WSS on 60 Minutes tonight 2/16- Page 2

[A Director]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 12:41am

The video and the hidden set are WTF?  I don't have a problem with replacing the original choreography, but why replace it with modern dance?

 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 12:48am

A Director said: "I don't have a problem with replacing the original choreography, but why replace it with modern dance?"

The revival is set in the current day. Did you want them doing the jitterbug? 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 1:42am

I FEEL PRETTY is the one thing it doesn't touch on. Is that still out of the show?

This is a wonderful piece of journalism. And 60 Minutes is a dream for any theatre producer and press agent...good work, O&M and Rudin.

[A Director]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 2:31am

Miles2Go2 said: "A Director said: "I don't have a problem with replacing the original choreography, but why replace it with modern dance?"

The revival is set in the current day. Did you want them doing the jitterbug?"

You have no idea what I'm talking about when I use the term modern dance. Do a Google and learn!

 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 4:30am

A Director said: "Miles2Go2 said: "A Director said: "I don't have a problem with replacing the original choreography, but why replace it with modern dance?"

The revival is set in the current day. Did you want them doing the jitterbug?"

You have no idea what I'm talking about when I use the term modern dance. Do a Google and learn!"

Interesting. So what form of dance would you have preferred?

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 8:40am

A Director said: "Miles2Go2 said: "A Director said: "I don't have a problem with replacing the original choreography, but why replace it with modern dance?"

The revival is set in the current day. Did you want them doing the jitterbug?"

You have no idea what I'm talking about when I use the term modern dance. Do a Google and learn!

"

A quick Google search of modern dance yields this:

”These dancers disregarded ballet's strict movement vocabulary, the particular, limited set of movements that were considered proper to ballet, and stopped wearing corsets and pointe shoes in the search for greater freedom of movement.”

At any rate, it’s contemporary dance, not modern, that they’re performing in this production. Contemporary movement incorporates elements of classical and modern technique, which very much informs the way dancers move today: a rigorous training in classical dance and a need to create your own movement vocabulary. That seems a pretty good reason, to me, to replace Robbins’s choreography with something more “today.”

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 10:23am

ColorTheHours048 said: "A Director said: "Miles2Go2 said: "A Director said: "I don't have a problem with replacing the original choreography, but why replace it with modern dance?"

The revival is set in the current day. Did you want them doing the jitterbug?"

You have no idea what I'm talking about when I use the term modern dance. Do a Google and learn!

"

A quick Google search of modern danceyields this:

”These dancers disregarded ballet's strict movement vocabulary, the particular, limited set of movements that were considered proper to ballet, and stopped wearing corsets and pointe shoes in the search for greater freedom of movement.”

At any rate, it’s contemporary dance, not modern, that they’re performing in this production.Contemporary movement incorporates elements of classical and modern technique, which very much informs the way dancers move today: arigorous training in classical dance and a need to create your own movement vocabulary.That seems a pretty good reason, to me, to replace Robbins’s choreography with something more “today.”"

The choreography  and other changes excite me. I found the last revival so dull. If anything was in need of a reinvention, it is WSS. 

Also, Ivo's reaction to the camera issues seemed completely appropriate. He wasn't screaming or being disrespectful. He was frustrated. 

I do worry about injuries and illnesses though. Isaac is incredibly charismatic. I think he has film or TV stardom very close at hand. I wouldn't want to see the show without him. 

 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 10:36am

A Director said: "You have no idea what I'm talking about when I use the term modern dance. Do a Google and learn!"

I’m not sure you know what you’re talking about when you use the term modern dance either. I did a Google and learned that this production utilized contemporary dance. You can read all about it here and learn. 
 

http://www.playbill.com/article/what-does-west-side-story-look-like-with-new-choreography

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 12:09pm

I watched this last night and found it extremely interesting. It did make me want to see the show more, if only I could decide where I stand on the whole "boycott Amar" thing.

I liked that Ivo van Hove gave a nod to Jerome Robbins and recognized how iconic the original production was, as well as the fact that he said he did all he could and whether it "worked" is in audience's hands. He came off as quite grounded.

Would it be fair to say that this West Side Story, despite some dated language, cannot be considered a "period piece?"

[inception]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 12:59pm

I watched thus last night, but wish the piece with Sondheim was on TV. Thanks for posting the link. Sondheim makes good points about a show vs a movie, and how a show changes even when a new cast comes in.

I'm glad I saw this back in December, it was already thrilling at that point. I feel really badly for Ben Cook because he was just wonderful. I think another standout for me was Kevin Csolak. He caught my eye instantly when he was in Mean Girls in 2018, just in the background - I thought "this is a dancer to watch," and now he should start to get more recognition. Also, don't know his name, but the tall, lithe fella who seemed to dance with the Sharks, and maybe they had working in the dress shop with the girls - his movement really caught my attention as well.

I feel most sorry for the Tony award prospects for Caroline & Company. This & Moulin Rouge are the only shows I have been recommending to anyone at home who may be going to NY, since so few here out West pay attention to what is playing on Broadway.

E.g. Anais Mitchell's new band's record just came out, & at one of the better shops in the city yesterday when asking for help finding it (of course it was right on the wall in front of me), I explained to a clerk who she was, and no one had even heard of Hadestown.

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 2/17/20 at 1:59pm

An updated WSS is a great idea- it lends itself to modern sensibilities and conflicts. I would love to see a modern take on WSS- but Van Hove is not my cup of tea at all. I did not like the constant drum beat in View From the Bridge- and actually very much disliked his take on All About Eve when I saw it in London. I find his video montages distracting and unnecessary- and for me detects- not add. As great as those dancers look on 60 Minutes- and they seem young and talented and filled with enthusiasm- I will not see tis production0 but will wait until the next take on WSS comes along. To me, the drama and intensity of the piece looked drowned out by the "innovative" video screens.

[A Director]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 2:56am

If you need video to bring intensity to WSS, you haven't your work as a director or choreographer to from the beginning.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 9:42am

I haven't seen the production, but some of this direction just seems way too on the nose for me. Showing police brutality during "Officer Krupke"? Storm footage during "America"? Having the gangs literally trying to pull Tony and Maria apart? I think i'd feel a bit intellectually insulted by this staging.

 

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 9:49am

SporkGoddess said: "I haven't seen the production, but some of this direction just seems way too on the nose for me. Showing police brutality during "Officer Krupke"? Storm footage during "America"? Having the gangs literally trying to pull Tony and Maria apart? I think i'd feel a bit intellectually insulted by this staging.

"
I honestly agree with this, but I’m trying very hard to not to judge this production until I see it. 

 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 10:58am

The 60 Minutes piece made me so excited to see it, but moreso more concerned about seeing you know who as Bernardo. Does anyone know if he has any scheduled absences? I'd love to see Ricky in the role, I heard he was great last week. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 11:35am

A Director said: "If you need video to bring intensity to WSS, you haven't your work as a director or choreographer to from the beginning."

If I am correctly deciphering the mangled part of what you are saying, I think you are twisting yourself in knots trying to stay within some straitjacket. There is only one rule in directing or choreographing (or writing), and that is resonance. Anything else that seems like a rule is just poor training. Video is a form of communication, and in the context of this production, both internally and externally, it is the language of the play and its audience, in other words, what heightens resonance. The (il)logic of your "bring intensity" nonsense would argue against musicals altogether: if you need songs to bring about the story, blah blah blah. 

I am not trying to dissuade you from your personal tastes, but please don't try wrapping that in some faux fortress about craft. This show is a masterpiece and van Hove is a master craftsman. 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 1:37pm

nvm

Updated On: 2/18/20 at 01:37 PM

[A Director]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 2:13pm

HogansHero said: "A Director said: "If you need video to bring intensity to WSS, you haven't your work as a director or choreographer to from the beginning."

If I am correctly deciphering the mangled part of what you are saying, I think you are twisting yourself in knots trying to stay within some straitjacket. There is only one rule in directing or choreographing (or writing), and that is resonance. Anything else that seems like a rule is just poor training. Video is a form of communication, and in the context of this production, both internally and externally, it is the language of the play and its audience, in other words, what heightens resonance. The (il)logic of your "bring intensity" nonsense would argue against musicals altogether: if you need songs to bring about the story, blah blah blah.

I am not trying to dissuade you from your personal tastes, but please don'ttry wrapping thatin somefaux fortress about craft. This show is a masterpiece and van Hove is a master craftsman."

Hogan - I see you are speaking ex cathedra!

 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 2:18pm

A Director, have you actually seen this production yet, or are you just determined to hate it on some kind of principle?

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 4:36pm

after seeing ALL ABOUT EVE from this director,  when the National Theatre London filmed it to show in movie theaters. i hated it and this director...but...after seeing his use of video in this new revival i am very impressed from what i saw on 60 MINUTE Sunday...in AAE the videos were boxed in and felt obtrusive to the actors on stage...it seems like van Hove has made great strides in the usage of the videos and i love that the screen is huge and not in some blocked backstage area like EVE...my tingly senses went sky high watching the dancers and the staging as shown in the clip for 60 MINUTES...this just might work!

or...maybe it was just all those hunky bare-chested male dancers, in the rain no less...woof!!

Updated On: 2/18/20 at 04:36 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 4:51pm

@broadwaybabywannabe2

Van Hove hasn't made "great strides" since All About Eve.

All About Eve was just a half-baked misfire in the midst of a long career of using life-feed video. "Roman Tragedies," one of the productions that help put Van Hove on the map for English-speaking audiences, first premiered about 13 years ago, and that production had some of the best use of video in his entire career. And in fact, it was one of the best uses of life-feed I've ever seen. 

You (and seemingly several other people on this board) were just unlucky that your first introduction to Van Hove's work was one of his duds. 

[ggersten]

Posted: 2/18/20 at 5:25pm

I saw Van Hove's The Damned last summer in London. It made extensive use of live video and even pre-recorded video that was intended to seem live.  It was an …. experience (It also was in French so on top of the videos, I was reading supertitles).  For that show, the live videos enhanced the performances - made things extra creepy, frightening, disturbing and dramatic.  I have not seen this WSS, but Van Hove has his bag of tricks, and like all such "tricks", sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.