Arthur Laurents has been tight-lipped about his "new concept" for the upcoming revival of West Side Story. He's said in numerous places that as the director he's going to make it totally current and relevant without changing a word or a note. When asked exactly how, he has coyly demurred.
Until now.
In a recent interview on Bloomberg.com, Laurents goes into a little bit of detail. First, he's going to have the gang members act like actual gang members, rather than as the sanitized kids next door gone a bit wrong.
"They're not adorable street kids,'' Laurents said. "They're killers, each and every one of them. They're vicious and they have to be played that way.''
Laurents also plans to bring out the raw sexual passion of the lovers Tony and Maria;
"When they sing 'Tonight,' it's like Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy,'' Laurents said. "It's hard for them to sing because they're so sexually involved. They're all over each other.''
On the one hand, I think both of these choices are sound. Whenever I've seen West Side Story, there's often been a certain lack of both menace and passion. Laurents has done a bang-up job with the current Gypsy revival, so I'm eager to see how he pulls West Side off.
On the other hand, Laurents needn't have been so frickin' coy. Yeah, these are both valid and potentially effective directorial choices. But the way he teased the press, and the public, by hinting at and then withholding this information set up the expectation that it would be an earth-shattering new concept.
Effective, yes, earth-shattering, no.
I agree with you 100%. While I have always felt that the raw passion that the Sharks, Jets, Tony and Maria feel has always been underplayed, I don't think Laurents' concept is exactly groundbreaking. It will be interesting to see just how far he is able (or willing) to push the envelope. WSS is a favorite of mine (and my kids) so I am really looking forward to this revival. Long time coming, if you ask me!
Posted by: Alicia | March 27, 2008 at 03:36 PM
I can't wait!!!! Plus, I heard that Maria will only speak Spanish.
Posted by: SarahB | March 28, 2008 at 01:06 PM