WEST SIDE STORY (2019 Revival) Preview Thread- Page 2

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:00am

cjmclaughlin10 said: "Any update on rush/lotto????? "

I checked with the box office yesterday and they said they didn't have anything planned as of then but of course that could change. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:09am

ljay889 said: "Lol at the run time. Remember when some of you refused to believe that most of the book is being cut?"

Great. Cut most of it. Get rid of Doc entirely.

[astorian_ofthe_heart]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:12am

theatreguy said: "Sergio Trujillo has joined the production team as a “consultant.”

https://www.showbiz411.com/2019/12/09/www-showbiz411-com-west-side-story-adds-tony-winning-choreographer-serge-trujillo"

Very interested in this. It looks like he's replacing a good chunk of the choreography. And now the ballet might be back in?? Looking forward to seeing Trujillo's influence.

[BJR]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:15am

theatreguy said: "Sergio Trujillo has joined the production team as a “consultant.”

https://www.showbiz411.com/2019/12/09/www-showbiz411-com-west-side-story-adds-tony-winning-choreographer-serge-trujillo"

This is exactly why I wanted to be there tonight. You don't have a 2 month preview period if you don't plan to use it. Rudin and/or Ivo knew this production would be breaking new ground and would need the time to possibly course-correct.

I'm a huge fan of the OK! revival, but let's remember the St Ann's version was something like Fish's 3rd go-around. It can take time to develop a new read on classic material.

And pulling the choreo back to Robbins seems like an obvious area to do it. But I'm excited to see her work tonight!

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:33am

As if everyone doesn’t have a million places to view the original choreography or the original intent. GOD FORBID anyone touches the “perfection” of the original staging!

This is such bulls**t. What’s the damn point of a revival if you’re not going to do something fresh? I really hope they keep Keersmaeker’s choreo intact.

[BJR]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:43am

I agree. I'm excited to see it. And hopefully if they put some Robbins back in, it will be woven into hers.

[Ledaero]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:47am

cjmclaughlin10 said: "Any update on rush/lotto?????"

Rush update: They are selling boxes for rush. 2 people in line at 9am, 4 people in line at 10am when box office opened. All of us got the boxes, partial view. Not sure if/what rush seats are once they run out of box seats.

Very excited for first preview!

[Kad]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:48am

Van Hove comes from a distinctly European theatre culture, where it’s not uncommon for productions themselves to be developed intensely over months or even years. It’s very different from the throw it up, charge, premium price, take it down style in America. Even our development periods for productions are often quick- a two or three week workshop.

Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma was likewise developed over many years. It originated as a college production at Bard even before SummerScape.

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:51am

joevitus said: "ljay889 said: "Lol at the run time. Remember when some of you refused to believe that most of the book is being cut?"

Great. Cut most of it. Get rid of Doc entirely."

 

one of  the most profound lines involves doc :

 

”you kids make this world lousy”

”that’s how we found it, doc” 

 

I was there last night. Too disappointing to get into. You all will see for yourselves. Suffice it to say I’m all for evolution of theater but that is NOT “West Side Story”. Period. 

 

[hork]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:57am

I had zero interest in a new WSS revival but the more I read about this one the more I want to see it.

[BJR]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 11:01am

Kad said: "Van Hove comes from a distinctly European theatre culture, where it’s not uncommon for productions themselves to be developed intensely over months or even years. It’s very different from the throw it up, charge, premium price, take it down style in America. Even our development periods for productions are often quick- a two or three week workshop.

Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma was likewise developed over many years. It originated as a college production at Bard even before SummerScape."

Correct. Workshops here often just focus on a single aspect, like story and structure or dance. In Europe, you can be in full tech for months.

[FranklinDickson2018]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 11:11am

I was reading the BroadwayWorld Meet the Cast of WSS

They are really taking great pains in the bios to make sure that we know the ethnicity of many of the cast members. 

Don't really recall reading such "country/city of origin" in such detail before.  Were people challenging this before?  Were the producers expecting to be challenged?

Delighted to see such diversity --- just surprised that it is included in the performer's bio.

 

 

 

 

[Piparoo]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 11:19am

Mercades said: "

I was there last night. Too disappointing to get into. You all will see for yourselves. Suffice it to say I’m all for evolution of theater but that is NOT “West Side Story”. Period.

"

C'mon, tell us what you didn't like about it and why.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 11:48am

astorian_ofthe_heart said: "theatreguy said: "Sergio Trujillo has joined the production team as a “consultant.”

https://www.showbiz411.com/2019/12/09/www-showbiz411-com-west-side-story-adds-tony-winning-choreographer-serge-trujillo"

Very interested in this. It looks like he's replacing a good chunk of the choreography. And now the ballet might be back in?? Looking forward to seeing Trujillo's influence."

Wow, this is getting juicy now. 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 11:58am

Is there anything interesting about the direction that would make some of it unchangeable? I think what’s going to happen is it’s all going to revert back to the original and just use some cameras.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:11pm

Don't really recall reading such "country/city of origin" in such detail before.  Were people challenging this before?  Were the producers expecting to be challenged?

Of course the producers are expecting it to be challenged.  There are loads of industry folks who are just itching to launch Twitter attacks if any specific ethnicity is not to their liking and will probably start social media campaigns to have the show closed (I imagine some may even have drafts ready to fill in the blanks and click "send".  Anyone read the one about how Cynthia Erivo shouldn't play Harriet Tubman because her ancestors weren't members of the same tribe as Tubman's ancestors?  Ethnicity is a huge part of this show and unless they changed the text, I've no doubt there are several industry professionals who will be checking the ethnicity of each actor against the text.

Personally, I'll be chomping on my popcorn watching the carnage as industry professionals and musical theatre purists rip this pieces like a den of starving wolves over the carcass of a deer that took the wrong path.  Nobody loves to hate musical theatre productions more than those who profess to love it the most.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:22pm

Did BWW delete the country of origin part? I don't see it there at all.

[joevitus]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:25pm

Mercades said: "joevitus said: "ljay889 said: "Lol at the run time. Remember when some of you refused to believe that most of the book is being cut?"

Great. Cut most of it. Get rid of Doc entirely."



one of the most profound lines involves doc :



”you kids make this world lousy”

”that’s how we found it, doc”
"

Satire, right?

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:44pm

joevitus said: "Mercades said: "joevitus said: "ljay889 said: "Lol at the run time. Remember when some of you refused to believe that most of the book is being cut?"

Great. Cut most of it. Get rid of Doc entirely."



one of the most profound lines involves doc :



”you kids make this world lousy”

”that’s how we found it, doc”
"

Satire, right?"

Oops! My mistake . 

[Hamilfan2]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 1:21pm

Ledaero said: "cjmclaughlin10 said: "Any update on rush/lotto?????"

Rush update: They are selling boxes for rush. 2 people in line at 9am, 4 people in line at 10am when box office opened. All of us got the boxes, partial view. Not sure if/what rush seats are once they run out of box seats.

Very excited for first preview!"

How much were the rush tickets?  Also, did anyone else try rush and get anything other than box seats?

[SisterGeorge]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 2:13pm

Lavieboheme3090 said: "I hope that over the 2 months of previews that they smooth out a lot of the projections, because at the moment I found myself looking at the screens vs the actors"

I'm looking forward to this, however, I at "The Damned," "Network," and "All About Eve" the video projections overwhelmed the actors intentionally no matter at which point in the run one saw the show, so not sure that's going to change.

As for bringing in Trujillo who supposedly will restore the Robbins choreography, I'm disappointed. So much for Broadway taking risks. I think Robbins's choreography is genius but we've seen it already. Many times. Why not try something new, especially when it's being created by one of today's most respected dance innovators? Also, the only place we can truly see the Robbins choreography is in the Wise/Robbins movie or in video clips of the original production, otherwise what we're seeing is someone else's take on the Robbins, regardless of how faithful they try to be, set on dancers who never met JR.  And if this production does turn out to be crap, well we'll always have the movie and yet another revival in a couple months.

"Don't really recall reading such "country/city of origin" in such detail before.  Were people challenging this before?  Were the producers expecting to be challenged?"

Listing country of origin and training is pretty standard in ballet and dance company bios.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 2:21pm

The ghost of Jerry Robbins is smiling today.

Lenny is happy too.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 2:24pm

I’d be pretty surprised if “I feel Pretty” and the Ballet aren’t reinstated.

[ModernMillie3]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 2:25pm

That website reads more like a gossip column. All the "Ive heard" and send me the scoop if you're working at the Broadway (even though they've all signed NDAs). I wouldn't take that seriously in any way. Also, throwing out the choreography that they have been bragging about for over a year? Asking all the actors to relearn all the dances? This show may only be around 90 minutes, but that's asking a whole hell of a lot and I doubt it will happen. 

Updated On: 12/10/19 at 02:25 PM

[BJR]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 2:31pm

My friend was there last night and said it was pretty obvious it was likely one of the first times they'd run the entire thing. That's not abnormal for Broadway necessarily, but could mean the team is finally seeing their first draft and now the work begins.

I find that exciting. We'll see how I feel after, but we also talk about shows not using their previews and this one has built in 2 months of them. Exciting.