World, Writing, Wealth discussion

Today I read an article that said "West Side Story" was doing way worse than "Cats" which was considered an epic disaster. Called it a flop. I love the old movie version of "West Side Story" and eve saw it on the stage. Great music, great plot, great dancing - so what went wrong. Here are the theories I heard, some from people who saw it -
1. The cast wasn't interesting. Most of them liked the girl who played Maria, but said nobody was as interesting as the people in the original cast.
2. Too much about ethnic divide and not enough Romeo and Juliet romance.
3. None of the musical numbers were near as good as in the original movie.
4.The deal to keep it in theaters for about 7 weeks was a mistake - it should have gone to streaming a lot sooner.
5. It was hurt by the delayed release date.
Maybe a little "all of the above." I don't know. I don't plan to see it in a theater and might stream it depending on the price.

I would add this to the list of reasons: older generations like the original the way it was, and younger generations are not interested because the type of gang life that is portrayed here is not realistic or relatable to them.

With all of the endless garbage that we've been wading through for the last two years, how many people feel like dropping money to sit in a room full of mouth-breathers in order to watch art school alumni pretend to be singing, dancing gang members?

I had no interest in it when I first heard about it. Musicals: Bah! How irritating is it when people suddenly break out into song! For heaven's sake! Who does that? The only good musicals are the ones that incorporate the music into the movie because the people being portrayed are actually musicians, as in A Star Is Born or Bohemian Rhapsody.

Scout wrote: "I had no interest in it when I first heard about it. Musicals: Bah! How irritating is it when people suddenly break out into song! For heaven's sake! Who does that? The only good musicals are the o..."

And think of it - some people buy tickets (and they are usually sold out) for the occasional 16 + hr Ring cycle of Richard Wagner :-)

I love the idea of musicals and the ones that work best work the music into the story - I thought one of the best was "Cabaret."
I loved the original West Side Story, but I really couldn't get excited about the remake. The problem with a lot of movie musicals - which wasn't a problem for West Side Story - was that the directors knew how to choreograph for the camera. I don't mind people bursting into song, but you have to do something while you're singing. Otherwise it's a concert.

I haven't seen the new movie of West Side Story. As Paulette stated, I think the original in my head will probably interfere in my ability to appreciate the new version.

I like some musicals but prefer to see stage productions over movies. I watched Jersey Boys and it was good. I saw it as a theatre performance on a cruise a few years ago and liked that much better.

West Side Story was finally released to streaming a few days ago so I watched it.
I now know why it flopped.