(Roger Friedman’s article appeared on Show Biz 411, 11/10; via the Drudge Report.)
Last year, director Ivo von Hove brought his hit London production of “Network” to New York and caused a lot of talk: his show was full of video projections, people walking around in headsets, and an actual real restaurant on the stage that made absolutely no sense. On top of that, two of the characters went outside the theater and walked around with a cameraman. Oblivious New Yorkers just walked around them. Not realizing what he was doing on West 44th St. one night, I actually tapped on the insideof the window of Cafe Un Deux Trois and waved at Tony Goldwyn out on the sidewalk while he waited for his cue. He motioned to me that he was working!
Now von Hove is coming with the one of the all time great musicals of our time, “West Side Story.” I told you some time ago that his choreographer, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, is replacing the famous Jerome Robbins choreography with her own… stuff. It does feel like “West Side Story” is going to be done very “Sprockets”-esque. The difference, of course, was that “Network” was new, and von Hove’s to play with. “West Side Story” is canon on Broadway, never to be trifled with.
