West Side Story - DC, then B'way

[AmandaNYC]

Has anyone seen the new DC production that's headed for B'way? There are major changes, and from what I have read elsewhere, the changes are getting mixed reviews. The choreography, of course, seems to be universally praised...

-amanda

[dirac]

Good question, Amanda - I hope someone who's seen it will tell us about it.

[agnes]

Any dates set for its B'way production?

[bart]

Here's the Link to the National Theater's web page devoted to the production:

http://nationaltheatre.org/mainstage%5Cwest_side_story.htm

Laurents is quoted as saying:

“This show will be radically different from any other production of WEST SIDE STORY ever done. The musical theatre and cultural conventions of 1957 made it next to impossible for the characters to have authenticity. Every member of both gangs was always a potential killer even then. Now they actually will be. Only Tony and Maria try to live in a different world,” said Arthur Laurents, who was recently nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for his direction of GYPSY, also one of his librettos.

Laurents' point sounds persuasive. Has anyone seen this in Washington?

Here's something from the Washington Post, with photos:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...9010803931.html

I didn't know the following, also taken from the web page:

The first performances of this musical anywhere in the world

were at the National Theatre August 19 through September 7, 1957

[dirac]

I recall, belatedly, that we had an active thread on this topic over on Modern and Other Dance, so I'm closing this thread. I'll cut and paste bart's and Amanda's comments over to the older thread, here. There was a good discussion going on.