MARCH 20, 2009 - The 1957 musical theater classic West Side Story is back on Broadway, having opened at the Palace Theater last night.
Everyone from the Los Angeles Times to the New York Times is raving about the nearly fishy lenten resurrection of the gangland Romeo & Juliet, under the direction of Arthur Laurents, 91, who wrote West Side Story back in the day.
Much has been "updated" about the musical. For instance, the dialogue has been changed, according to the NY Times, to "a more appropriate" Spanish for the Puerto Rican gang members - presumably because, what? Fifty-two years isn't enough time for our backwards people to have learned English.
Truth be told, Gomez has mixed feelings about the revival of West Side Story, and the decision to present Latino American characters as more foreign now than fifty-plus years ago. Gomez wonders if Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is on the Palace Theater board (and if he wears a pink jumper to board meetings?)...
Gomez also wonders why it is that the only time Latinos get starring roles on Broadway it is when: they are in gangs (West Side Story); they are in ghettos (In The Heights); they are impoverished with AIDS on the Lower East Side (Rent); they are sociopathic teen murderers (The Capeman); or....well, that's about it actually.
Gomez is sure West Side Story is lively, entertaining and chock full of talented performers who would not otherwise get a chance to belt and boogie. Gomez is also sure that there must be plays and musicals for Latinos out there that don't traffic in 50-year-old stereotypes.
The question is: Will any of the gabachos in charge of Broadway (and Hollywood, and the music industry, and book publishing, etc.) find such works "believable" and "authentic"? Gomez has met enough of them, and had them speak very loud English to Gomez at cocktail parties (under the illusion that Gomez could not sip sophisticated of Shakespeare's nectar) to think not.
On an up-note, Gomez feels pretty. Oh so pretty! And witty. And - hey! Coffee's done!
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2 comments:
Ah, but Gomez, let us not forget that Sara Ramirez starred in Spamalot--the only main female role. The character, of course, isn't Latina, but the actress certainly is!
Nobody is ever gonna be happy! Los gueros are bitching because the "entire" show is in Spanish and they can't understand it and Spanish-speaking people are too poor/uneducated/whatevs to care about theater. Most of the complaining is coming from people who HAVEN'T seen the show. I had the pleasure of seeing WSS and loved the Spanish in the scenes. To add to the anonymous person above...Josie De Guzman played Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls...another non-Latina role!
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