however you can't overlook he fact tha Anita is a dancing role. She has to be able to dance and look like one of the best dancers on the stage. Even though I've never seen Sara dance I assume she isn't quite that good. However... vocally... definitly