Two young people meet, love each other, and commit to each other for life, but the different cultural backgrounds create an insurmountable gap between them, and the hatred between the two rival gangs ultimately erases their beautiful expectations for the future, which is "West End Story".
Originally based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, dramatist Arthur Lawrence transformed the struggle between the two families into a clash between two gangs in New York City, resulting in a musical that still exudes charm despite time and cultural differences.
At present, the musical "West End Story" is being performed in Shanghai Cultural Square until December 6.
A "milestone" musical
Premiered in 1957, West End Story is a "milestone" in the history of musical theatre.
Adapted from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the play is set in the 1950s in the ghetto of New York, and the protagonists' names become Tony and Maria, who come from two inseparable gangs in the New York slums (the Shark Gang and the Jetz Gang), who, although deeply in love with each other, eventually die of hatred between the gangs.
The musical's creative team was called the "Dream Team": the screenplay was written by Arthur Lawrence, who was recognized as broadway's first screenwriter at the time; the composer was the popular conductor Leonardo Bernstein; the choreographer Jerome Robbins echoed on Broadway; director Harold Prince later rehearsed The Phantom of the Theatre; and the lyricist Stephen Sandham was a 21-year-old novice at the time, who later grew up to become the "father of American musical theater", and was called "Gemini" with Webber in the United Kingdom.
Prior to this, no musical like "West End Story" exposed the darkness of society, full of fighting and murder; there was very little dialogue in the play, the dance component was particularly dazzling, ballet, Latin, jazz, modern dance, Robbins completely mobilized the dramatic function of dance, vigorous and energetic; Bernstein with the orchestra of orchestra, created a soundtrack that integrated classical, Latin, jazz style, breaking through the traditional song and dance film blockbuster factory style, injecting the characteristics of the era of young people's enthusiasm and wildness. The combination with the dance scene is meticulous.
In the past 60 years, "West End Story" has been popular and won 7 awards, including the Oliver Award and the Tony Award. Because the musical was so successful, in 1961, Hollywood directors remade it into a movie and took away 10 awards at the 34th Academy Awards. This record was not broken until the titanic came out in 1997.
Joey McNeely
It still has practical relevance in the present
The West End Story, which came to Shanghai, was created 12 years ago by Jerome Robbins student Joe McNeely, and is the only version in the world that has rearranged Robbins' original choreography.
In the new edition, McNeely restores Jerome Robbins' creations and incorporates a new aesthetic of the 21st century.
McNeely explained that in the past 60 years, both the theater itself and the stage technology have undergone earth-shaking changes, and the new version has been improved in terms of set, lighting and sound.
"The most important difference is that the actor's dress is as simplified as possible, more sexy, revealing more skin, more in line with the aesthetic taste of the moment, and the audience will automatically substitute for it, 'I also want to wear this kind of dress, have this kind of story.'" ”
Just as the original creators of West End Story chose to use newcomers rather than famous actors, McNeely also chose a number of new American actors—all of whom were discovered on Broadway, young people who seemed to be characters living in the work, eager to express everything through song, dance, and performance.
"It's a story between teenagers. This means that every actor should be at about the same age to have the kind of state and vitality that the role requires. McNeely said.
Kevin Huck, tony's actor, said, "At the beginning I didn't have enough confidence, and slowly, I found that acting on stage was like being Tony myself, and how to find confidence on stage is exactly what I learned from Tony. ”
On Broadway in 1957, why did West End Story become a "landmark" musical?
McNeely argues that the 1950s Broadway musicals were popular for comedy, but "The West End Story" opened a tragic ending, more like real life, "Since then, Broadway has had more real-life and life-like musicals, such as musicals about AIDS patients, mentally ill people, and serial killers." ”
In addition, previous musicals have paid more attention to singing and do not care much about dance, while in "West End Story", dance is as important as music and becomes an indispensable part of the narrative, "You take away the dance will affect your understanding of the whole story." Therefore, both music lovers and dance lovers like this drama. ”
In addition, in the past, musical theater actors "song and dance separation", the actor is responsible for singing, the accompanying dance is responsible for dancing, but in this play, the identity of the dancer and the singer is not clear, and each role has a part of song and dance.
"West End Story" details the harm caused by ethnic and cultural conflicts, and no matter which country it is staged in, it can resonate with local audiences.
McNeely believes that this is why "West End Story" still has practical significance today.
"The story still takes place in every newspaper in every country, in many places such as the United States and Mexico, where there has been a backlog of emotions throughout history, and cultural conflicts have occurred every day, and they cannot understand their own races, they cannot empathize with each other's feelings, they breed violence, they stifle hope. "West End Story" makes us reflect on it, and this is its practical significance. ”