‘West Side Story’ reduced to digital dud

‘WEST SIDE STORY’: Shereen Pimentel, Isaac Powell & cast. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

WEST SIDE STORY
Based on a conception by Jerome Robbins
Originally directed & choreographed by Jerome Robbins
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Ivo van Hove
Choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway & 53rd Street
(212) 238-6200, www.westsidestorybway.com

By David NouNou

Where and how does one begin to disseminate this preposterous “reimagination” of a once-revolutionary Broadway classic that reinvented musical theatre, now reduced to an abstract Eurotrash mess? Credit for this abomination must certainly go to Belgian director Ivo van Hove. His definition of directing is having a downpour of rain on stage in anything he directs. Remember his production of A View From the Bridge from 2015? Well, there are two downpours here: one in the rumble scene and the second is in Tony’s death scene and finale. Mr. van Hove takes American classics and injects them with European pretentiousness.

That is just one of the absurd insertions in this revival. I’ll name you a few more just so you will know what you are paying for. The stage is totally bare, making the Broadway Theatre stage seem cavernous. What you get instead is a videographer on stage taking pictures of cast members and imposing them on the back wall of the theatre; that’s how the show starts. The hardest thing to explain to you is also the dumbest: Why are cast members in different scenes being videotaped behind a makeshift set obstructed from audience view and shown on the back wall as if watching a movie? As if that isn’t enough, some of the cast members in some scenes are actually photographed on real streets and then splashed on the wall.

Naturally every song has a videotape with various images on that infamous wall. One example is “America”, sung by Anita, Bernardo and the Sharks. When Anita sings “I like to be in America,” you see pictures set in America. However, when Bernardo sings about Puerto Rico, you get the images of downtrodden people and hovels. With all these images bombarding our line of vision, it is counterproductive to what is actually going on stage. The actors are so dwarfed by the images that you hardly notice them but are preoccupied with all the photographed visuals.

Here is another one: Remember the brilliantly conceived balcony scene where Tony climbs a fire escape to meet Maria in her apartment complex, ultimately confessing their love for each other and then sing “Tonight”? What once was a lovely, touching and romantic scene has now been reduced to the two of them chasing each other around on a bare stage singing, then writhing on the dirty streets of New York in each other’s arms—and all this is superimposed on the giant back wall.

Jerome Robbins conceived a brilliant musical adaption of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and moved the setting to 1957 in modern-day New York City. He changed the Capulets and Montagues to the Jets being the American gang and the Sharks being the Puerto Rican gang. He gave them distinct looks and mannerisms that fit each group. Each gang was fighting for their turf and trying to eliminate the other. Well, that wasn’t good enough for Mr. Van Hove, so he decided to make them all tattooed ’hood rats hip-hopping their way on the stage and making them indistinguishable from one another. Whether it is the opening scene where you meet the two gangs, or the dance at the gym, or the rumble, the cast members have so melded and morphed into one another that you have no idea who is fighting whom, and by this point you don’t care because it has become a big, aimless mess on stage.

As for the leads Tony (Isaac Powell), Maria (Shereen Pimentel), Anita (Yesenia Ayala), Bernardo (Amar Ramasar) or Riff (Dharon E.Jones), there is nothing that makes them stand out in any form. For those unforgettable characters have been reduced to memories of what we know of them either from previous revivals or from the classic iconic (though dated) 1961 movie.

Back to Jerome Robbins. Not only did he conceive this masterpiece, he also directed and choreographed the show. The choreography was innovative and electrifying, it changed dance forever on the musical stage. The staging was concise and synchronized with razor-sharp movements. Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has scraped all that genius precision and come up with a mash-up of dance styles with the usual back flips and the one-arm stand kick with nothing visually pleasing or exciting. I guess she didn’t hear the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

I’ll give you another dilly for the road. This is just for laughs: Who wears gold-sequined capri pants to a rumble? This sparkly gem comes from costume designer, An D’Huys–another ridiculous idea gone bad.

There is really nothing more one can say about a masterpiece that once was throbbing with excitement being reduced to a cliché of tedium in the name of “reimagination.” Of all the recent musical revivals of West Side Story, Oklahoma, Carousel, The King and I or Kiss Me Kate, this has to be the saddest and most pitiful, because it had the most sublime heart-pounding score of any show. The score by Leonard Bernstein is one of the most memorable and exciting pieces ever composed, thus making West Side Story one of the most vibrant and legendary musicals of our time. West Side Story deserved a better fate than this abysmal Eurotrash version.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published February 20, 2020

‘WEST SIDE STORY’: The cast. Photo: Jan Versweyveld.

‘WEST SIDE STORY’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes