WEST SIDE STORY Tour- Page 2

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 6/6/14 at 1:30am

Just a small correction, there were 12 of us in the pit this year, not 9. I was the reed 2 (principal clarinet/bass clarinet, solo Eb clarinet/tenor sax, and 2nd flute). No, it wasn't optimal, but I think we did a rather respectable job with the reduction (which had to be auditioned for and approved by the Bernstein Estate), as did a large majority of our audiences this year, judging by the hordes of people that made it a point to stop by the pit after every show. Did we enjoy playing with the Sinfonia? Of course not. It's impossible to play in tune with because every patch is tempered differently, and many of the patches sound nothing like the instruments they're replacing, but it was either take the gig or...not. It is what it is, as they say.

We had an incredibly talented and hardworking cast, and it has been an honor and a privilege to spend the last 8 months of my life in that pit and play with all of these people. (They are at the moment finishing the last week of the tour in DC, but they had to lay off 7 of us from the orchestra and hire locals for the National Theatre, because even though we are a union orchestra, and the sitdown was short enough not to invoke the standard local rule, they objected to the use of the Sinfonia and made it a condition that they lay us off and hire 15 local musicians if they were going to use it in that house). Such are the vagaries of the touring life...

I'm glad to hear some of you enjoyed our production this year. :)

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 6/6/14 at 1:43am

Congrats on a great tour and what I am sure was fantastic work from everyone on stage, backstage AND in the pit.

Small soapbox moment.
One of my big pet peeves with several unions and several cities is the demand for pushing tour staff out the door to hire locals. Object to the augmentation? Fine, okay. Scratch that, fill it out with the locals. THe producers are having to spend more, but the employees are winning. Pushing out the tour staff ? I really get uncomfortable with that... It's a little too "stab them in the back and throw them under the bus" for me. Always has been, always will be.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 6/6/14 at 5:20am

I am seeing it in DC tomorrow. My parents got me tickets for my birthday back in March.
I'm really excited because I've never seen this live before! Thanks for your input JailyardGuy and congrats for everything you guys achieved this tour!

I'm kind of upset that we won't have the original orchestra that has been on the road with them!

[Evita@theBroadway]

Posted: 6/6/14 at 9:26am

Hi there, I saw the production on Tuesday night in DC.

Overall, I loved this cast more than I did the 2008/2009 DC-tryout cast. That was mainly due to Matt Cavanaugh’s weak portrayal of Tony in 2008. That being said, they need to rectify how/when they want to incorporate Spanish into the production.

“I Feel Pretty” was sung (in alternating verses) in both languages for no logical reason. Laurents called the use of Spanish an “experiment” but it’s time for the experiment to end and for a finished product to be put forth. The interchangeable use of Spanish and English led to some confusing moments in Act 2, particularly in a pivotal scene between Anita and Maria.

Even with these issues, I thought the production was great. I took a friend, who had never seen WSS before, and he loved it.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 6/7/14 at 5:16pm

^Just got out of it and I agree 100%. The sound seemed strange to me and I had a hard time hearing the man who played Tony, but other than that I enjoyed it. I've never been a fan of this show but I'm glad I went to see it. The standout for me was Michelle Alves. She portrayed Anita SO well. For some reason I kept thinking how great she would be as the Witch in Into the Woods, haha.

[theminutepast]

Posted: 6/7/14 at 7:39pm

I saw the tour recently in New Brunswick. I enjoyed it and it made me regret not seeing the revival on Broadway when I had the opportunity. I think reducing the pit is such a shame because the score was beautiful and moments in the show like "Tonight" and "America" were too soft/quiet. At no point did the music sweep me away or catch me up in the emotion of the story. I agree that the mix of Spanish and English was confusing. I'm conversationally fluent in Spanish and I couldn't understand them.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/7/14 at 11:40pm

“I Feel Pretty” was sung (in alternating verses) in both languages for no logical reason.

Who was the genius who came up with that idea?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 6/7/14 at 11:59pm

You mean "genius in his own mind"?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/8/14 at 12:10am

I've never regretted seeing a show more than seeing WSS on Broadway. I was so incredibly bored, and everyone around me was so puzzled by the language.

[theminutepast]

Posted: 6/8/14 at 10:14am

That response to the show was why I didn't see it on Broadway.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 6/8/14 at 1:29pm

I love West Side Story.
I have immense respect for the performers and musicians in any productions.

My thoughts on Laurents final vision for the production are best left to another thread, but suffice to say I think every person work on this production - Broadway, the first natuonal tour and the two legs of THIS tour - should be commended for their skill, their abilities, their passion, and their adeptness at making this production work as well as it can.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 6/8/14 at 2:13pm

At what point do the producers tell David Saint that while they will respect any of Arthur's changes to the English half of the book and his directorial conceits, they're dropping the Spanish? 'Cause it seems like they've long past it, and it needs to be done.