| re: Arthur Laurents | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 06:06 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:05 pm EDT 07/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Arthur Laurents - ryhog 09:47 am EDT 07/13/18 | |
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| I just don't want to let the two points get unclearly mixed up... my Shakespeare analogy was regarding Laurents' statement about "why" do WSS again unless there's a new perspective to bring to it. That statement I fully disagree with, and was saying we don't do Shakespeare (or xyz great play or classic) only when there's a new perspective, we often do them because they are good enough to be seen again, or someone wants to star, or any number of reasons. It wasn't to do with recreating an original of a play, or shakespeare even specifically. Recreating original direction and/or choreography was as separate (though I guess similar) point. And to you point, I would actually argue that non-profit is the main place to see NEW choreography to an old piece. A commercial first-class revival often won't want to take the chance screwing up a beloved classic with already genius staging that was intrinsic to the entire piece (writing and production) and what made it work so well... and will likely want to bring in people who want to see the show they love without too too much veering creatively from what the show was/is. I love when commercial producers take a chance on newer talent and original visions... I don't just want to see slavish recreations. But I also know that most of the choreographers working today aren't even in the same league with legends like Robbins, Fosse, Bennett, Tune etc, and often do much worse jobs serving the show creatively with their "original" work then would have been if they'd used the original. It's always impossible to know how it'll turn out - a recreation could be lifeless or boring if we've seen that version several times... but new staging could be bad and miss the mark and screw up the show in any number of ways. Anyway, now is time for a new vision of WSS and I'm excited to see it. While I want all generations, and anyone new to WSS to see the unbelievable Robbins choreography, I'm also dying to see another first-rate choreographer tackle it because the music is just so sensational and varied. I'm so grateful we have Robbins work so perfectly and popularly captured on film... which does make doing a Robbins-free revival more attractive and easy to swallow. That all being said... I know Gower Champion was a legend too, but I will say I've seen Hello Dolly revival twice now and (plus countless videos of past productions) and I've never been all that impressed with his choreography on HD. I find Michael Kidd's (and maybe some Gene Kelly?) choreography in the movie immeasurably more interesting, fun, and dynamic. So on one hand I'm glad to see a revival of a classic old show that tries to retain much of the original... on the other hand I'm curious what a different choreographer would have done. |
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