I feel a little bad for my mom. I keep inviting to the city to see revivals of classic shows she loves and they end up being “gritty” versions. (Not that – like Oklahoma! – West Side Story hasn’t always been dark, because of course it has.) In fact, during my first summer in New York (3.5 years ago – wow…that’s weird) my mom and I went to see this director’s “modern” take on The Crucible (starring Ben Whishaw and Saoirse Ronan), it was great, but a lot. So I felt prepared for what Ivo Van Hove would bring to this material. And for the most part I was right: A lot of video projection, modern sets/costumes, a commitment more to an idea of “realism” than reverence for the original production.
Some of this works well, the multiracial composition of the Jets adds interesting layers and the energy in the young cast (particularly Isaac Powell and Shereen Pimentel as the central couple) is wonderful. But, the video projections were over and inconsistently used. And I couldn’t help but feel like Van Hove was trying to bend the play to his point in a way I think did it a disservice.
My issue can be summed up with the choice to switch “Cool” and “Gee, Officer Krupke” in the score, so that the Jets sing the former not as a defensive mechanism after the rumble, but just a routing statement of identity, which makes it pretty redundant with the opening number. More importantly it changes “Krupke” from a moment of kids larking about to a harsh critique of police brutality and the carceral state, things definitely worth critiquing for sure, but maybe not best done through a song built around puns about being “punks” and “jerks.”
What “Officer Krupke” and the cut from this production, “I Feel Pretty” do in the original score is establish that these characters are kids playing at responsibility until they shatter their own illusions by playing out the consequences. Van Hove allows none of the characters this innocence. The tragedy of the end still hits, but I think there’s power in letting some joy in too.
To end on a good note – the choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker – is fantastic, wholly original while never losing the narrative function of Jerome Robbins’ iconic work. “The Dance at the Gym” is particularly great.
Photo Credit: Sara Krulwich/New York Times
The actor who plays Bernardo has been credibly accused of really gross behavior towards colleagues at the New York City Ballet. I’ve made a Filmanthropy donation to TimesUp.
The show is running at the Broadway Theatre at 1681 Broadway
I Get a Bit Obsessive 