West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
#1West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 7:18pm
From Playbill:
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#2re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 7:21pm
Really???
Didn't see THIS coming!!!!
"I don't see that many plays, and for me, musicals are rarely pleasing. I feel the actors are being put through a kind of nightmarish labor. They're like animals being forced to pull heavy carts of vegetables at incredible speeds." --- Wallace Shawn
#2re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 7:21pm
Surprise, Surprise. 
"Light the candles! Get the ice out! Roll the rug up, it's today!"
#4re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 7:24pm
Now it makes sense...many of the same producers as Blonde.
Close a semi-struggling show to put in a classic "hit".
"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
#5re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 7:26pm
Worst-kept secret on Broadway, but nice to see it announced. I will definitely be there in either February or early March, I'm taking my parents to see it and my mom is giddy with excitement...but I am giddier 
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#6re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 7:31pm
I have to admit...I didn't believe it when many of you were posting the rumors....but as soon as LB DID announce their closing, I made the assumption.
I hope to be there in March! Certainly going to try!!!!
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#7re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 7:32pm
Close a semi-struggling show to put in a classic "hit".
I don't think WSS is going to be nearly as big a "hit" as people seem to think it will be.
jake6970
Broadway Star Joined: 9/21/07
#8re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 7:37pmCapacity wise, I think this theatre is far too big for the show. Yes it's a classic but West Side Story is a standard...it makes me wonder how many tourist know it hasn't been on Broadway in years before looking at it as just West Side Story on Broadway again.
Trekkie2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/7/06
#9re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 8:15pmI'm seeing this in DC, so I'm sort of indifferent about where it plays in New York. I do feel bad for the cast and crew of LB, though. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be closing if Arthur Laurents wasn't bent on getting his way.
"I think of avant-garde as downtown shows where you rub waffles and chocolate on yourself."- Hunter Bell
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#10re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 8:16pm
It will, at the very least, be the biggest "hit" that the Palace has had in a long while, that's almost for certain.
Can't wait to buy my tickets right away on October 18th!
#11re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 8:32pmSee, I'm not even certain it's going to run as long as LB did, much less Aida.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#12re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 8:35pm
Really?! I think it will definitely run longer than LB did.
Even if it's not a huge hit. I mean AIDA and LB both kinda ran for a while with crappy sales because, I assume, a lot of shows are scared of the Palace much like they were of the Gershwin before WICKED took residence in that barn.
I think this should be a pretty big hit. It's one of the most recognizable shows in Broadway history.
#13re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 8:39pm
People are certainly underestimating the appeal of this revival. Not many thought SOUTH PACIFIC was going to be a smash sell-out.
Updated On: 9/28/08 at 08:39 PM
#14re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 8:39pm
Hahaha, Adam! That's why I put the word "hit" in quotes.
But I do now understand why they are closing Blonde so quickly..many of the same money people involved. Furman, Nederlander, Luftig, etc.
Might as well keep the Palace. WSS will, in this current economic climate, probably be much easier to get investors on board with a classic, then to invest in a new show--or continue to pump more cash into Blonde.
"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
#15re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 9:02pmhave they made an official casting announcement. I know cavenaugh and scaglione were offered it, but did they ever announce anita, riff or bernardo?
#16re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 9:14pm
Aida turned a $12 million profit for Disney, and closed when it became unprofitable. Disney is not a charity organization, they'll close shows when they're no longer making them money (see Tarzan).
Regarding West Side Story, the reason I don't think it's going to be this monster hit people think it's going to be is because we've seen West Side Story done this way at every high school and community theatre in America. There is nothing new or fresh about this production, which is even using the same old choreography. Integrating Spanish into the script is hardly innovative or revolutionary. I just think the general attitude of people will be "been there, done that, for a lot less money."
South Pacific was different, because it was a new production. Arthur Laurents' gigantic ego will never allow West Side Story to be re-imagined like that.
ETA...Sorry, Tom, didn't realize you were being sarcastic!
Updated On: 9/28/08 at 09:14 PM
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#17re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 9:30pmI'm not certain that I would snap to a judgment about what Arthur Laurents may or may not do with West Side Story. I was quite surprised by how his '89 Gypsy differed from his '08 Gypsy, which showed to me, at least, a willingness to keep examining the material. And he hasn't directed West Side Story before, at least not to my knowledge.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Trish2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/20/06
#18re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 10:10pmI'm with you on this one Adamgreer. I give it 6 months to a year in that cavern.
#19re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 10:15pm
This is like when people predicted GYPSY wouldn't make it until the summer in the St. James. And it looks like St. James has almost the amount of seats as the Palace. But Gypsy made 6 months in that barn, and it was just revived 5 eyars ago.
Updated On: 9/28/08 at 10:15 PM
#20re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 10:19pm
I don't think WSS is going to be nearly as big a "hit" as people seem to think it will be.
See, I'm not even certain it's going to run as long as LB did, much less Aida.
I'd give your opinion a little more clout were you not a bitter Legally Blonde fan who insisted all summer that this would never happen.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#21re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 10:20pm
I agree with Ljay on this one.
No one thought 'Gypsy' would have survived past this point, and it was just revived five years ago.
'South Pacific' is an incredible sell out, and it's still surviving.
Hell, even 'Sunday in the Park with George' extended, and no one's even heard of that 
So sure, it could be a huge financial disaster, but I could definitely see it doing well.
"Light the candles! Get the ice out! Roll the rug up, it's today!"
Updated On: 9/28/08 at 10:20 PM
#22re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 10:22pmWell at least now it's official. I don't think West Side Story will have a problem filling the Palace. It's one of the most recognizable shows among the general public.
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
#23re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 10:33pm
I'd give your opinion a little more clout were you not a bitter Legally Blonde fan who insisted all summer that this would never happen.
Sorry, you must have me confused with someone else. A Legally Blonde fan, yes. Bitter, no. I predicted the show would close around the holidays. There was never a stitch of doubt in my mind that WSS would end up in the Palace. I had it closing on January 4, 2009.
#24re: West Side Story Officially Playing at Palace Theatre.
Posted: 9/28/08 at 10:39pmOrangeskittles, while i am mad at adamgreer for predicting that the brilliant WSS will have a shorter run than LB, he did say that LB would close by January 4, 2009. He is an LB fan...but not a bitter one.
