Thursday, August 27, 2009
Some Lyrics Restored to English in Broadway Revival of ‘West Side Story’
NYTimes.com: "It should be one of the most pained, poignant moments in any production of “West Side Story”: a grief-stricken Anita tells her friend Maria to end her love affair with Tony because he has just killed Bernardo, Anita’s boyfriend and Maria’s brother."
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4 comments:
West Side Story isn't one of my favorite musicals, but it certainly is one of the best known. And the song 'A Boy Like That' has always been my favorite from the show. Compared to Jets or Maria or Tonight it's not one of the most well known, but it's one of the most overlooked. It's brilliance at bringing tears to any audience member is due of course to the brilliant lyrics of Stephen Sondheim. I like the idea of making the Sharks more authentic through the use of the Spanish language but that's only useful for audiences who speak Spanish. And unfortunately that's not a large enough part of Broadway audiences.
On the concept of using Spanish:
I have to disagree with Elize. So much can be said through the use of a foreign language, even if you as an audience member cannot understand it exactly. I worked on a production of The Light in the Piazza this summer, and even though there were entire scenes in Italian, the audience could understand the subtext and the character's emotions without the need for them to be expressed directly in language (rather, in English). In addition, there is a scene in the second act where the Italian father interrupts the wedding rehearsal and rushes his family out the door, all in Italian. The audience is tossed into a state of nervous confusion identical to that of Clara and Margaret, wondering exactly what's going on and feeling an immeasurable tension from the inability to understand what he's saying. In the same way, fighting between the Sharks and Jets and the Dance scene in the new Broadway production took on a harsh racial tension and separation when the language barrier was installed.
On the new restorations:
I'm okay with the restorations, since Sondheim's lyrics are so incredibly beautiful on their own, especially the ones in "A Boy Like That". I would also like to see "I Feel Pretty" completely restored to English, though, since it's such a cornerstone of WSS.
I haven't had the opportunity to see this most recent production of West Side Story, but I am fascinated by what they have done to make it more authentic and meaningful for today's audiences. I have to say that I do agree with the producers' and Mr. Laurents' move to return some of the lyrics to English. I understand Brian's argument that sometimes moments are just as/more powerful in another language, but knowing how I personally function as an audience member, I think I would be very frustrated watching the show and not understanding what they are saying. Apparently there are others out there who agree with me, or they wouldn't have made the move to change the lyrics back to English.
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