I think it's fair to say indications are (were) that Laurents would not like any new interpretation of WEST SIDE STORY that wasn't supervised by him. The last Broadway revival (or revisal), which he directed, was in many ways a new interpretation from a directorial standpoint, even in not in terms of the actual text (except for the Spanish lyrics, which eventually were largely eliminated) or the choreography and the orchestrations.
P.S. My feeling is that, regardless of how much I personally like or dislike a radical new interpretation of a classic play or musical, I always find radical new interpretations easier to take if the show has been frequently revived in more or less traditional stagings. SWEENEY TODD is an example that leaps immediately to mind, and also OKLAHOMA! |
